Not too long ago, I covered how to lose fat. The thing is, there’s a second important topic that always needs to be covered right along with it. And that is: how to lose fat WITHOUT losing muscle.
Wait… what?!?!?! Did I just imply that you can lose your pretty hard-earned lean muscle mass while only trying to lose your ugly body fat??? Yup, I sure did. It’s happened to me and countless others plenty of times, and it can definitely happen to you.
To understand why and how this is possible and (more importantly) how to prevent it from happening, you first need to understand an important fact…
Weight Loss vs Fat Loss: It’s NOT The Same Thing!
People often say they want to lose weight. This is sort of a dumb statement, because “weight” can be a few different things. For example… water, glycogen, muscle or fat. Hell, you can cut off a leg and you’ll lose “weight” just fine.
In reality however, what most of us want to lose is fat, NOT muscle.
Now, despite some of the crazy things you may have heard before about how to lose fat, the truth is that there is just one major requirement… a caloric deficit.
As I’ve explained 1000 times before (for example: Calories In vs Calories Out), a caloric deficit is what happens when you consume less calories than your body needs to burn for energy performing all of the tasks it needs to perform over the course of the day (move, breathe, pump blood, digest food, etc.).
When that caloric deficit is present, your body is forced to find some alternative source of energy on your body to burn instead. Ideally, this would ONLY be your ugly stored body fat. However, it can also be your pretty lean muscle tissue.
Sure, you might want your body to just burn body fat and not muscle, but your body doesn’t really give a crap about what you want. It just knows that in order for it to survive and function under the current conditions, it will need to pull stored energy from somewhere. And that can mean fat, muscle or a combination of both.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do everything you can to improve the fat:muscle loss ratio as much as possible and basically signal your body to maintain ALL of your muscle and ONLY burn body fat. But the question is… how? I thought you’d never ask.
Here now are what I’d consider to be the 8 best ways to lose fat WITHOUT losing muscle…
1. Eat Enough Protein
A sufficient daily protein intake is the single most important dietary requirement for maintaining muscle. It’s not meal timing, or supplements, or the exact size of your caloric deficit, or the quality of the foods you eat (more on that nonsense later), or anything else diet related.
Nutritionally speaking, losing fat without losing muscle is all about eating enough protein every day. Numerous studies have proven this to be true. Even in the absence of a proper weight training routine, more of the weight you lose will be body fat rather than muscle mass just as a result of an increased protein intake.
So, the first step of any muscle-preserving diet is always getting your ideal amount of protein for the day. Just what is “ideal?” Well, the good old “1 gram of protein per pound of body weight” recommendation still remains a perfectly fine starting point for most people with this goal in mind. Additional details and specifics are covered here: How Much Protein Per Day
2. Maintain Strength/Intensity/Weight On The Bar
And now here is the single most important training requirement for anyone who wants to lose fat without losing muscle. Simply put, the primary training stimulus required for maintaining muscle is maintaining your current levels of strength.
You know how gradually getting stronger (aka the progressive overload principle) is what signals your body to begin the muscle building process? Well, on a fat loss diet, just maintaining your current levels of strength (aka intensity, aka the weight on the bar) is what now signals your body to maintain muscle.
If that signal goes away, your body’s need to keep your pretty muscle tissue around goes away right along with it.
That’s why the insanely stupid myth of lifting heavier weights to build muscle but then lifting lighter weights (for higher reps) when you want to lose fat, get lean and get toned is the absolute WORST thing you could possibly believe when you’re trying to avoid losing muscle. In reality, you lift heavy weight to build muscle, and then lift that same heavy weight if you want to actually maintain that muscle.
If you start purposely lifting lighter weights while in a caloric deficit, your body essentially thinks: “Hmmm, it looks like we only need to lift lighter weights now. I guess all of that muscle I built for the purpose of being able to lift heavy weight is no longer needed. Time to start burning it for energy instead of body fat!”
