Do you need to lose weight first before lifting? First lose weight then build muscles

Every visitor to the gym understands that it is necessary to lose weight through aerobic exercise, and to gain muscle mass, strength training is necessary. So the question arises that we talked about, what to do: lose weight or gain weight. In this case, it may be possible to combine aerobic and anaerobic training.

Is it possible to combine cardio and strength training?

Even many professional fitness trainers are sure that combining these types of exercise is impossible. First of all, you should decide on your tasks. Agree that a couple of kilos lost will not be so noticeable in comparison with a pumped up body.

When creating a training program, you should take into account many parameters, for example, the percentage of fat in your body, the level of initial training, etc. Also remember that if you have health problems, you should first seek advice from medical professionals. If everything is fine, then you should determine the amount of fat in your body. You do not need exact indicators, because for this you need to visit a specialist. Now there are quite a lot of simple techniques for solving this problem.

The amount of cardio exercise you need will depend on this indicator. It is very important to precede each session with a good warm-up. You can simply use a treadmill or exercise bike. The maximum warm-up duration is 15 minutes. During this time, you need to sweat slightly and speed up the blood flow.

You should not increase the warm-up time, since the main part of the training program lies ahead of you, and you will still need energy. After warming up, you should move on to strength training. If you need cardio (subject to availability) excess weight), then do a 20-minute session after your strength training session. If you have a lot of excess weight, you can increase the duration of cardio training to 40 minutes.

We also recommend that if you have a high percentage of body fat, you should focus on cardio. However, you shouldn’t forget about strength training. This will allow you to start gaining muscle mass and also protect muscle tissue from breakdown during cardio sessions. The more you get rid of extra pounds, the more active you should start doing anaerobic training.

If the body has large fat reserves, then it is quite difficult to gain muscle mass at this moment. Also, adipose tissue is created by the body for emergencies, so it doesn’t really want to part with it. The process of losing weight can be quite long, because it must be done correctly. However, do not think that your muscles will quickly increase quickly.

For the body, large muscle mass is ballast, which it seeks to get rid of. Agree that in ordinary life you have virtually no need for muscles unless you consider them solely from an aesthetic point of view. If you have set a goal for yourself to become the owner of a beautiful athletic body, then prepare yourself for hard work. The body will resist and you have to overcome it.

You probably still have the question of what to do: lose weight or gain weight. Of course, first you should get rid of at least a couple of kilos and only after that move on to active strength training. You can also combine these processes, but they will proceed much more slowly.

Myths about correct body contouring when losing weight

We answered the question of what to do: lose weight or get fit, but now fitness is quite popular and this fact has contributed to the emergence of a large number of myths about how to correct your figure. Moreover, even among fitness experts, disagreements can arise.

What to do first: lose weight or gain weight

It so happens that the main myth of fitness is connected with the main question of today’s article. It is generally accepted that you must first get rid of excess fat. Only after this should you focus your efforts on strength training. Moreover, to combat adipose tissues, it is necessary to use only cardio exercises.

In practice, the type of fitness does not affect the weight loss process at all. It's all about the intensity of your activities. If your goal is to lose excess weight, then during exercise your heart rate should be between 130 and 160 beats per minute. If your heart rate exceeds 170 beats, then the load becomes anaerobic. If you experience heavy breathing during exercise and sweat profusely, then you will not be able to lose weight in such conditions.

