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Most people like having a lean, athletic looking physique. This involves a low, manageable level of body fat and a little bit of visible muscle. But of course, everyone has a different definition of what "muscular" means.
For some, this requires just shaving down a little body fat and letting the underlying muscle show. For others, this may mean spending some time in the gym sculpting themselves out of marble and looking like a Greek god.
Having muscle is great. Having more muscle is even better. Being strong and muscular makes everything better. It helps you live longer, it keeps your bones strong, and prevents aging. It even raises your base metabolism, meaning you can eat more food - if you like eating food.
But unfortunately, losing fat and building muscle are on two opposite ends of the fitness spectrum. At least for most people.
The Too Long, Didn't Read Summary:
You can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Losing fat makes people look more muscular.
To build muscle, you must stimulate Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS)
You have to eat more food and protein consistently.
You have to lift weights consistently.
You have to be patient.
The Fitness Paradox
In order to lose body fat, you must be in a caloric deficit. Physics and thermodynamics don't lie. It's the only way to lose fat. But to build muscle, you must be in a caloric surplus. The exact opposite of a deficit.
So this creates a weird paradox for people wanting to lost fat, build a little bit of muscle, and build strength. How can you diet down to lose fat, but also eat more to build muscle?
The answer is: You can't do both at the same time. Not usually. With two small exceptions, I encourage people to pick one or the other. I suggest either:
Losing the body fat and showing the underlying muscle you already have.
OR
Gain weight and build muscle without gaining extra body fat.
Fortunately for most people, losing body fat and showcasing the underlying muscle gives the appearance of being much more muscular. Here's an example of Dave Tate, one of the most prominent powerlifters of all time, at two different stages in his fitness. Which version of him looks the most "muscular"?
Believe it or not, the picture on the left at 290 pounds probably has more muscle than the picture on the right. As a powerlifter, all that matters is raw strength. Appearance and health take a back seat. But as Dave famously writes about on his blog, he decided to get lean. He also looks much stronger at a leaner body weight.
Yes, this is an example of an outlier. And just like the great bodybuilders, Olympic medalists, and other world-class athletes - he's the top 1% capable of doing things the rest of us can't (or won't). But it's a great illustration of my underlying point: Most people look more muscular as they lose fat.
So when a client says to me "I want to build muscle, lose some fat, and look better.", I know the first stage is usually to cut some body fat.
For most of you, this is the end of the article. BUT if you're already lean, or at the stage where you want to build muscle, continue on. Here we go.
How To Build Muscle
Your body is constantly breaking down. It's natures longest running joke. Every day your body breaks down about 1-2% of its muscle. Stressing the muscle breaks it down even further. This means that every time you pick up a weight, walk up some steps, or hit that dance-aerobics class, you're breaking down muscle. This is called Muscle Protein Breakdown (MPB). We usually don't worry about MPB, because the daily protein in your diet helps rebuild this lost muscle mass.
To build muscle, you need to create a nurturing physiological state in your body. Like a cocoon nurturing the metamorphosis of a super-jacked butterfly, you must tell your body to enter Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) at a faster rate than Muscle Protein Breakdown (MPB).
As you can probably deduce, Muscle Protein Synthesis is the opposite of Muscle Protein Breakdown. So building muscle becomes a math equation:
Muscle = MPS - MPB
If your synthesis is at a higher rate than breakdown, you'll build muscle. If your breakdown is at a higher rate, you'll lose muscle.
Pretty simple - but simple isn't easy.
To stimulate MPS, you need two main things:
You need to eat more calories and more protein.
You need resistance training.
I bet with two guesses you would have gotten that one. There's really no rocket science here. But if you've ever tried to build serious amounts of muscle, you may have noticed the process is not as easy as it seems.
There is a third, secret element that most people miss: Patience.
Eat More Food
Creating muscle requires raw materials to sculpt. Sometimes you need to throw some more clay on the sculpture. The biggest problem people experience when trying to add muscle is they're not eating enough.
On the flip side, if you eat TOO much, you'll gain fat.
It becomes a VERY tricky balance to eat just the right amount of too much.
Just like I recommend when trying to lose fat, you need to estimate your caloric needs. Then add between 200-500 calories per day extra.
Try to make as much of this extra food come from protein. I recommend starting with at least 30% protein intake. This means that if you're eating 2000 calories, 600 of those calories need to come from protein.
Protein has 4 calories per gram. This would equal 150 grams of protein (at least).
Lift Weights
Unlike losing fat, exercise is REQUIRED to build muscle mass. You need to stimulate the muscles to break down, so they can be rebuilt. It also has to be the right type of exercise.
The best science and practical experience all suggest starting with big, compound exercises that use multiple joints simultaneously. Things like squats, leg presses, arm pressing machines, dumbbell presses, pullups, lat rows - each of these exercises use multiple body parts at the same time.
However, the exercises must be sufficiently demanding. If you can do more than 15 reps, you're not stressing the muscles efficiently. Challenging rep ranges of 8-15 repetitions show a great blend of size and endurance. This is perfect for beginning exercisers.
Be Patient
The hardest part of any program is sticking to it. Unlike fat loss, building muscle can be excruciatingly slow. Where successful weight loss programs might see 1-2 pounds per week, muscle building programs are limited to 1-2 pounds per month.
If you're gaining more than 2 pounds per month, it's probably not muscle. It also might not be fat.
Our bodies are very good at storing excess energy in the form of glycogen and water. Some people can gain and lose 5-10 pounds in a 24 hour period with just water and food intake. It's not fat OR muscle.
The Exception To The Rules
At the beginning of this article I said fat loss and muscle building are on two separate ends of the fitness spectrum "for most people". There are two exceptions to this rule.
If you are a young person (under 50) who has NEVER exercised before with more than 50 pounds of fat to lose, it is very possible that with the right diet and exercise program, you can lose fat and build muscle at the same time.
This is because for a raw beginner with no exercise history, eating more protein, lifting weights, and reducing overall calories can hit the sweet spot of fat loss and muscle building requirements.
An example would be a 32 year old male who starts his fitness journey at 300 pounds, who has been eating 4000 calories per day on average. Suddenly he drops his caloric intake to 2400 calories per day, increases his protein intake to 200 grams per day, does cardio 5 days per week to stimulate fat loss, AND lifts weights 3x per week to stimulate MPS.
It's not unreasonable to assume this person would see muscle gains during the first few months AS WELL AS fat loss.
The second exception to the rule is someone who is using anabolic steroids. Professional bodybuilders or elite muscle athletes who are augmenting their hormones with steroids don't follow the same physiological rules as the rest of us. Copying their diet and fitness routine would be like me trying to emulate a world-class gymnast. I might get the first few moves, but I'm going to break something very badly, very quickly if I kept going.
The Final Say
Building significant amounts of muscle takes a long, long time. If you ever see a lean, muscular person and think to yourself "I wouldn't want to look like them", fear not! You won't. It doesn't happen by accident.
Lose the fat first, re-evaluate your goals and physique, then start your muscle building journey while keeping the fat off.
Remember it's simple, not easy.
MORE Information
Estimate your daily calorie needs here.
Learn more about protein, carbs, and fats with this macronutrient guide.
Are you doing the right things? Get a FREE fitness consultation with me.