Not too good, huh? This means that your primary weight training goal is to, at the very least, NOT lose strength. This in turn will allow you to NOT lose muscle.
For example, if you currently bench press 200lbs, your goal throughout the duration of your fat loss phase is to end up bench pressing that same 200lbs (or more if possible) when you’re done and all of the fat has been lost. The same goes for every other exercise in your routine.
Sure, you can continue trying to get stronger and continue trying to make progressive overload happen while losing fat. It can and does happen (especially for beginners, who should still be progressing consistently even in a deficit).
But, if you’re past the beginner’s stage, don’t be surprised if it’s MUCH harder to do (if not borderline impossible in some cases) and the best you can do is just maintain strength rather than increase it.
This is fine of course, as just maintaining the amount of weight you currently lift on every exercise is the key weight training requirement for losing fat WITHOUT losing muscle.
3. Reduce Weight Training Volume and/or Frequency
A caloric deficit is really an energy deficit, and while this is fantastic (and required) for losing any amount of body fat, it kinda sucks for all things training related (recovery, work capacity, volume tolerance, performance, etc.).
What that means is, the workout routine you were (or would be) using with great success to build muscle, increase strength or make whatever other positive improvements to your body under normal circumstances (where there is no deficit present) will often be TOO MUCH for your body to tolerate and optimally recover from in the energy deficient state it is currently in.
And do you know what this scenario will ALWAYS lead to? One in which you’re not recovering properly from your workouts? A loss of strength.
And do you know what a loss of strength will ALWAYS lead to, especially while in a caloric deficit? A loss of muscle.
Like I explained a minute ago (#2 on this list), the key training requirement for maintaining muscle is simply maintaining strength. The problem is, if you’re using a workout routine that you aren’t properly recovering from, the opposite of this is going to happen.
This is something that I and so many others have learned the hard way. The workout routine that seemed perfect before when those beneficial extra calories were present is now the reason your workouts are getting harder, you’re getting weaker, reps are decreasing, weight on the bar needs to be reduced, and your fat loss phase (aka the cutting phase) ends with you having lost way more muscle and strength than you should have.
Been there, done that.
Luckily, It Can Be Prevented
How do you avoid all of this? Simple. By adjusting your weight training program to compensate for the drop in recovery that always comes with being in a caloric deficit. That means reducing training volume (the total amount of sets, reps and/or exercises being done), reducing training frequency (the total amount of workouts being done per week and per muscle group), or a combination of both.
My brand new guide to The Best Workout Routines actually contains the full details of a routine I like to call The Fat Loss + Muscle Maintenance Solution, as it incorporates ALL of these adjustments for this very purpose.
It has become my go-to routine for maintaining muscle while I lose fat, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to do the same. You can download it all right here: The Best Workout Routines
I should also note that the possible exception to this are beginners, as they should ALREADY be using an intelligently designed lower volume beginner routine.
4. Get Pre & Post Workout Nutrition Right… Still
I once read an article on some diet/training website that tried to make the point that pre and post workout nutrition become LESS important when your goal is fat loss rather than muscle growth. I don’t remember the exact reasoning for this (if I did, I’d be making fun of it right now), but whatever it was… it couldn’t be more wrong.
As mentioned, recovery, work capacity, volume tolerance and overall training performance in general go to crap as a result of being in a caloric deficit. And if you haven’t heard, the entire concept of pre and post workout nutrition is practically built around improving these very aspects of training and recovery.
That makes the meals you eat before and after your workouts JUST as important (arguably even more MORE SO) when your goal is losing fat without losing muscle as opposed to just building that muscle in the first place.
As for what to eat during these meals, I cover the full details right here: The PRE & POST Workout Meal
5. Don’t Reduce Calories By TOO Much
As we hopefully all understand by now, in order to lose any amount of body fat, you need to create a caloric deficit (I figure if I repeat it enough times, it will sink in). And that means you’re going to need to reduce your calorie intake below maintenance level so stored body fat can be burned for energy instead.