Working on exercise machines only allows you to pump up your muscles. It depends on what kind of exercise machine you are going to use. There is a group aerobic exercise equipment: orbitrek, exercise bike, treadmill, etc. They are primarily designed to burn fat. However, training, say, on blocks, may also not give results in terms of gaining muscle mass. As we said above, it's all about heart rate and working weight. Only if your heart rate exceeds 170 beats per minute, and you work with heavy weights, can muscles grow. It should be noted that the effectiveness of strength training largely depends on the correct choice of working weight. It is necessary to use weights with which you can perform about ten repetitions and no more. We also note the fact that the duration of strength training should be around 45 minutes. IN otherwise you simply cannot lift even a couple of kilos. To lose weight, weight training is also carried out, but their duration can be up to an hour and a half, and the working weights are small. This allows you to perform more repetitions and less rest between sets (no more than 60 seconds).
Strength training can make a woman's body overly muscular. A very popular misconception in the field of fitness. Many girls prefer cardio to strength training precisely because they are afraid of pumping up their muscles. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Even men gain muscle mass slowly, but it’s not even worth talking about girls. This is due to the low concentration of testosterone in the female body. If you don't use AAS, you won't be able to pump up your muscles. Your body will not allow this. Sometimes girls notice that after starting weight training, their body weight increases slightly. This is quite normal, as the muscles have become stronger. Girls should not only use cardio exercises, but also conduct strength training. This will allow you to tighten muscles in problem areas, which will only benefit your figure.
You can only train effectively in the gym. Not every person wants to build huge muscle mass. Most of gymgoers work out for themselves, and if you don’t want to win at Olympia, then you can do it at home. Training at home will allow you to improve muscle tone and pump them up. Having dumbbells and a horizontal bar (wall bars) at home, you can effectively pump up your body. After this, you will no longer be ashamed to undress on the beach. Moreover, the horizontal bar and parallel bars can be found at any school stadium and even in many courtyards. Thus, all you have to do is purchase dumbbells, preferably collapsible ones. After this, you can start training at home.
To get rid of fat in problem areas, you need to perform special exercises. There is no targeted fat burning. The body gradually sheds adipose tissue throughout the body. If you want, say, to remove belly fat, then just pumping up your abs will not achieve your goal. We also note that the female body first actively burns fat in the upper half of the body and only after that lipolysis begins in the hips and buttocks.
Barbell, dumbbells and kettlebells are necessary only for bodybuilders. If a girl wants to create for real beautiful figure, then she will have to use sports equipment. If you use only exercise machines, you will strengthen certain muscle groups, for example, the arms. When you work with a barbell, performing basic movements, all the muscles of the body are involved. For example, when performing squats with a barbell, not only the leg muscles are involved in the work, but also the back and special stabilizer muscles. Almost every basic movement can activate about 80 percent of the muscles in the entire body. The simulators are primarily designed for correction and allow you to more actively work out muscles that are lagging behind in development.
Strength training will be effective only when all the muscles hurt after the session. You must train so intensely that you enjoy the process. Quite understandable. That after a good workout, your muscles will be tense and you will feel slightly tired. Muscles should only hurt when you plan to become a professional athlete.

In conclusion, it should be recalled that your exercises can only be effective if you have proper nutrition. This applies to both gaining muscle mass and losing weight.

What is better to do first, to work out or to lose weight, you will learn from this video:

Why do you need to first lose weight (burn fat), and only then build muscles and not the other way around?

Or purchase my paid training course, everything there is mega-cool:

After losing weight and reaching 10-15% body fat (men); 15-20-25% (women) = fix this result.

It is imperative to record the result so that excess weight (fat) does not come back. I talked about this in more detail. This process takes about 5-6 months.

After this, you can begin to grow muscles.

Gradually increasing your calorie intake, that is, it is important to try to gain predominantly lean muscle mass (max muscle, min fat) in order to look/feel 100%.

And to do this, you need to gradually increase the calorie content, for example, by +50 grams. carbohydrates/week and look in the mirror at yourself to see how the result of muscle and fat growth is progressing. If muscles grow with a minimum of fat = everything is fine. If you are growing and have a lot of fat = not good, you need to reduce it slightly.

The goal is that you should try to gain mainly MUSCLE (with a minimum of fat).

In this regard, I recommend that you study my blog, in particular, the section about “bodybuilding”, or purchase my paid training course (everything is there, from start to finish, in one place, step by step):

Losing weight and growing muscles at the same time is impossible, because these are completely different physiological processes that a priori simply cannot be combined into one.

Therefore, there is only one scheme. Actually, that's all. Good luck to you!

Congratulations, administrator.

Build muscle and burn fat at the same time. It sounds very simple, doesn't it? Why can't you do this?

Well, some people say it's impossible. Others believe that you need to follow a “special” diet and training program. Still others say that it is impossible to do without steroids. They are all wrong.

Now, young Padawan, when we have weeded out the pros, let's move on directly to how to lose weight and build muscle at the same time.

How to burn fat and build muscle at the same time?

Your body can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, but that doesn't mean it's easy. As I mentioned above, even when you do everything right, muscles grow slower in a calorie deficit. How much slower? Hard to say.

