Do I still need surplus calories if i have a belly??

C

carl24bpool

0
I am just getting back into weight training after a 4 month break. I have never really been serious but have now joined a gym.

I currently weigh 226lbs and I'm 6'5". I have a slim frame.

I have managed to acquire a bit of a belly over these months and was wondering whether I still have to eat surplus calories if I want to bulk properly or will my fat reserves break down to provide more calories? If I do will I loose any of my belly whilst training?

I was also going to include swimming into my routine. Does this mean I will need to eat even more calories to ensure the surplus is always there?
Or is swimming a bad idea whilst bulking?? I just want to make sure my heart strength increases along side my muscle strength.

Thanks all for your input.

I know that I can probably find the answers in the forum, but there is just so much stuff in there it's impossible to find the exact info you need.

I thought a good idea would be to permanently keep the most common questions at the top of the forum to save repeat questions.

I will also post some before and after pics after a few month training.

Thanks again
 
belly fat won't convert into muscle. stored fat is fat. protein builds muscles. even Merlin couldn't turn fat into muscle ;)
 
you missed my question. I am well aware you can't turn fat into muscle, but can you turn fat into useable energy????

Do I need to be taking in a surplus of calories to gain muscle, even though I have lots of fat which will provide extra calories?

thanks
 
If you are just re-starting working out, almost any exercise/diet plan will result in some muscle gain and some fat loss. You probably should just do a 6-8 week cycle to get re-accustomed to working out and then see where you are in 2 months. Then you can optimise your diet for gaining mass or loosing fat at needed.
 
carl24bpool said:
you missed my question. I am well aware you can't turn fat into muscle, but can you turn fat into useable energy????

Do I need to be taking in a surplus of calories to gain muscle, even though I have lots of fat which will provide extra calories?

thanks
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fat burns in the presence of oxygen in the blood stream which only occurs during aerboic exercise (cardio) and not during anaerobic weight training.
 
carl24bpool said:
I am just getting back into weight training after a 4 month break. I have never really been serious but have now joined a gym.

I currently weigh 226lbs and I'm 6'5". I have a slim frame.

I have managed to acquire a bit of a belly over these months and was wondering whether I still have to eat surplus calories if I want to bulk properly or will my fat reserves break down to provide more calories? If I do will I loose any of my belly whilst training?

I was also going to include swimming into my routine. Does this mean I will need to eat even more calories to ensure the surplus is always there?
Or is swimming a bad idea whilst bulking?? I just want to make sure my heart strength increases along side my muscle strength.

Thanks all for your input.

I know that I can probably find the answers in the forum, but there is just so much stuff in there it's impossible to find the exact info you need.

I thought a good idea would be to permanently keep the most common questions at the top of the forum to save repeat questions.

I will also post some before and after pics after a few month training.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

I got the same problem you got man. Sorry I don't know the answer
 
jmanjman47 said:
I really like this post, I never thought it would work that way.

So I could maintain 165 pounds, while losing fat and adding muscle slowly??
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Yeah, I've done it a few times, usually in the spring to get rid of that winter 12 pack :eek:.
 
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garyl43 said:
Fat burns when there is a caloric deficit even if you are not exercising at all. Oxygen is always present in your blood stream, unless you're dead. here's something I posted earlier today, it's worked really well for me:http://www.fitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=123282&postcount=38
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i meant present in the muscle, my brain was somewhere else when i responded to that.

as to your body always burning fat when there is a caloric deficit, thats just flat out not true.
 
junkfoodbad said:
i meant present in the muscle, my brain was somewhere else when i responded to that.

as to your body always burning fat when there is a caloric deficit, thats just flat out not true.
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Your muscles need oxygen to live even when they're not in use. Fat burns when there is a caloric deficit, thats the whole reason we store it when there is excess (not for our aerobics class), so that when there's not enough to eat we burn the fat to make up the deficit. Just ask any grizzly bear in the spring how much fat he lost while hibernating, or ask that fat guy that bumped his head and has been in a coma for three years how he lost all that weight with zero excercise.
 
stored fat CAN be burned in a caloric deficit...but so can muscle. it all depends on many different variables. On that note, stored fat CAN also be burned in a caloric surplus as well.

It's not just as cut and dry as "eat less calories than you burn, and you will burn stored fat."

It's entirely possible to be in a caloric deficit and continue to store fat and be burning ONLY muscle.
 
You can lose muscle with a caloric deficit, but that was not what I was arguing. This is what I was arguing:
junkfoodbad said:
fat burns in the presence of oxygen in the blood stream which only occurs during aerboic exercise (cardio) and not during anaerobic weight training.
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You are saying here that you can only burn fat with aerobic exercise and not during weight training. That's totally false. Also, if you're trying to keep or gain muscle and lose fat, weight training is the way to go. When you do aerobic exercise to lose weight, you are creating a caloric deficit that will burn fat and muscle. And the way you wrote that sounds pretty cut & dried.
 
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garyl43 said:
You are saying here that you can only burn fat with aerobic exercise and not during weight training.
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anaerobic exercise (lifting weight) uses muscle glycogen for energy NOT fat. Building muscle increases your caloric maintenance level (your BMR) which helps create a caloric deficit. but the actual ACT of lifting weights DOES NOT BURN STORED FAT.
 
junkfoodbad said:
anaerobic exercise (lifting weight) uses muscle glycogen for energy NOT fat. Building muscle increases your caloric maintenance level (your BMR) which helps create a caloric deficit. but the actual ACT of lifting weights DOES NOT BURN STORED FAT.
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The end result is the same then, right? Remember we are trying to answer carl24pool question here, not to confuse him by telling him he can only lose the fat with aerobic exercise.
 
garyl43 said:
The end result is the same then, right? Remember we are trying to answer carl24pool question here, not to confuse him by telling him he can only lose the fat with aerobic exercise.
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yeah my bad, sometimes i get a little too caught up on details.
 
Tim_14 said:
Meaning maintainance in a way
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Not really. A maintenance workout is when you're just trying to maintain the muscle you already have. This is a way I've found to gain muscle and lose fat slowly without cutting my calorie intake so much that it's impossible to gain muscle. The only thing I'm maintaining here is my weight.
 
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