The thing is, that deficit can be classified as small, moderate or large based on how far below maintenance you go and how much you reduce your daily calorie intake by. Now, while each degree of deficit has its own PROS and CONS (which I explain here: The Caloric Deficit), a moderate deficit of about 20% below maintenance level is what ends up being most ideal in most cases.
That’s why it’s what I most often recommend: How Many Calories Per Day To Lose Weight?
Why not a larger deficit? Why not reduce calories by even more and make fat loss happen even faster? Well, aside from being harder to actually sustain, the other major downside of a large caloric deficit is that it will have the largest negative impact on training and recovery.
And that means that reducing your calorie intake by TOO much will increase the potential for strength and muscle loss. For that reason, I’d recommend most people stick with no more than a moderate deficit. Those who are already quite lean and looking to get REALLY lean may do better with an even smaller deficit
6. Incorporate Calorie/Carb/Nutrient Cycling
I can never decide if I want to refer to it as cycling calories, carbs or nutrients (they sound different but it’s all the same thing), so give me a second while I “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” this.
[8 seconds later...]
Alright, calorie cycling it is.
And what it refers to is eating more calories on certain days (typically training days) and less calories on other days (typically rest days). This is done primarily by manipulating carbs and/or fat, as protein is something we want to be high every day… especially when our goal is to lose fat, NOT muscle.
Now, with a more simple and straight forward fat loss diet, you’d consume about the same amount of calories and nutrients every day and be in a similar sized deficit each day of the week.
But with calorie cycling, you’d be in a larger deficit on certain days, but then a smaller deficit (or possibly even NO deficit at all) on the other days. However, at the end of the week, the total amount of calories consumed would still be the same. It’s just the method of getting there (eating less on certain days, more on others) is different.
The theoretical purpose for doing this is to improve everything from recovery to calorie partitioning by providing our bodies with more calories/nutrients when it’s most likely to need and benefit from them (training days), and less calories/nutrients when it isn’t (rest days). This would then potentially allow us to, among other things, better maintain muscle and strength while we lose fat.
Does it actually work? Well, this is something I’ve been experimenting with a lot over the last few years, and I’ve become a HUGE fan of it.
Not just for maintaining muscle while losing fat (which I’ve found it works great for), but also for diet adherence, controlling your appetite, and keeping you happy and satisfied. And on the other side of the goal spectrum, I like it equally well for gaining muscle without gaining excess fat.
It’s definitely a subject you’ll be hearing a lot more about from me in the future.
7. Take Diet Breaks When Needed
Can we all be honest for a second? Regardless of how you go about making fat loss occur, the simple fact is that it kinda sucks either way. Your body doesn’t really like being in a caloric deficit, and as anyone who has ever tried to lose any amount of fat already knows, your mind sure as hell doesn’t like it either.
The truth is, there are a ton of physiological and psychological aspects of being in the energy deficient state required for fat loss to take place that just plain suck. From the aforementioned drop in recovery and performance to the changes in insulin, leptin, thyroid hormones and overall metabolic rate, the human body (and mind) just run a whole lot better with no deficit present.
And that brings us to the concept of the diet break.
The exact definition of what a diet break is will vary based on who you ask, but I think of it as a 1-2 week period where you come out of the deficit and back up to maintenance level for the purpose of briefly allowing all of the things that suck about fat loss to recover and go back normal for a little while.
There are dozens of potential benefits (some physical, some mental) that come from taking diet breaks like this, but the reason I’m mentioning it here are for its performance and recovery related benefits. Why? Because any improvement there will help with our goal of maintaining muscle and strength while we lose fat.
The specifics of when and how often a diet break should be taken would require its own article (consider it added to my to-do list), but the basic point is that while people with LESS fat left to lose will generally need/benefit from a diet break more than someone in the early stages of losing a lot of fat, the fact remains that it can be quite beneficial for many reasons… one of which is preserving muscle.
