Recently I have received
many questions about the order of muscle gain and fat reduction.
Questioners want to know, for them, should lose weight first and then
gain muscle or lose weight first. It is better to write an article one
by one, because there are many factors in this question, all of which
must be taken into account. So let's take a look today. For you, is it
better to lose fat first or gain muscle first? What factors must be
considered when gaining muscle and reducing fat?
Some definitions and basic rules
Let's define the words "muscle gain" and "fat loss".
"Muscle
gain" means increasing muscle mass, and "fat loss" means reducing fat
mass. But when people say "I'm gaining weight / lossing fat," they mean
"I'm in the gaining / lossing period now."
"Muscle gain phase"
refers to the period during which the trainer deliberately eats and
trains so that the muscles are in a state of optimal growth.
During
the muscle gain period, the weight must be increased, otherwise the
muscle gain effect is not obvious. If you think about it, muscles also
have weight, and when they get bigger, they also become heavier. If
there is no significant increase in weight, it means that not many
muscles have gained weight.
Therefore, when gaining muscle, you
must eat more, keep your body in a state of calories, and let the intake
exceed the consumption. href = "https: // zhuahttp:
//nlan.zhihu.com/p/26988061"> Only in the state of calorie Shengyu,
muscles can be in the best growth environment.
According to the
principle of energy balance, whenever the weight rises, the weight
gained must include fat and muscle. It cannot be just muscle or just
fat.
So when gaining muscle, there must be some fat accumulation. This is a fact and must be accepted.
Of
course, we can adjust the muscle fat ratio by some methods to make the
ratio more beneficial to the muscle, such as effective resistance
training, high protein diet, muscle gain speed, and so on. In any case,
whenever you gain weight, you must include muscle and fat.
Conversely,
the "fat-reducing period" refers to training that deliberately eats
less and maintains the amount of training for a period of time to reduce
body fat rate and weight while maintaining as much muscle mass as
possible.
For the same reason, during the fat loss period, the
weight must be reduced, otherwise the fat loss effect is not obvious.
Therefore, when losing fat, the body must be in a state of calorie
deficit (= calorie difference). So when losing weight, it also includes
muscle and fat, not just fat or just muscle.
After reading this, you may wonder: "Is it impossible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?"
Muscle
gain and fat reduction can occur at the same time, but the effect is
not very obvious, and it will not last much time, and it will only occur
in some special cases.
Let's start with the simplest and most obvious crowd:
If someone is overweight or obese and the body fat rate is> 25%, I recommend starting with fat loss.
If someone is underweight or underweight and has a body fat rate of <10%, I recommend starting with muscle gain.
In
fact, fools all know what these two groups of people need to start
with, what is not clear is the people between the two groups.
Since
there is no scientific research that will tell us whether to start with
muscle gain or fat loss, because the scientists are not worried about
this, the following suggestions are based on my personal experience and
logic:
If a person's body fat rate is between 10-25%, I think
unless he has a wealth of exercise experience, he has exercised from
small to large, and has a lot of muscle mass as a foundation. That said,
if you're between 10-25%, don't start with fat loss.
If the body fat rate is <18%, begin to gain muscle directly.
If
your body fat percentage is between 18-25%, start with maintaining your
body weight intake. In this way, due to the "novice effect", you can
get some simultaneous muscle gain and fat loss effects. Then slowly
increase your intake and don't let the body fat rate exceed 25%.
Why don't I recommend starting to lose fat when my body fat rate is between 10-25%?
Because of the "novice effect".
In
the early stages of resistance training, anyone has never exercised
before, and the body has responded very strongly at the beginning,
releasing a lot of growth hormones and hormones to help muscles, bones
and connective tissues grow. During this period, muscles grow extremely
fast and strength rises very quickly, like a pill. But this period of
time will not last long, and generally it will be gone after 3-6 months.
So
unless you are really fat (body fat rate> 25%), you should make good
use of this time period, with diet and recovery to enhance the effect.
But
if you start to lose fat (calorie deficit) at this time, the muscle
gain effect is definitely not as good as the calorie Shengyu, because
the calorie deficit will affect the muscle gain effect. Although the
novice effect also occurs in the case of a calorie deficit, its duration
and effect are reduced. And after the first 6 months, even if you
resume your diet, the muscle gain effect after that is not as good as in
the first 6 months, because the body has been "accustomed" to
resistance training.
I have made this mistake myself.
At
the beginning of this fitness journey, I was not very fat, and my body
fat rate should be around 15%. At first I wanted to be like a
bodybuilder, dry and clear my 6 pack abs, so I have been losing fat
during the first two years of fitness and have been in a calorie
deficit. Although I finally saw my abdominal muscles, I still couldn't
reduce the fat in the waist and hips, and the muscles of the arms,
chest, back, and legs were not enough, so the overall look was not good,
and the fat reduction made me eat only 1800 a day Calorie food, hungry!
Also,
when I was trying to gain muscle, every time I gained weight and every 6
obvious abdominal muscles started to disappear, I was afraid that I
would gain weight and then start to lose weight. In the end, I kept
stepping on the spot and decreasing it every time, so my training effect
was wasted.
Later I realized that before losing fat, I must have
enough muscle mass as a basis. Otherwise, even if you see your
abdominal muscles, you will not feel that you are in good shape. And
because the muscle mass is not enough and the metabolic rate is not
fast, the daily intake must be very restrained to reduce fat.
When
gaining muscle, you must forget your abdominal muscles, pay attention
to training performance, control the rate of weight gain, and slowly
gain muscle.