Gaining muscle while cutting fat simply isn’t possible.
I understand it is not something most people want to hear, but your body cannot add tissue (of any kind, be it fat or muscle) while in a state of energy deficit. It simply isn’t possible.
When the human body does not receive sufficient calories from food intake to fuel itself it must “burn” existing tissue (fat and/or muscle) to generate the needed energy. There is no magic that will allow tissue to be added as it is subtracted. Therefore, adding muscle while losing weight is mathematically impossible.
And every study I had ever seen supports this idea.
For example, body composition was monitored in a group of women during a period of weight loss. Some of the subjects lifted weights, others did not. Those who lifted weights maintained their muscle mass, cutting only fat. The group that did not lift lost measurable amounts of muscle along with the fat (1). This is the normal trend, and the reason lifting weights when losing weight is important. However, recently I was conducting research for a completely unrelated article and I came across an interesting study that challenged this notion.
The Evidence
Fourteen obese women followed a low calorie diet for 90 days. Seven of the women remained sedentary during this period, while the other seven followed a weight training routine. Their weight was monitored and measurements of the cross sectional area (muscle size) of the vastus lateralis (a quadricep muscle) were taken. The result? After 90 days both groups lost roughly the same amount of weight. However, the cross sectional area of the vastus lateralis increased in the group that engaged in weight training. They gained muscle. While losing fat. (2)
How Did It Happen?
It is difficult to determine exactly how this occurred, but one would venture to guess that because the study occurred over a 90 day period, the group that lifted weights experienced brief anabolic periods (ie. they actually gained weight/muscle). That is, most of the time they were losing weight but at some point(s) this process had to reverse to allow the new muscle to be formed. Now this is only a hypothesis, but I cannot think of any other viable explanation.
What This Means For You
First of all, it is important to recognize that this study was conducted using obese test subjects. Not college athletes or even recreational weight lifters.
The truth is that it appears to be possible to gain muscle while losing weight for obese and relatively untrained (ie. those new to weightlifting) individuals. However, if you do not fall into either of those categories, it is far more effective to gain weight if your goal is to gain muscle. Losing weight while lifting weights is still effective for cutting fat, but not for gaining muscle.
References
1. Layman, Donald K., et al. “Dietary protein and exercise have additive effects on body composition during weight loss in adult women.” The Journal of nutrition 135.8 (2005): 1903-1910.
2. Donnelly, Joseph E., et al. “Muscle hypertrophy with large-scale weight loss and resistance training.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 58.4 (1993): 561-565.
Here’s a nice fitness calculator to help decide and calculate macros: BULKvsCUT.com
Calling BS on this. Absolutely possible to burn fat while building muscle. You’re predicating the headline on the premise of a nutritional deficit. In which case, yeah, you’ll just burn off fat to reveal muscle that was already there. However, if you eat properly focusing on protein while doing cardio-style resistance/weight training, you can absolutely do both. Not easy, but it can be done. As you eat to build muscle, that muscle will in turn help burn off fat. I think articles like these that make blanket statements about how it’s “impossible” to recomp ones body discourage people. They think the only option is to go on a miserable diet first to get sickly looking thin and only then start eating and lifting to gain muscle. Just not true.
I’m not sure you read the article.
Is it possible? yes.
It’s just not as efficient as bulking or cutting.
That being said I’m currently maintaining weight and aiming for a slow and steady recomp. I think it’s healthier in the long run, actually.
I was curious. I over the course of my entire life have been doing manual labor and in college I would load my pack and all my books with a 20LBS. in the bottom of it totaling 65LBS. give or take. And I would also take kick boxing, cardio, Chen style broadsword and open hand forms and weight training etc. All this comes out to 5 hrs of exercise every day 6 days a week and all my classes were on different floors or across campus for 4 years. At work I work as a cart pusher at WalMart and all of our lot is uphill so you can imagine what pushing 600 pounds of steel uphill in the hot Texas sun will do. Now I’ve always gotten stronger and more able but I never gained mass or anything. So when people meet me they think this guy is scrawny and incapable of doing anything so they always opt for the big husky guys. Yet I best them in ability and stamina every time and the things they find hard are easy for me. So all this brings me to my question. How do I match my ability in physical appearance? How do I get that muscle mass? I gotta go to work now so I don’t have time to search your site or I would. I’ve read your articles and have a couple of your books and I find them to be great which is why I’m asking.
Hey John,
You’re going to want to eat more food and do at least a couple weightlifting sessions a week to apply an optimal stimulus for your body to build new muscle tissue.
Check out this article: https://www.howtobeast.com/how-to-build-muscle-and-stay-lean/
*edited for typos
This is BS. I’ve proven it over the past 5 months and in previous years when I was in my 30s and lifting moderately (not even heavy). I remember going hard with HITT for about 40 mins then doing weights for another 30-40 mins 4-5 times per week and NOT eating perfectly and within weeks I had cuts AND fat loss. Even my trainer at the gym noticed and commented.
And now 10years later, since June (it’s now November) I have been training again mainly between home and a small gym at work and I have definitely been cutting fat AND gaining muscle/ definition at the same time. And I’m now in my 40s so you would think this would be “impossible” as this article claims. Well I’m living proof that this is BS. Our bodies respond differently to everything. End of story. You can’t tell people what their bodies can or cannot do.
In response to your reply to Steve Jacobsen. Actually you DID say it’s impossible.
“Gaining muscle while cutting fat simply isn’t possible.”
Well I guess I’m some kind of a magician then. The Last three months I have gained 7kg. (15,4 lbs) bodymass and lost around 2 % body fat