8. Avoid Excessive Amounts Of Cardio (Or Just Don’t Do ANY At All)
This all goes back to what I mentioned 100 times already about recovery being reduced as a result of calories being reduced. For this reason, ALL of the exercise you’re doing (not just weight training, cardio too) needs to be reduced or adjusted to some extent to compensate for this and help prevent muscle loss. (Once again, for more about adjusting weight training, see The Fat Loss + Muscle Maintenance Solution in The Best Workout Routines.)
Now, weight training obviously still needs to be kept around as it provides the primary signal that tells our bodies to maintain muscle and only burn body fat. But cardio? That’s completely optional.
And honestly, I feel there is no more overrated and over-given-a-shit-about aspect of fat loss or muscle growth than cardio. Obviously if your goal is endurance or performance related, my opinion would change. But strictly in terms of just improving the way your body looks? I hate cardio.
In fact, I rarely do any myself and my default recommendation for most people with body composition related goals is to do little or even NO cardio whatsoever. I’d much rather see people create their deficit via diet alone, use weight training to build/maintain muscle, and use cardio as a last resort tool for when you reach a point where lowering calories any further becomes too difficult and you’d rather burn those calories off instead.
Here’s why…
- HIIT (or really any high intensity cardio) will cut into the recovery of both your nervous system AND muscle fibers almost in the same way an additional weight training workout would.
- Typical steady state cardio (30 minutes of jogging, for example) will also cut into recovery, albeit not as much as HIIT can.
- And excessive amounts of steady state cardio (like 30-60+ minutes of jogging and/or just doing it too frequently) is often viewed as the ultimate killer of muscle.
When you weigh these CONS against the PROS of cardio (it burns some calories… yay!), you begin to realize that it may not be worth doing for the purpose of losing fat… specifically for people whose primary goal is to lose that fat without losing muscle.
Don’t get me wrong here… both HIIT and steady state cardio are useful fat loss tools for sure and I’m definitely not against doing them. It’s just that, considering cardio is IN NO WAY required for losing fat and that doing it could potentially hurt your ability to maintain muscle (plus it’s boring as hell)… I don’t really see the point.
Obviously personal preferences and individual differences play an important role here too, but generally speaking… I rarely recommend cardio by default or do much of it myself. And when I do, my first choice is always 30-60 minutes of low intensity walking. Still burns a nice amount of calories and won’t cut into recovery. Win-win.
What About Eating Only Healthy & “Clean” Foods?
After looking over this list of what I’d consider to be the most important/effective ways to maintain muscle while losing fat, some people might be wondering if I forgot to mention one final tip.
The “tip” I’m referring to is to eat healthier, cleaner, natural foods instead of unhealthy, dirty, processed foods. Why? Because doing so will supposedly make a significant difference in terms of getting the “weight” you lose to be fat instead of muscle.
As nice as that theory sounds, the truth is that with all else being equal (total calorie and macronutrient intake, strength being maintained, etc.), clean vs dirty, healthy vs unhealthy, processed vs unprocessed really doesn’t matter at all in terms of calorie partitioning and whether the “weight” you lose ends up being fat (good) or muscle (bad).
Now obviously in terms of things like overall health, appetite control and diet adherence there are some big differences, which is why I’d always recommend getting most of your calories from higher quality foods rather than junky garbage. But the common thought that changes in body composition are directly influenced by a food being “clean” or “dirty” is total bullshit.
So no, while it’s still a great idea, it’s not an idea that will (in and of itself) improve your ability to maintain muscle while losing fat. Which means, it doesn’t belong on this list.
Goodbye Fat, Hello Muscle!
