How to Lose Body Fat but Keep Muscles?

[jinbrother1]

I'm seventeen-years-old and I weigh 155 lbs. I've been lifting weights for about four years (not as intense though, about thirty minutes to and hour a day), but I still have more-than-average amount body fat for my age. I can see some definitions in my chest area and arms but it's not as defined as I want it. I've tried reducing my calorie intake and running on the treadmill for an hour every day for a month (I was initially 165 lbs but lost 10 lbs from the routine), but my dad keeps insisting I eat more (he thinks I should weigh around 160-175 lbs). I agree with him and want to gain more weight from building muscle, but not from consuming calories that'll simply go to waste. How can I specifically target my body fat without compromising muscular buildup? I always thought that losing body fat meant losing weight. Or is it possible to lose body fat while maintaining or even increasing your total body weight from building muscle? I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks a lot.

 

[Tim_14]

Well to lose weight and keep ur muscel i would say continue doing your cardio like the tredmill ect and lifting weights, but once you have finished on the tredmill try taking some whey protien shakes, that will keep your muscle there. When i go for a jog i either have a protien shake an hour before i run or straight after i get back.

As for increasing muscle from running, you cant increase your muscle from jogging, that tones you up, but if you sprint a fair bit, u'll gain muscle aswell.

Hope i have helped

 

[newf]

I'm seventeen-years-old and I weigh 155 lbs. I've been lifting weights for about four years (not as intense though, about thirty minutes to and hour a day), but I still have more-than-average amount body fat for my age. I can see some definitions in my chest area and arms but it's not as defined as I want it. There are parts where it jiggles because of fat. I've tried reducing my calorie intake and running on the treadmill for an hour every day for a month (I was initially 165 lbs but lost 10 lbs from the routine), but my dad keeps insisting I eat more (he thinks I should weigh around 160-175 lbs). I agree with him and want to gain more weight from building muscle, but not from consuming calories that'll simply go to waste. How can I specifically target my body fat without compromising muscular buildup? I always thought that losing body fat meant losing weight. Or is it possible to lose body fat while maintaining or even increasing your total body weight from building muscle? I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks a lot.

You need to learn about calorie counting and good quailty foods.

Start to give you guide on how many cals you should consume a day

 

[jinbrother1]

Thanks for all your replies. I'll try your suggestions.

I should have also said that I walk on the treadmill for an hour, not run. I don't know why I wrote run. Is there a difference in walking and running on a treadmill? Does running tone your body more so than walking? I always thought it was about calories burned that counted. I could burn more calories (1445) by walking for an hour than running for 20 to 30 minutes (I get all out of breath).

Also, I'm a bit confused to the number of calories I should be eating a day in order to lose body fat. I checked the site that you mentioned, newf, and it said I should be eating 1991 calories a day to lose body fat. But I read that for muscles to grow, one had to consume more calories than the body burned in a day, but lose to body fat, one had to consume less calories than the body burned in a day. How can I gain muscles and lose body fat at the same time

 

[thedevil]

I guess thats the reason why there are bulk cycles. With muscle gain there is some fat gain. On the other hand while cutting you try to loose more fat than muscle. So slowly the BF% reduces.

 

[Tim_14]

TheDevil, to get ripped would you have to do workouts with breaks inbetween, like a day between work outs or would it be beter to work out eveynight? plus of corse losing those few extra pounds by cario and correct eating.

 

[malkore]

You should not weight train every day. You don't build muscle while lifting...you build it while recovering. You should have 48 hours of rest between workouts for the same muscle group. So if you do bench presses on Monday night, you shouldn't do anything for chest again until at least Wednesday.
Hence a lot of poeple alternate between weights one day, cardio the next, or will split upper and lower body into two days, then have a cardio day, then repeat again (which is my current split)