I haven't found any research worth your attention on this issue, but experience shows that due to calorie deficitthe potential gain of muscle mass in beginners is reduced by half.

For example, you can gain 5 kg of muscle in the first 12 weeks of training while in a slight calorie surplus, but you should not expect to gain more than 2.5 kg in a deficit. That's why be patient.

Incredible promises on the Internet that you can lose tens of pounds of fat within a couple of months and gain the same amount of muscle are lies. Those photos you usually see are a combination of muscle memory, steroids and Photoshop.

So, with that in mind, let's figure out what to do.

1. Create a moderate calorie deficit

If you eat more than you burn, muscle will grow, but fat will not be burned. Therefore, a caloric deficit is a prerequisite. But it should be moderate to avoid muscle loss, constant fatigue and psychological problems.

But how much deficit is too big? Where is this golden mean?

We would like to thank the researchers at the University of Jyväskylä for their response. They conducted a study in which top athletes with low levels of body fat (no more than 10%) took part. Participants were divided into two groups:

Daily deficit minus 300 calories(about 12% lower than their daily energy expenditure).
Daily deficit minus 750 calories(approximately 25% lower energy costs).

All participants followed a high-protein diet. After 4 weeks, the athletes in the 300-calorie deficit had lost very little fat and muscle, while the second group had burned an average of about 4 pounds of fat and very little muscle.

Thus, you can significantly reduce the calorie intake of your diet, but do not overdo it. I recommend A 20-25 percent deficit for fat burning.

2. Focus on basic (multi-joint) exercises

Popular advice to do high-repetition exercises for ripped muscles is delusional. The desired relief is just a matter of having sufficient muscle volume and a small percentage of body fat. One training style is no better or worse than the others in this case.

If you are skinny/thin and want to look great, you need to gain muscle mass. It’s hard to overestimate the role here basic (multi-joint) exercises with iron.

What are basic exercises?

Basic exercises will involve several major muscle groups and joints, and also require a lot of effort. Typical examples – squats, deadlifts, bench presses and military presses. Isolation exercises target one muscle group and require significantly less effort. Examples: dumbbell bicep curls, crossover raises, and standing dumbbell raises.

Comparing the benefits of basic and isolation exercises is the topic of a separate article. But in short we can say the following:

If you want to gain maximum muscle mass and strength, you need to focus on compound exercises. This has long been known in the bodybuilding community, and there is also corresponding scientific data.

So it's no wonder that the most popular muscle-building training programs focus on multi-joint exercises. They work.

How many reps should you do?

When I started working out at the gym, I became interested in how many repetitions should I do? Is the 10-12 rep range advocated by most fitness experts optimal? Or should I do more/less?

I quickly realized that the answer was not on the surface. The number of adherents to other theories got me thinking. And that's what I realized.

If you want to maximize muscle growth, you need to train with heavy loads and moderate repetitions. Namely: work with heavy weights (80% of one-time maximum = 4-7 repetitions). One large muscle group should receive 60-80 repetitions weekly.

The need to focus on compound exercises is supported by numerous scientific studies and the experience of many athletes.

For example, one 2015 study by Gerald T Mangine et al. involved 33 trained men who were divided into two groups:

The group that performed high number of repetitions with medium weight(4 sets per exercise, 10-12 reps per set = 70% of one-time maximum).
The group that performed low number of repetitions with heavy weight(4 sets per exercise, 3-5 reps per set = 90% of one-time maximum).

Both groups performed the same exercises (including bench press, squats, deadlift, military bench press) and adhered to.

What was the result? After 8 weeks, the scientists found that the second group had gained significantly more muscle and strength gains much better than the first. It's no surprise that the second group got stronger, but many people didn't expect them to gain more muscle.

Why are compound exercises better for muscle growth?

The researchers called There are two main reasons why heavy weights are better for gaining muscle mass:

Higher mechanical load on muscles. On the other hand, high-repetition training causes more metabolic stress.
Better activation of muscle fibers. This, in turn, improves muscle adaptation and growth.

So what can we learn from this study (and others like it)?

Lift heavy weights for low reps.

This is more important than maximizing cellular fatigue with high rep sets, drop sets, giant sets, etc.