There you have it… the 8 best ways to ensure you lose fat without losing muscle in the process. The first 2 items (sufficient protein intake and maintaining strength) are BY FAR the most important. It just so happens that the majority of the other items on this list are proven to significantly help make those things (specifically strength maintenance) actually happen.
So, if you’ve ever lost any muscle or strength while trying to lose fat or are just concerned it might happen to you in the future… this is how you can prevent it.
Great article.
I got option #9. . . . . .
Fish oil?
Good catch… I knew I forgot something.
Great advice! I have been walking for 30 minutes, 6 days a week, to help with the fat loss but have been finding myself with constant knee pains that I never had before. Once I calculated how much I am losing (c. 150-200 cals per walk), rounding up to the nearest hundred (very generous), I am actually only dropping 1 extra pound of fat every 3 weeks. All that work that can be undone by a bite-sized snickers bar in seconds!
I plan on doing it as Active Recovery twice a week now for a longer session (45 minutes) followed by 2-3 days of recovery. I like to do my walks on non-weight days as it keeps my daily routine consistent across the week. It also gives me a reason to use the expensive treadmill I wasted money on a year ago! Luckily, I learned how to mount my laptop on the treadmill so I can watch videos, listen to music, and surf the web as I walk. This helps with the boredom quite a bit.
You bring up a couple of really good points. First, the amount of calories burned during cardio is almost universally overestimated. And like you said, those lackluster amount of calories being burned can be quickly and easily replaced by a surprisingly small amount of food. It just seems so much easier (and time friendly) to just not eat that food in the first place.
Plus, you also have the “reward” thought process that comes from cardio that makes things even worse. The “I did some cardio today… I guess I can afford to eat this junk food.” So a person actually burns 200 cals during cardio, thinks they burned 700, and then they eat 1000 extra cals later on thinking they can as a result of that cardio.
And point #2, active recovery. While HIIT and steady state can have a negative effect on recovery… some low intensity walking on off days can actually have a positive effect.
I really need to write some cardio articles already. Maybe I can just start linking people to comments?
Great article. I very muck like the part about the BS of clean vs dirty eating. It has been such a staple of the fitness world for decades, it’s nice to see people debunking it. In the end the danger to fat loss/gain of so called “dirty foods” is the ease in which a person can over consume calories due to the caloric density of such foods.
Regarding the cardio section. During a muscle gain phase I do little to no cardio for obvious reasons. But, and this may just be personal, I find I struggle with fat loss without it during when I’m looking to shed body fat. Some of this is purely mental. I find it easier to stick to my nutrition plan and calorie deficit knowing how much I hate HIIT cardio to blow that hard work by over eating or cheating.
Again, only personal observation, but I have found upping my protein to 1.3-1.5g/lb per day and adjusting fats/carbs to compensate for overall calories I find I can maintain muscle and not negatively impact my recovery times while adding a 2-3 20-25min HIIT sessions per week. I usually work these in after my weight sessions to allow for 4 full rest days per week.
I look forward to you discussing the calorie cycling.
Yup, you’re exactly right on clean vs dirty. Directly, it’s all the same in terms of body composition. “Dirty foods” don’t become body fat any easier or faster than “clean foods” do. People are just more likely to consume an excess of calories from them. Just like eating at night doesn’t make you fat any differently than eating in the morning does. It’s just that night time is when people tend to eat more than they should.
And what you’re describing about cardio during fat loss is a perfect example of what I mentioned about individual differences/preferences playing a role in how a person should go about losing fat. Some people, like you said, just need or do better with some cardio being done for whatever reason.
In those cases, they should do some.
But if they also want to maintain muscle, they just need to remember that “some” is the key word there.
Excellent article!
I hate cardio myself and I never do it except for sprinting and rope jumping once in a while, which I really love.
But I think there are two principal reasons why people do cardio. One is fat loss and the other one is better cardiovascular health in general. While cardio is less than mediocre at fat loss, what about its effect on strengthening the heart and improving the blood flow? Is it overrated in that regards, too?
