Gaining muscle and reducing fat at the same time

[retired_susilosaja]

Hi,

I've done a lot of reading about body building, and what I get is :
- If I want to add muscle mass, I have to consume more calories above my maintenance level
- If I want to reduce fat, I have to consume less calories than my maintenance calories

Now, I'm 26 Male, I'm very thin with a lot of fat on the stomach. So I want to add muscle mass but also reduce body fat. And I'm wondering if I could achieve both at the same time.

I got 2 questions :

1. I've read people usually do about 3 times a week for weight training and about 2-3 times a week for cardio. So it sounds like trying to gain muscle and losing fat at the same time. Now I'm confused about how should I eat. I need to eat a lot to gain muscle. But I also want to reduce body fat so I should eat less. So how should I eat ?

2. If we want to gain muscle mass, we need a lot of calories and a lot of rest. But doing cardio between weight training sounds to me like spending a lot of calories and reducing rest. I'm confused about the program I should do.

Regards,
Susilo

 

[malkore]

You can't gain a lot of muscle mass while shedding fat at the same time. YOu can do both, but it'll be a very slow process, and it'll likely discourage you more than encourage you to keep going.

to gain muscle mass, you need between 10-20% more calories consumed than you burn. this is only a few hundred calories, so not exactly 'a ton'
to shed fat, you need 10-20% fewer calories consumed than you need to maintain your present weight. again only a few hundred calories, so you don't exactly starve.

Don't think of cardio as 'how to burn off fat'...think of it as exercise that works the heart...more is not better.

Saying you are 'very thing, with a lot fo fat around the stomach' isn't helpful. it doesn't tell me whether you want to add muscle first, or shed stomach fat first.
are you actually fat around the stomach, or can you just not see your abs and have a little bit of flab?

 

[davidjr74]

I think it would be possible to add muscle and burn fat at the same time if you do HIIT training 2-3 times a week and weight lifting 2-3 times a week while on a maintence diet. Check your weight and body fat % and after a month see if your weight is the same and your body fat% is lower.

 

[retired_susilosaja]

Saying you are 'very thing, with a lot fo fat around the stomach' isn't helpful. it doesn't tell me whether you want to add muscle first, or shed stomach fat first.
are you actually fat around the stomach, or can you just not see your abs and have a little bit of flab?

I'm around 172 cm (5.64 ft) and 62 kgs (137.6 lbs). Not sure whether I measure it correctly , but i think my bf is around 22%.

I'm not sure how to describe my abs, but I can tell you that it look really big at night , looked like i'm pregnant. I'm afraid it's just gonna get bigger if I bulk.

But if I try to cut first , even right now I'm already very thin.

Regards,
Susilo

 

[Cryptik]

I'm around 172 cm (5.64 ft) and 62 kgs (137.6 lbs). Not sure whether I measure it correctly , but i think my bf is around 22%.

I'm not sure how to describe my abs, but I can tell you that it look really big at night , looked like i'm pregnant. I'm afraid it's just gonna get bigger if I bulk.

But if I try to cut first , even right now I'm already very thin.

Regards,
Susilo

you're similar to my physique....my stomach gets big when I eat (which is normal). I'm @ 140-142 lbs. I'm going to bulk.

 

[cusimar9]

At the moment I'm losing weight AND gaining muscle, but from what I've read its only possible when you're a beginner, which I am.

 

[xtonymarsx]

Yes, that will stop soon cusimar9, and you will have to make a decision on whether you want to bulk, cut, or maintaine.