Focus on progressive overload.

In the study described above, subjects increased the weight on the barbell after completing the required number of repetitions (after 2 workouts). The key here was to focus on overloading the muscles rather than increasing the number of repetitions.

But this doesn't mean there's no place for high-repetition and isolation exercises in your training program. You just don't need to focus on them.

3. Do HIIT cardio

You can burn fat without doing cardio, but if you want to lose it as quickly as possible, you need to do cardio. You can speed up the loss of deposits by simply walking, but to maximize results You can’t do without high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

HIIT is a style of training that alternates between periods of maximum intensity and active rest. During high-intensity intervals you should work at your maximum, while the rest period allows you to regain your breathing.

HIIT is gaining more and more popularity now. Research shows that this type of training allows it is much better to burn fat and preserve muscle, than traditional moderate-intensity static cardio. Let's find out why.

HIIT burns more fat per minute than regular cardio

This fact has been proven many times. He is simply undeniable.

HIIT burns more fat than moderate-intensity static cardio and a study conducted by scientists at the University of Western Ontario gives us an idea of how much more effective it is. 10 men and 10 women trained 3 times a week. The first group did 4 to 6 30-second sprints on a treadmill (with 4-6 minutes of rest in between), and the second did regular cardio for 30-60 minutes. After 6 weeks of training, the subjects who did HIIT lost significantly more fat.

Yes, Several 30-second sprints burn more fat than running on the treadmill for an hour.

The exact mechanisms behind the benefits of HIIT are not yet fully understood, but scientists have identified many factors:

Increased metabolic rate during 24 hours after training.
Increased sensitivity to insulin in the muscles.
Higher levels of fat oxidation in the muscles.
Growth hormone levels spike(which helps in fat burning) and catecholamines(chemicals your body produces to mobilize fat deposits).
Appetite suppression after training.

Science is clear: if you want to burn as much fat as possible in the shortest amount of time, HIIT is your choice.

HIIT retains more muscle than static cardio

Research has also shown that the longer cardio lasts, the more it impairs muscle growth and strength. This does not mean that cardio training is evil. This only applies to excessive cardio.

On the contrary, moderate cardio can speed up muscle growth. What duration is optimal?

Eat two factors to consider:

Intensity and duration of individual cardio workouts.
Total amount of cardio per week.

When your goal is to optimize body composition (which requires progressing in strength training), your cardio should be short but intense enough to burn a significant amount of calories. The total duration of cardio training per week should be relatively low. Only HIIT meets these criteria and burns large amounts of fat.

How to Burn Fat, Not Muscle with HIIT?

When I'm drying, I do about 1.5-2 hours of HIIT per week (no more than 25-30 minutes per session). My favorite form of cardio is cycling. And yes, in Week.

This might surprise you. You probably thought you needed to do cardio for an hour or more a day. I understand you, I also used to think that you need to sweat for hours on exercise machines in order to dry out well. But I was wrong (you can find out more about this in my article about).

4. Get enough sleep

Lack of sleep negatively affects both muscle growth and fat burning.

Research shows that sleep deprivation causes hormonal imbalances that can cause muscle loss, which explains why sleep deprivation is linked to muscle atrophy.

For example, one study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago found that when 10 healthy men slept 5 hours a night instead of 9, their testosterone levels dropped by 14%.

Insufficient sleep also reduces levels of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor -I(IGF-1) who play important role in maintaining and building muscle mass. Research also shows that lack of sleep increases free cortisol levels, which further impairs muscle gain.

In terms of fat loss, lack of sleep can increase your appetite, which increases the risk of diet violations and overeating.

Sleep needs vary from person to person, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to be well-rested.

5. Take the right sports nutrition

I made this last because, frankly, sports nutrition is much less important than diet and physical exercise. You see, sports nutrition is not a guarantee of excellent physical shape, unlike a commitment to proper nutrition and exercise.

Unfortunately, manufacturers and suppliers sports nutrition often create unjustified hype, make pseudoscientific statements and practice false advertising. They offer cheap, containing Unhealthy ingredients and/or insufficient dosages of basic active ingredients, trying to attract customers' attention with colorful labels.