Thank you for answering, your input will be greatly appreciated!
Actually, I’d say there are 3 main reasons for doing cardio. Fat loss and cardiovascular health like you said, and training for goals/sports with an endurance element to them.
Now in the latter case, some form of cardio oriented training isn’t just beneficial, it’s required.
For fat loss, your description (“less than mediocre”) is one I totally agree with. This is why I’m careful to start all of my anti-cardio statements with something like “speaking strictly in terms body composition or fat loss…”
But as for its effects on cardiovascular health (or any related adaptations), it’s not really overrated in that regard (the benefits are definitely there), but what might be overrated/overstated is the NEED for cardio to provide those benefits.
There was a good Alan Aragon quote on some website recently where he was talking about how he also hates cardio and recommends the least amount necessary:
“Resistance training has plenty of cardio-respiratory & cardiovascular effects on its own, as long as you’re not training like a pure powerlifter with long rest periods between all sets.”
Meaning, weight training is providing cardiovascular benefits of its own which are similar to that of cardio. The exact differences and degree of difference is hard to say, but the point is that if you’re following some sort of intelligently designed weight training program and doing NO cardio, you’re still getting some of those same benefits from weight training alone.
Thanks for your clear and detailed reply! I guess that was the answer I expected…
I had the vague feeling that this was the case, especially some time ago when I was doing the simplefit routine. It’s based solely on bodyweight exercises, but as you said the rest intervals are short. So your heart rate goes up really quick and it stays up while you train, blurring the line between strength training and cardio.
Cardio looked redundant, plus as you mentioned it cut into my recovery ability. So I stopped doing it and never looked back, but still had doubts about my decision.
Hardly anyone ever mentions the cardiovascular / cardio respiratory benefits of resistance training. They focus mostly on lean muscle and strength gains, leaving the impression that you still need cardio for a balanced routine.
It’s good to know that unless you’re into endurance training, you can ditch cardio.
Exactly, and it really depends on goals. Do you care more about the benefits of cardio for fat loss/cardiovascular adaptations, or do you care more about limiting/avoiding cardio so it doesn’t interfere with your primary goal at the time?
But the idea that you literally need to be on a treadmill for there to be cardiovascular effects of the exercise you’re doing is silly. And on a semi-related note, I think the idea of turning weight training INTO cardio also sucks for most of the people primarily interesting in fat loss/muscle growth/looking good.
But that’s a topic for another day.
And I look forward to it!
Resistance training that feels more like intense cardio — it certainly rings a loud bell with me. I did it, it felt wrong, so I changed my approach. But I would definitely like to understand more…
I think quite a few popular programs out there boil down to the same thing, and I’m sure your article will help many people realize that there are better alternatives.
Highly anticipating your article!
Great acticle, all what you said is true. I also lost a lot of muscle before knowing that the cardio actually was the case of strength and muscle loss. Lowering the weight and doing more reps,adding cardio to your workout routine, doing cardio first thing in the morning(this was the worst thing I ever did) are all things that make me lose more muscle than bodyfat, I actually seen a lot more progress by staying with my actual routine with heavy weight and no cardio at all and got the best shape of my life. thanks for confirming what I thought :p
Sounds almost exactly like my own horrible experience with losing muscle, then realizing what I was doing wrong, doing the opposite instead, and then getting the best results I’ve ever gotten.
At least there’s a happy ending.
yup, but there is something I always wonder is I always see better results in the first 2weeks, after i’m losing fat much more slowly. Is there a method that prevent to hit a plateau? like carbs cycling, having a day with higher calories or doing a maintnance week and then start beeing in calorie deficit again? what you think would be the best to do?
Carb cycling has its benefits, but directly preventing plateaus isn’t really one of them unless of course it helps with diet adherence to the point where it allows you to consistently keep the deficit in place better than a more typical non-carb-cycled diet.
