How to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle

How to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle at the Same Time

If you are like me, you’re probably wondering how to lose weight and gain muscle in the same time. Is it possible? Can you actually control what you eat and your workouts in order to achieve this?

When we’re looking for an answer to how to lose weight and gain muscle, we need to do some basic math. Here, it is: if you want to gain one pound of muscle you need to consume 2500 extra calories per week – that’s about 350 extra calories per day. On the other hand, if you want to lose a pound of fat, you need to cut 3500 calories from your weekly diet. So, if you wanted to gain muscle you’d have to take in 350 extra calories per day, while cutting down 500 daily calories to lose a pound of fat. At first glance, you can conclude that this is impossible. There’s no way to get around this math.

Yet, there is. Wondering how to lose weight and gain muscle in the same time? First of all, you need to be smart about it, which means you need to do your research properly. There have been a number of experiments done, both on men and women, to see how to get around this math. There experimental groups varied their caloric intake and the time and intensity of workouts they did per week. The overall conclusion was that you can get the results you want, but you will gain muscle at a lower rate than you would probably want, since you’re also trying to lose the fat.

So how do you learn how to lose weight and gain muscle in the same time? One of the tricks you can use to get this done is to rotate you caloric intake. What this means is that you should alternate days of low calories coupled with weight lifting, and high calorie days, also coupled with weight lifting. One way to do this is to cut your caloric intake by 500 to 1000 per day, for about 5 to 6 days, while working out intensely. This guarantees fat dramatic fat loss. This schedule should be followed by 2 to 3 days of mega caloric intake, coupled with extreme weight training sessions. This guarantees muscle gain.

Another strategy in your quest for the answer on how to lose weight and gain muscle, although a lot tougher to stick to, is to be on a super low calorie diet for a few weeks, anywhere from 3 to 5, all while working out. The point of this schedule is of course, losing fat through dieting and training. This regimen would have to be followed by 2 weeks of super high caloric intakes, coupled with weight lifting. The principle is the same, lose fat, and then gain the muscle. This strategy works wonders if you can get around with training while on a low calorie diet.

How to lose weight and gain muscle without going crazy

There are, still, other alternatives. We are talking about taking advantage of your body’s natural hormones and rhythms. Basically, you want to starve your body when it can handle it, for maximum fat loss, and pump it with calories when the time is right, for maximum muscle gain. Let’s take a look at how this would actually work and what you’d have to do. First of all, you need to understand the schedule and aim to stick to it precisely, for maximum results. We are talking about dieting an resting, as well as performing various types of exercises that need to be followed properly.

If you’re asking yourself how to lose weight and gain muscle in the same time, then keep reading for a sample. You will have three types of dieting days: low calories and low carbohydrates, high calories and high carbs, and maintenance. You will be on a low calorie, low carbs diet on all the days when you’re not weight training, as well as the first half of the day when you are weight lifting. The main reason why you don’t want to lift weights while on a low calorie diet is simply because you won’t have the energy to work out too much, and you may end up giving up due to mental exhaustion.

Don’t get this wrong, you will still be working out in the low calorie days, just not lifting. These days are best used for cardio training. Still not clear on how to lose weight and gain muscle this way? On these low carbs days, you are allowed to ingest about 10 to 12 times your body weight, in calories. Basically, if you weigh 160 pounds, you can eat 1600 – 1920 calories. On these days, you should eat about 50 % protein and a maximum of 20 % carbs.

The high calorie, high carbohydrates days are essentially the days when you will be focusing on muscle gain. You will be eating about 75% carbs and about 20% proteins. The main difference from the low calorie days is that you have to eat all your food in 6 to 9 hours. Keep in mind that on these weight lifting days you are still eating the low calories in the morning. On the high calorie days, your aim to build muscle, therefore you need to lift weights intensely.

If you’re asking how to lose weight and gain muscle, you still want to see what the above tips would look like in practice, right? So, you’d start the week with cardio in the morning, on a low calorie diet, and weight training in the afternoon, with a high calorie diet. The second day follows the afternoon regimen of the first day. The third day would be identical to the first, while the fourth would be just cardio, on a low carbs diet. The fifth day would be just like the previous odd numbered ones. The next two days are on a maintenance caloric intake, with one day of cardio and one day of rest.

As you can see from the above types of programs, you can actually find a great solution on how to lose weight and gain muscle with astounding results, too.