By Tom Venuto
Author
of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
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“How can I gain muscle
and lose fat at the same time?” That’s right up
there with “How do I get six pack abs” as one of
the most frequently asked fitness questions of all time. The
problem is, when you ask it, you get all kinds of conflicting
answers - even from experts who are supposed to know these
things. So what’s the deal? Is it really possible to
lose fat and build muscle simultaneously?
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Short answer: Yes, you can gain muscle
and lose fat at the “same time.”
Long answer: It’s difficult and
it’s complicated. Allow me to explain….
First we have the issue of whether
you really lose fat and gain muscle at the “same time.”
Well, yes, if your definition of the
“same time” is say, a month or 12 weeks. But in that case,
you’re probably not gaining muscle at the “same time”
literally speaking, as in, right now this very moment you are reading
this, or 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for months in a row.
The best explanation for what’s
really happening is that you alternate between periods of caloric
surplus (anabolism) and caloric deficit (catabolism) and the net
result is a gain in muscle and a loss in body fat.
You see, if you stay in a calorie
surplus, it’s the body’s natural tendency for body fat
and lean body mass to go up together. And if you stay in a calorie
deficit, it’s your body’s natural tendency for body fat
and lean body mass to go down together.
There may be exceptions, but the general
rule is that it is very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at
the same time - the mechanisms are mostly antagonistic to one another.
When it does happen, it’s almost always the result of “unusual
conditions” - I call them X factors.
The 4 X-Factors
The first X-factor is “training
age” . Ever hear of “newbie gains?” The less trained
your body is and the further you are from your genetic potential,
the easier it is to gain muscle. The reverse is also true - an advanced
bodybuilder with 20 years experience would be thrilled just to gain
a few pounds of solid dry muscle in a year!
The second x factor is muscle memory.
It’s easier to regain muscle you’ve lost than it is to
gain new muscle in the first place (ergo, the fat out of shape semi
retired bodybuilder who starts training again and blows up and gets
ripped “overnight”).
The third X factor is genetics (or
somatotype). Ever heard of the “genetic freak?” That’s
the dude who sprouts muscle like weeds even when he’s on the
“50-50 diet” (50% McDonald’s and 50% pizza)…
and he never gets fat. (That dude chose the right parents!)
The fourth X factor is drugs. It would
stun (or sadden) you if you knew how many people take performance
and physique-enhancing drugs. I’m not just talking about pro
bodybuilders, I’m talking about “Joe six pack” in
the gym - not to mention those fitness models you idolize in the
magazines. How did they get large muscle gains with concurrent fat
loss? Chemicals.
I’m not a gambling man, but I’ll
place a wager on this any day: I’ll bet that in 99% of the
cases of large muscle gains with concurrent large fat losses, one
or more of these x factors were present.
That’s not all! There are actually
5 more X factors related to your body composition and diet status
(the X2 factors). But I’ll have to talk about those later.
So you’re not a beginner, you
don’t take roids, you’re not a genetic freak and you have
no muscle memory to take advantage of. Are you S.O.L? Well, I do
want you to be realistic about your goals, but…
There IS a way for the average person
to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
The Secret: You have to change
your “temporal perspective!”
Traditionally nutritionists and fitness
pros have only looked at calorie balance in terms of 24 hour periods.
At midnight, you could tally up the calories like a shopkeeper closing
out his register, and if the balance were positive, you’d say
you were in a surplus for the day. If the balance were negative,
you’d say you were in a deficit for the day.
But it’s entirely possible that
you might pass through periods of “within-day” surplus
where you were in a highly anabolic state (for example, you eat
the biggest, highest carb meal of the day after your workout), and
you were in a deficit the rest of the day.
If you did intense weight training,
and you timed your nutrient intake appropriately, Isn’t it
possible that you could gain a small amount of muscle during those
anabolic hours, while losing fat the rest of the day? Granted it
might only be grams or ounces - but what if you kept that up for
a week? A month? Three months?
As you pan out and look at the bigger
picture, what if most days of the week you were in a deficit for
the entire day, and on some days you were in a surplus? If so, then
isn’t it possible that over the course of the week, you’d
have a small net gain of muscle and loss of body fat a a result
of the caloric fluctuation?
These within-day and within-week phases
are called microcycles and mesocycles. If you also had a primary
goal with a longer term focus of several months, say 12 weeks or
16 weeks, that would be a macrocycle.
What I’ve just described is nutritional
periodization. Some people call it cyclical dieting. it’s where
you manipulate your calories (primarily by fluctuating carbohydrate
intake, hence “carb cycling”) in order to intentionally
zig zag your way through periods of surplus and deficit and create
specific hormonal responses.
The end result: muscle gain and
fat loss during the same time period!
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I know that someone
out there is having a hissy fit because I’ve only talked
about calories: deficits and surpluses. Rightfully so. Calories
matter but there’s more to it than calories - most importantly,
hormones and “nutrient partitioning.”
If you’re
in a calorie deficit you are going to pull energy from your
body.The question is: From WHERE? If your hormones are out
of whack and you’re eating crap, you could lose more
muscle than fat in a deficit and gain almost pure fat, not
muscle, in a surplus!
But WHAT IF you
could manipulate within day energy balance, use nutritional
periodization AND control your hormones with food and lifestyle
strategies?
AHA! NOW you can
see how concurrent muscle gain and fat loss are starting to
look possible!
Make no mistake - concurrent muscle gain and fat loss is a
difficult goal to achieve. The good news: difficult does not
mean impossible. Or as George Santayana said, “The difficult
is that which can be done immediately, the impossible, that
which takes a little longer.”
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"Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle"
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In this candid and revealing
interview, David Grisaffi, an in-the-trenches fat loss and
abdominal training expert and author of the best-selling ebook
Firm and Flatten Your Abs, interviews fat loss expert and
best selling author Tom Venuto.
These fat loss pros discuss
what it really takes to uncover your abdominals, and the reasons
why it takes more than hundreds of situps and crunches to
succeed. Some of the facts Tom reveals will surprise you because
you won’t hear them from most other experts in the weight
loss and fitness industry.
Why? Because they either don’t
know or they have a vested interest in keeping the truth hidden
from you. In this revealing discussion you'll learn top secret
ab training techniques and the truth about diet scams and
rip offs!
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In this interview, Tom Nicoli,
a clinical hypnotherapist who was featured on Dateline NBC’s
Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge, meets with fat loss expert
and best selling author Tom Venuto.
The two Toms discuss what it
really takes to increase or even “skyrocket” your
fat loss success and they uncover the reasons why it takes
more than hard work and physical effort to succeed –
it also takes the right mindset. Some of the facts Tom reveals
you will surprise you because you won’t hear them from
most other experts in the weight loss and fitness industry.
Why? Because
they either don’t know or they have a vested interest
in keeping the truth hidden from you. !
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About
The Author
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Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder,
certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom
is the author of "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you
how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets
of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn
how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism
by clicking
here.
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