Therefore, many sports supplements are a waste of money. However, the right foods can help you get big and lose weight at the same time. Exist safe natural substances, which help increase strength and muscle mass, enhance fat burning, and also increase endurance.

Below I will talk about supplements that will help you lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

Creatine

Creatine is a substance produced in the body and found in foods such as red meat. This is probably the most researched substance among sports supplements. Its effects have been studied in hundreds of studies.

Taking creatine helps:

gain muscle mass and increase strength;
improve anaerobic endurance ;
reduce muscle damage and them soreness.

You may have heard that creatine is bad for your kidneys, but these claims have been categorically and repeatedly refuted. Creatine has been shown to have no harmful effects in healthy people side effects, both in the short and long term. However, people with kidney disease are not recommended to consume creatine.

If you don't have kidney problems, I strongly recommend that you use creatine. It's safe, cheap and effective.

Protein

Protein is not necessary for gaining muscle mass. But considering how much protein you need to eat every day to maximize muscle growth, Protein shakes can help you out a lot. In addition, this is a great option for.

Fat burners

The truth is that Most fat burners are dummies. But there are several natural, safe substances that have a scientifically proven fat-burning effect. Therefore, you need to carefully choose a supplement. I have compiled a list of the most effective fat burner components that you need to look for in the composition:

Synephrine. This substance increases the rate of basal metabolism and lipolysis(fat breakdown), inhibits the activity of certain fat cell receptors that prevent the mobilization of fat, and also increases the thermic effect of food (the energy that is spent on digesting food).
Naringin. He stimulates the production of a hormone called adiponectin, which is involved in the breakdown of fat cells and activates the PPARα receptor in fat cells, regulating fat mobilization.
Hesperidin. Like naringin, this component with stimulates adiponectin production and activates the PPARα receptor. It also improves blood circulation and reduces inflammation of blood vessels.
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The substance inhibits the activity of another enzyme, also responsible for the destruction of neurotransmitters that cause lipolysis. EGCG in particular has been shown to helps remove belly fat .
Forskolin. It increases cAMP levels in the blood and inside cells. When cAMP is high, it means there is a lack of ATP (the main form of cellular energy in the body), which activates the process of increasing the amount of ATP by burning fat in the body. Research shows that Forskolin Accelerates Fat Loss and Increases Testosterone Levels .

Pre-workout

The pre-workout complex gives you strength and motivation for training. However not all pre-workouts are good, and some can even be dangerous to health, For example, 1,3-dimethylamylamine.

In general, you need to be as careful with pre-workouts as you are with fat burners. Look for the following substances in the composition:

Caffeine. Increases energy increases endurance and muscle strength .
Beta-alanine. It is a natural amino acid that reduces exercise-induced fatigue. increases productivity and maybe accelerate muscle growth .
Citrulline malate. This is an amino acid that improves muscle endurance and reduces muscle soreness .
Betaine. This compound is found in plant sources such as beets. Betaine improves muscle endurance , increases strength indicators, and increases growth hormone production and and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) in response to intense physical activity.
Ornithine. Large quantities This amino acid is found in dairy products and meat. Ornithine reduces fatigue during prolonged physical activity and promotes fat burning(rather than carbohydrates or glycogen) for energy production.
Theanine. This is an amino acid found in tea leaves. She reduces the negative effects of stress and improves blood circulation. In addition, theanine increases vigilance , focusing ,attention , memory, mental performance and mood .

Conclusion

Growing muscles and burning fat at the same time is a task that does not require super-heavy training programs and strict diets. Smart and consistent application of the basic principles of fat loss and muscle gain- everything that is required of you.

So, you need:

maintain a moderate calorie deficit and use BZHU in the correct proportions(read more about this);
give preference to basic exercises;
do HIIT regularly(but no more than 2 hours per week);
get enough sleep;
use the right sports nutrition to speed up the process.

Your body will take care of the rest. Good luck!

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If you ask around among amateurs and professionals of iron sports, you will get a bunch of contradictory (and sometimes absurd) answers. Someone will say that this is impossible, another will say, on the contrary, that he knows one guy who knows another guy who heard from a third that his friend simultaneously loses weight and gains muscle, without the use of steroids and other pharmaceuticals, and the third He will confidently say that it’s as easy as shelling pears, you just need to transfer fat into muscles!

