Have you ever dreamt of both building muscle and burning fat at the same time? You're not alone! Body recomposition is a dream come true! But here's the kicker - evolution isn't as enthusiastic about your physique goals as you are. It's more concerned with your survival.
The Evolutionary Challenge
We no longer live like our ancestors, whose food access and availability were uncertain. Today, we enjoy an abundance of food like no other time in history! Instead of worry when and where are next meal will come from, we can just order it from our phones and have it at our doorstep in half an hour! This abundance is great because it allows us to focus on things like optimizing our body compositions instead worrying about when the next bison will come by. However, this luxury also makes our fitness goals more challenging.
The Muscle Paradox: An Energy Guzzler in a Low-Energy Environment
Muscles are essential for our performance but require a lot of energy. Muscle development is significantly hindered in a low-energy environment, such as during a calorie deficit. Fat loss diets necessitate this calorie deficit, imitating a famine-like state. But rest assured; you will lose weight as long as you're consuming fewer calories than your body expends
Here's the dilemma: you're aiming for a lean, muscular physique, but your body is fixated on survival. So, how can you coax your body to keep the muscle while on a calorie deficit? The answer is more straightforward than you might think:
- Do weight training
- Consume several high-protein meals throughout the day
Sure, other factors like sleep do matter, but without the stimulus (weight training) to signal to the body we need it and the materials (protein and calories) to keep it supplied, your body lacks compelling reasons to retain muscle.
So what are the odds of gaining muscle while losing body fat? It depends on the context and situation.
Strength Training
If you're fresh to the weight training scene, your body will enthusiastically adapt to this new stimulus, initiating muscle growth, the coveted "noobie gains". You don't have to do much in this scenario to see significant results.
If you have dabbled in weight training before, but not very seriously or consistently, you also have an excellent chance to gain muscle while losing fat, although to a smaller extent compared to a complete beginner. By improving your training and making sure it’s structured, presents an overload, and train hard, you likely can add some muscle even in a calorie deficit.
If you have taken time away from the gym and lost previously held muscle, the body seemingly remembers having that muscle and can regain it much easier.
Body Fat and Diet
If you're starting with a higher body fat percentage, your body has abundant energy reserves to tap into. Consequently, it may be more willing to shed fat and use that energy for some muscle growth, thereby boosting your chances of body recomposition.
If you are undereating protein, increasing it to optimal levels will make body recomposition much more likely. Our RP Diet app creates an optimal diet for you based on your schedule and training regimen, including setting your protein intake to best maintain and build muscle.
Sleep and pharmaceuticals
If poor sleep quality has been your norm, enhancing this aspect could tip the scales in your favor, making body recomposition achievable. Furthermore, certain performance-enhancing substances can contribute to gaining muscle while losing fat.
Where Things Get Difficult
The journey gets tough for those who have been training intensively for years and meticulously tracking their diet. Assuming you've optimized all aspects for muscle growth, including adequate sleep, there's little more you can do to convince your body to add new muscle during a caloric deficit.
In Conclusion
Remember that individual variations exist, and this situation operates on a sliding scale and spectrum. You could fall anywhere on this spectrum. However, if you are exerting maximum effort, getting quality sleep, and maintaining high-protein meals throughout the day, you're already optimizing your circumstances. If you manage to gain muscle while losing body fat, that's fantastic! If not, maintaining your current muscle mass is also a commendable achievement and a testament to your defiance of evolutionary challenges! Then if you really want to put on some more muscle mass in the future, a dedicated muscle gain phase that includes purposefully gaining bodyweight by eating in a calorie SURPLUS will give you the best chances to grow!