Gain mass or lose fat, what do I do?

Bob, the Skinny Guy. The solution for an effective approach.

Generally, when people decide to join the gym and change their current state, they have one of the following goals in mind:

• Gain muscular mass
• Lose fat

No one has ever approached me and said, “I’m going to join the gym, start following a more balanced diet, to maintain my current condition.”

I'm not saying there aren't people like that, but it's very unlikely.

Typically, after the first week of going to the gym, the goal is common:

• Lose fat and gain muscle at the same time

The likelihood of achieving both simultaneously, called body recomposition, depends on the size of the calorie deficit, the % of body fat, and training experience.

In this sense, the following should be highlighted:

• The greater the calorie deficit, the less likely it is to gain muscle mass during a fat loss phase.

• The less fat a person in question has, the more unlikely it is that they will gain muscle, or have visible and measurable gains.

• The more experienced the person, by this I mean someone who has already made muscle gains, the harder it is to gain muscle in a calorie deficit.

Basically, it could be said that the fatter and more inexperienced the person is, the greater the likelihood of achieving both goals simultaneously.

However, and looking at the objectives mentioned above, it is indisputable that to optimize any process of change in body aesthetics, the caloric deficits in the fat loss phase must be larger than the caloric surplus in a phase of muscle mass gain.

Briefly:

• Our body is more efficient at losing fat than at gaining muscle mass.

  This means that fat can be lost faster than muscle can be gained.

  It is important to remember that visual changes over the same period of time tend to be greater in fat loss phases than in muscle mass gain phases.

• Gaining muscle mass requires building new tissues and ligaments in our body.

  It is a process that takes time and requires patience.

• An excessively large caloric surplus, during phases of muscle mass gain, leads to gains in muscle mass.

  However, in addition to this, excessive and unnecessary fat gains arise.

  There are no benefits to this approach, either from an aesthetic or performance point of view.

How much weight can you lose per week?

In theory, there is a limit to the amount of fat you can lose per day.

If we exceed this limit, we increase the chances of losing muscle mass.

As previously mentioned, the more fat a person has, the greater the weekly/monthly loss may be.

Below is a general guide for the general population:

Based on the table made by Alan Aragon.

This table is just an example, as each person reacts differently to stimuli and adjustments made to diet and training.

Still, it serves as a guide for setting realistic expectations, even if body weight is not enough to gauge progress.

It is not strange that someone considered “normal” can, with a structured plan, in 2-3 months, present a more muscular body, dropping 5-6 points of % of body fat over that same time.

The exception is people who want to do a “short” fat loss diet, possibly in the middle of a weight gain phase. This specific case usually lasts between 2-6 weeks with larger deficits.

Bulk's 3 rules

There are basically three possible choices in a muscle mass gain phase:

• Quiet Bulk. It consists of eating, instinctively, without counting calories/macros.

  In my opinion, it requires years of experience to be able to be done with any efficiency and not turn into unnecessary fat gain.

• Controlled Bulk (or slow bulk). The idea is to maximize muscle mass gain while gaining as little fat as possible.

• Gain lean mass only. The idea behind this approach is to prioritize low body fat levels, slowly gaining muscle, and avoiding gaining fat at all costs.

They are all legitimate, each with their pros and cons.

Technically it is possible to gain muscle mass without gaining fat.

However, it is important to be aware that the amount of gains may not be maximized without having a sufficient caloric surplus.

If you want to grow at the most efficient level possible, you have to accept some fat gain.

This is where people with excess fat and less muscle mass usually have difficulty defining their priorities, i.e. whether to embark on a bulking exercise to gain muscle mass, or to lose fat, ending up feeling too thin.

If the option is to gain muscle mass, the following table serves as an indication:

Based on the muscle mass gains table made by Lyle Mcdonald.

My best rule of thumb is to keep fat gains under control, in order to remove excess fat more quickly and easily in a later fat loss phase.

A 1:1 ratio of muscle mass to fat is perfectly realistic for most people.

In the table guide above, if you are a beginner/intermediate trying to gain around 1kg of muscle per month, with a 1:1 ratio that means you should aim for approximately 2kg per month.

Bulk/(+)Cut vs. Gain lean mass only

Using the rules defined and described throughout this article, we can conclude a few things:

• If the priority is to maintain the lowest possible % of fat all year round, we can hardly optimize the process of gaining muscle mass.

  This is because some caloric surplus is needed to build muscle.

  With the exception of some people who, inexplicably, manage to grow anyway. There are, indeed, “genetic freaks” that influence how and how much they earn.

  I'll leave out the PEDs/Steroids factor.

• If the priority is to gain as much muscle mass as possible, we have to accept some fat gain.

  As mentioned above, you should try to aim for a 1:1 ratio, which is quite realistic.

Practical Example

Let’s apply the example to an athlete, better known as Bob, “The Bodybuilder”.

Bob has a body weight of 80kg and has several options, of which I highlight:

• Option 1: Betting on reducing body fat to %, gaining muscle mass and betting on gaining zero fat.

• Option 2: Apply the above rules and start reducing this % of fat right away, with a fat loss phase, to create a favorable climate for a later mass gain phase.

Bob, in addition to weighing 80kg, has around 15% of body fat and some training experience.

Imagining that Bob chooses the Option 1 and decide to gain about 500g of weight per month, let's assume that is 100% muscle mass:

• Month 1: 80 kg body weight with 15% fat (68 kg lean mass)

• Month 2: 80.5 kg body weight with 14.9% fat (68.5 kg lean mass)

• Month 3: 81 kg body weight with 14.8% fat (69 kg lean mass)

• Month 4: 81.5 kg body weight with 14.7% fat (69.5 kg lean mass)

As you can see, despite the gains in muscle mass, the differences in % of fat are little to none.

Furthermore, it assumes that the person manages to gain 500g of muscle mass during the four months, without any fat, which is a rare thing.

Now assuming that Bob had chosen Option 2, and decides to spend the same months losing fat and maintaining all of his muscle mass, pointing to a greater initial loss:

• Month 1: 80 kg body weight with 15% fat (68 kg lean mass)

• Month 2: 78 kg body weight with 12.8% fat (68 kg lean mass)

• Month 3: 77 kg body weight with 11.7% fat (68 kg lean mass)

• Month 4: 76 kg body weight with 10.5% fat (68 kg lean mass)

This scenario also idealizes that no muscle mass is lost.

Still, it highlights the difference in the variation of % of fat, in the various approaches, and can help give some idea of how to plan them.

In short, we see that in the Option 1, Bob would only lose 0.3% of fat and he wasn't even optimizing muscle mass gain, for fear of gaining fat.

At Option 2, at the end of the same period of time, Bob lost about 4.5% of fat, getting some enviable abs! (the example is mine, I can use Bob, the hottie from Torre beach).

Just as training periodization is becoming more and more common, learn to periodize your nutrition as well.

If you want to see big visual changes in your body, these are always more visible after fat loss phases.

Growing and becoming drier is a very unusual task for so-called “normal” people.

Be objective, coherent and persistent.

The flowchart below also gives an idea of how these phases can be planned:

Article written by Team Sik Nutrition

[author image=”https://ginasiovirtual.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo-sik.jpg” ]Team Sik Nutrition is a recently formed group of people passionate about the world of fitness. The team’s focus is to guide, educate and motivate those interested in achieving their health and fitness/performance goals. All of this information is based on scientific facts and the experience of the team members.

The CEO of Team Sik Nutrition is João Gonçalves. He is an amateur powerlifter, passionate about fitness and writing articles.

Facebook Team Sik Nutrition

Team Sik Nutrition website

[/author]