Who is right and who is wrong? Let's find out.

Muscle growth

Let's make it clear right away. If you want to pump up your butt (make it rounder/protruding/sticking out, etc.) this means that you need to understand the process of muscle growth.

Our body always tries by any means to avoid changes, in this regard, it is an ardent republican 😉 The body wants to be in one constant, calm state. This phenomenon is called “homeostasis”.
But the calm of our body is periodically grossly disrupted by the external environment. They constantly interact with each other to achieve the necessary balance. But if changes occur in the external environment, the internal one will also be subject to cataclysms and changes. And if such changes occur again, then the internal environment will be forced to adapt to maintain consistency.

For example, the first time a person burns, as they say, “out of habit,” but if the procedure is repeated over a certain period of time, the body begins to adapt and melanin is produced and you no longer look like boiled cancer. That is, your body goes through the process of adaptation - adapting the internal environment to changes in the external one. This is how balance is maintained and addiction occurs.

The same law of balance applies when it comes to muscle growth. When you exercise, you begin to upset the balance between your body and the external environment. Muscle cells are destroyed, many internal systems are affected and the body begins to feel stress. If you repeat these actions regularly, your body will have no choice but to adapt by building muscle mass.

How?

How do muscles grow? In a calm state, the muscle is in balance with the external environment. You exercise = cause disturbance from the body. At the end of the workout, you relax, and the body begins to “heal” the muscles and remove all kinds of damage. The body carefully prepares for the possibility of repeated stress in order to be prepared for such changes in the external environment. In the process of restoration of the body, a process of hypertrophy occurs.

Hypertrophy is a medical term meaning an increase in an entire organ or part of it as a result of an increase in volume and (or) number of cells. Muscle hypertrophy, in turn, means muscle growth and an increase in the total muscle mass of the body due to the growth of individual muscle groups.

There are two types of muscle hypertrophy - M iofibrillar and WITH arcoplasmic. The first gives muscle growth by increasing the volume of muscle fiber cells (while their number remains virtually unchanged), the second by increasing the nutrient fluid surrounding this fiber.
The muscles obtained as a result of different types of hypertrophy differ from each other. M-hypertrophy is characterized by “dry” and toned muscles, while C-hypertrophy is characterized by “pumped up” and voluminous muscles. Different kinds loads lead to different types hypertrophy.

Research shows that the healing process of muscle fiber begins 3-4 hours after training and ends after 36-48 hours - which is why it is ineffective to train the same muscle group more often. The main recovery aides are nutrition and...

You need to understand that this process is a very important point, because a significant part of the effectiveness of your physical activity. Without understanding this process, there can be no talk of success and retention of results. According to most experts, muscle growth is based on two main secrets: supercompensation(rest, during which the process of hypertrophy occurs) and load progression.

Fat burning

The body stores hated fat reserves in special fat cells in the form of triglycerides. And in order for this chemical to be used to meet the body's needs, fat cells must break down triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol. There is a name for this process - lipolysis, during which the final substances (FA and glycerol) leave the fat cell and are transported through the blood to the place of use.

The signal for the start of lipolysis is a certain hormonal background (namely, through hormones, special biologically active substances, your body controls all cellular work). Glands are responsible for the production and release of hormones. Once in the blood, hormones “travel” throughout all systems and organs of your body.
Thus, once they are close to the cells in whose work they must be involved, hormones, like a missing piece of a puzzle, contact the receptor, and the desired command is launched. In our case, “fat breakdown”.

I think it’s obvious that you can’t tell the hormone “hey, boss, slow down”, any specific problem area. The lipolysis command will be given for the entire body, or not at all!

After fat is released, it is transported along with the blood to the muscle . When it reaches this muscle, it is burned in the mitochondria, the “power plants” of a person.

But lipolysis(fat breakdown) is not synonymous with losing weight!
Yes, the triglyceride left the cell and was absorbed into the blood. And now, in order to truly get rid of it irrevocably, the body must "burn"(to spend on certain needs). If this does not happen, our poor triglyceride will circulate through the bloodstream and be deposited back in the same fat cells, or even on the walls of blood vessels, creating cholesterol plaques.

