Cutting fat while gaining muscle/ size

[mikeman]

My goal is to gain muscle and lose fat. I dont want to lose weight though...
I work out about 5 days a week. Recently started a new 5x5, and then I try to incorporate a little cardio in on the other days.
I also eat fairly well, but dont count calories (Im diabetic, so I know about portion control). I also drink protein after lifting.

What suggestions would you guys have to meet my goal?

 

[jarude]

if you want to effectively recomp - put on muscle at the expense of fat while staying the same scale weight - you must count calories. eat at a 40p/25c/35f macronutrient ratio at your daily maintenance level or slightly below, see what happens. if you are trying to put on scale weight, you will be gaining fat, so decide which is more important. if you're concerned with aesthetics, cutting might be a better option depending on your current weight+bf% in relation to your height.

recomping is a long process and can be a pain **********; if you dont count calories and stay within your macros you could be spinning your wheels for a long time. fwiw, if you don't have a lot of experience with dieting i would recommend either bulking up or cutting down, depending on what you want more. inexperienced recompers - myself included - often end up in diet purgatory where one day they want to bulk and the next day they want to cut and the end result is they look exactly the same 6 months later.

 

[mikeman]

Yeah, I started counting calories today. So, I'll see how that goes. I think im about 14% bf right now, but like my size- so as you mentioned, I have to determined which Id do... I just fear that If I cut, I'll become kinda scrawny... not that im a monster now.

What if I cut my calories slightly, and eat extremely clean? Would that kind of cut fat a bit while allowing for some muscle growth?

 

[jarude]

yes, that's probably what i would do if i were in your situation. eating at a slight deficit isn't going to shrink you; if anything, you will look bigger as your proportions get better. the only thing i will say is that progress will be slow; even when i was cutting fairly seriously i was frustrated at the lack of day-to-day progress. as long as you can stay consistent with clean food below maintenance at an appropriate macro ratio you should be great.

it goes without saying but make sure you track performance, scale weight, bf% estimations thru measurements and mirror.. etc

 

[alexanduh]

what kind of workout are you on?

ive been on stronglifts for around 8 months and have found it great in increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat as well as increasing strength.

kept my diet pretty much the same.

 

[mikeman]



what kind of workout are you on?
ive been on stronglifts for around 8 months and have found it great in increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat as well as increasing strength.
kept my diet pretty much the same.

I'm on 3 days a week routine for consisting of bench presses, squats, shoulder presses, and dead-lifts. I also do "accessory" lifts for arms and triceps. I have noticed a pretty good gain in my strength over the past month or so. I havenet been going heavy on my BP as I think I tore/ pulled a muscle or have some sort of tendonitis in in my outer bicep.

Whats have you found to be the best 5x5 routine?

 

[jarude]

if you're interested in cutting fat and gaining muscle you shouldnt be looking for the best 5x5, you should be dialing in your diet tight. alexanduh found success because he went from not lifting to lifting - any kind of decent resistance training is going to result in a better body comp regardless of diet if you're coming from no resistance training.

considering you've already been lifting and are looking for less fat and more muscle, that's diet. don't flip-flop around trying to find the best routine and i would especially recommend against going on stronglifts 5x5 since it is pretty much useless once you plateau on it. there are much better programs to do once you are past the rank beginner stage.

there are great routines to segue into from a 5x5 at www.ironaddicts.com

 

[mikeman]

Yeah, I had been eating pretty well, but I started using a calorie tracker, and have it set to limit me to a few hundred under my maintenance. So, I'll see how that works out. I really need to keep my blood sugar in tight tight control, as pumping myself with excess insulin doesn't help at all.

As for choosing a different workout; what would you suggest? I glanced at that site and there seemed to be LOTS of stuff on there. Is there any workout in particular that you would recommend?

 

[Lagrangian]

spbr is what's he's getting at

 

[OmniscientCause]

It is impossible to do both at the same time with out suplimental assistance...you can chose to either bulk/cut or just cut all together which may give the appearance of gaining muscle while losing fat. But the body can not spot grow and contract at the same time.

 

[fuji]



It is impossible to do both at the same time with out suplimental assistance...you can chose to either bulk/cut or just cut all together which may give the appearance of gaining muscle while losing fat. But the body can not spot grow and contract at the same time.

Unless you're pretty much untrained or haven't trained for very long.

 

[YoungM]



It is impossible to do both at the same time with out suplimental assistance...you can chose to either bulk/cut or just cut all together which may give the appearance of gaining muscle while losing fat. But the body can not spot grow and contract at the same time.

I find this a little hard to believe - I'm about 205 right now, six months ago I was 215, and during that period, I've gotten consistently stronger (and, depressingly, outgrew some jeans because of my thighs). What's happened? To Fuji's comment above, I'm not a super badass, but I was far from untrained. People in the Random Thoughts thread are always recommending that people stay at the weight they are and try to get stronger - how is that happening if fat isn't being replaced with muscle?

 

[OmniscientCause]

Think about it logically in order to build muscle you need to consume over your maintenance level in calories every day. In order to lose far you need to eat under your maintenance level in calories every day. You can't do both at the same time.

I was really into body building for 3 years...sure you can get stronger but you won't necessarily be growing muscle mass.

 

[indesertum]

i think that's too simplistic of a view. if you take advantage of nutrition timing, partition, and insulin manipulation (basically pwo and periworkout shakes) you should be able to grow some muscle mass while losing fat overall. it's difficult and minor but i wouldn't say it's impossible. increasing weights over time will build muscle mass and you can increase weights over time in the beginning and intermediate period even while cutting.

 

[OmniscientCause]

fine i retract my statement. My method is better for gaining more lean mass. You can try to cut fat and gain muscle at the same time but it will take longer to active the same results doing it my way.

but I'm pretty biased to calories in calories out method as long as you hit your macro numbers