And this is precisely why no goji berries, turboslims, belts, saunas, body wraps, etc. are... clean water scam! Just as it is impossible to shake, melt, or otherwise act mechanically on fatty deposits - this is a chemical reaction!

So is it possible to combine these two processes: fat burning and muscle growth?

Important point in this matter: protein synthesis and breakdown is a continuous process regardless of the type of nutrition. Those. your body produces and destroys protein without asking you at all.
In muscle itself, the sum of protein synthesis and breakdown can lead to three different outcomes (Tipton & Wolfe, 2001).

If more protein is synthesized than is broken down, this can lead to to the growth of “lean” muscle mass.
If more protein is broken down than synthesized, this can lead to to net loss muscle tissue .
If protein synthesis and breakdown balance each other, this leads to to balance.

Research shows that exercise can lead to an increase in the rate of protein synthesis. We may be talking about accelerating the transport of amino acids after exercise (Biolo et al., 1995). Moreover, it is strength training that can lead to an increase in muscle mass to a greater extent, if, of course, a sufficient supply of amino acids is ensured (Phillips et al., 2002).
The body prefers to build muscle when it is in a positive energy balance, because Under these conditions, sufficient macronutrients and amino acids are available.

There are a few exceptions, i.e. cases in which there is a deficiency, muscle mass growth is possible for some time:

in people significantly overweight(more than 25% for men, and the effect is recorded in just days or weeks), how they begin to follow a diet coupled with training;
for beginners(the effect again lasts for days or weeks, but not indefinitely);
In both cases, regular training for beginners (both strength training and cardio) improves the sensitivity of muscle tissue to insulin and improves the absorption of nutrients by it (strength training is probably the most powerful tool in our arsenal to improve absorption nutrients in that particular tissue type).

In addition, “complete” beginners have a fairly large number unclaimed calories floating in the blood(due to the developed insulin resistance of tissues, their fat cells become less susceptible to storing excess calories and their blood contains a large amount of glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol). By the way, with the help of sports, obese people begin to improve the insulin sensitivity of tissues (especially muscle tissue) and their fat cells receive an incentive to more effectively release excess stored energy. And the thinner you become and the longer you train, the more this effect fades away :)
among professional athletes(in one of the studies these were athletes with a total amount of training per week of about 15 hours, with 10-15 years of experience);
when returning to strength training after a long break, provided that the person previously had good muscular shape and a low percentage of fat, but after abandoning training, he swam and became fat. So, returning to strength training, a person quickly feels the effect (the so-called “muscle memory”), which will also end quickly. He thinks that fat has been pumped into muscles, but no, this is absurd. Read why below.

Concerning not newbies in sports and their desire to lose fat and grow meat, i.e. to ensure both of these processes simultaneously and in a calorie deficit (small/large/minuscule/huge), then, alas, it is not feasible.

The higher the training and the lower the amount of fat in the body, the higher the process of adaptation to fat loss. This means that there is a significant increase in tissue sensitivity to insulin, especially in fat cells, which ultimately makes it difficult to lose fat, since people have a low percentage of body fat, i.e. fat cells not only have less storage, but they also become increasingly difficult to mobilize.

Besides, The higher your fitness level, the more difficult it is, in principle, to gain more muscle mass(i.e., over the years it is more difficult to grow muscles than at the very beginning of strength training).

Our bodies are poorly suited to doing two things at once, especially when they contradict each other or require opposing conditions. For example, study after study confirms that combining heavy strength training with endurance training produces significantly more modest results than training each measure separately.

The processes of fat burning and muscle growth require completely different (and, in fact, mutually exclusive) conditions. Moreover, the specific conditions (calorie surplus at a minimum) that allow you to grow muscle are what contribute to fat gain. And, in turn, the conditions necessary for burning fat are one of the reasons (along with the body's adaptation) that you will burn muscle at the same time.

Synthesis of new tissue (whether muscle or fat) requires energy, and this energy cannot come out of nowhere. The synthesis of muscle tissue is a particularly energy-intensive process, especially compared to the synthesis of fat.

One might idyllically believe that the calories needed for muscle growth could be magically taken from burning fat, but in reality this rarely happens, at least without specialized pharmacological drugs.

Actually, this is precisely why all the proposed natural strategies that promote simultaneous weight loss while increasing muscle mass are not particularly effective.
Simply put, if you do not fall into the above three groups of temporary exceptions, then it is more likely that With natural regimens, you will not be able to lose weight and gain muscle mass at the same time.

Bottom line

You cannot lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. These two goals require different strategies and approaches. So, for example, in order to “pump up your butt,” you must consume more energy than you consume, i.e. must maintain a positive energy balance.
For ripped abs and split ends, you must consume fewer calories than you expend, i.e. must maintain a negative energy balance.

It's simple: first we lose weight - then we grow muscles.

"Here I am..."

Typical newbie who just signed up for Gym, usually sets himself two goals at once - to get rid of the small belly that appears from regularly “eating goodies” and a sedentary lifestyle, and to pump up the muscles a little (most often we're talking about about the abs, arms and chest) in order to look more or less decent on the beach.

However, turning fat into muscle is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Strictly speaking, in one workout it is almost impossible to force the body to first burn fat and then direct the released energy to build muscle. In fact, these are two completely different and mutually exclusive physiological processes.

Do muscles burn fat?

On the one hand, the more muscle mass body, the more energy and calories are spent on the needs of metabolism and metabolism - accordingly, the body begins to get rid of excess fat reserves. On the other hand, muscle-building strength exercises alone have minimal impact on fat loss.

Separately, we note that neither twisting nor any kind (even the most sophisticated) can help get rid of belly fat. To create a sculpted abs with cubes, it is important first of all proper nutrition- and even regular cardio is not as effective as a balanced diet.

Lose weight and get pumped up: strategy

In fact, adipose tissue is fundamentally different from muscle tissue. Fat is a reserve source of energy, considered by the body as a passive balance, while muscles are metabolically active elements for normal functioning. The more muscles in the body, the more calories are spent on maintaining them.

Although a particular muscle may literally be hidden beneath a layer of fat that stores thousands of calories, during strength training the body will never use the energy from the fat surrounding the muscle to power it. The reason is simple - muscles, in fact, work not on fat, but on carbohydrates.

Glycogen and energy for training

The first 40-50 minutes any physical training, be it running, swimming, cardio, crossfit or any strength exercises, the body uses, accumulated in the muscles and which is a product of processing carbohydrates from food. It is believed that the average person needs from 80 to 150 g of glycogen per physical workout.

Only after spending the reserves of this glycogen, the body will gradually move on to other sources of energy - proteins and fats. Or, more precisely, to muscles and free fatty acids. In this case, the order is most often exactly this - glycogen, muscle, fat. In fact, fat is a reserve supply of energy that the body does not want to burn.

Fat as a source of energy

The most important condition in order to “free” free fatty acids from the fat cell and make them a source of energy for physical activity is low blood sugar (and insulin) levels. Speaking in simple words, the body can burn fat only when complete absence carbohydrates in the stomach and glucose in the blood.

It is for this reason that if followed for a long time, it will lead to weight loss and weight loss without any physical training. In contrast, even a small serving of French fries contains so many carbohydrates and calories that you would have to run about 6 km to burn them off.

Why do people get fat?

FitSeven has written in detail about how chronically high blood sugar, caused by chronic consumption of fast carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, gradually “weans” the body to use fat as an energy source. A person even with a moderate caloric intake.

To successfully lose weight, you need to not just “go on a diet”, reduce the amount of food you consume and exercise vigorously, but first review your entire diet and limit sources as much as possible. Only this method will really help you get rid of excess weight and burn fat.

Muscle Building Strategy

Being the main enemy of weight loss, carbohydrates are critical for the body to build muscle. Without enough carbohydrates in your diet, you will have neither the strength for successful physical training nor the reserves for subsequent recovery and growth of muscle tissue. This is why a beginner cannot lose weight and build muscles at the same time.

Only professional athletes are able to combine training to burn fat and grow muscles - however, in their case it is more about “drying out muscles” rather than losing weight, since athletes initially have low levels of body fat. However, they are completely unsuitable for people with an initial level of physical fitness.

***

Unfortunately, turning fat into muscle is not as easy as it seems. If you want to lose weight, first focus your efforts on controlling your diet and glycemic index of carbohydrates, and only then start exercising. It makes sense to switch to cutting training only when the percentage of body fat drops to 10-15% in men and 20-25% in women.