This will take a full article to fully explain, though. I’ll definitely get to it at some point.
Hi,
Thanks for this article.
I’m trying to gain muscle (Bench press 215 at lbs) but want to reduce fat. I”ve gained muscle but i’m having a hard time losing the fat. This article was great to read.
So I should eat well (high caloric (carb) foods like pasta? ) before and after exercise, but reduce my overall calorie instance for the rest of the time? As a result i’ll get the energy to exercise and recover (build muscle) but also reduce calorie enough my body goes after fat when i’m not exercising.
Supplements I take NO Explode for energy before work out, ON Creatine and ON Protein (get recommended protein amount per day). I’m thinking of cutting all meat from my diet, but if i have to eat, what kind of meat is good? What foods to get other nutrients (other than protein) that i really need for my body?
I thought running was bad for me as well. Have seen better results wo running. I run sometimes though to feel “lean” but once a week.
THANKS!!!!
Well, there’s one tiny difference between this article and what you’re asking. This article is about MAINTAINING muscle while losing fat… you’re asking about BUILDING muscle while losing fat.
That’s actually a different and slightly more complicated topic/goal, and it would definitely take a full article (or more) to explain. But stay tuned… it’s on my to-do list.
And regarding any diet or food related questions you have, there’s a really good chance I’ve answered them in the diet guide: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/
Another great straight forward explanation. Thanks a lot! But I do have a question.
I’m currently in the losing fat phase, not much though, less than 10 pounds. I know I have to lose the fat in order to see those pretty muscles so I also do weight training since I want to gain muscle as well as lose these excess pounds simultaneously (so to speak.) But here’s the thing: MY ENDURANCE IS SHOT.
Seriously, I can’t jog for 30 seconds without losing my breath. So I do need to do some cardio as well. Would it be okay to incorporate 20 minutes of jogging in intervals (jog for one minute, rest for 90 seconds, repeat for 20 minutes) on the treadmill into my workouts? I need cardio for endurance reasons but can cut it out if it’ll do damage. I don’t want to lose any muscle.
You have the right idea in terms of building up your cardio endurance. Jog for as long as you can, take a walking break when needed, then get back to jogging. Each time you do cardio, make it your goal to extend the time spent jogging by just a little bit more than you previously did. Do this consistently, and you’ll soon be able to jog the entire time without taking any walking breaks.
Now as for whether you should be doing any cardio in the first place depends on your goals and preferences. If you want/need to be doing it for whatever reason, then feel free… just don’t overdo it and let it interfere with your ability to (at least) maintain muscle. But if you don’t need/want to do it, then my default recommendation for fat loss/muscle maintenance is no cardio or possibly just some light walking on off days.
I heard that jogging for atleast 15-20minutes after working out was good to lose fat. So theres a possibility im losing muscles too. Shoot.
The only thing truly “good for losing fat” is a caloric deficit. Whether you burn 200 calories during cardio after weight training or just eat 200 less calories that day, it’s the same thing for fat loss. But for muscle maintenance and recovery, that’s where the differences start to pop up.
Finally! An article that makes sense with most things I have researched.
Mother of god, it’s so hard to understand some of the materials in the internet. When I go have a read about it to have some of my questions answered, most fonts will say disagree completely among each other, sometimes say the opposite of each other, say that “the others are myth, this one is the right one”, and also claim that a bunch of studies backed them up.
But, everything you said actually fits in the logic of most things I have summed up so far, which fortunately makes me believe that I’m finally reading something right, not just another bunch of bull***.
Hey, just one question so far,
I have the idea, which I’m beginning to think might be wrong, that I should workout 5-6 days a week. Since I have divided my routine in A-B-C groups, I workout 6 days a week. Also according to what you explained here, I’m avoiding all sorts of cardio, so I’m just weight lifting.
Now, for what I’ve been reading, this is probably unnecessary and counterproductive. Would, in my case for instance, be better to alternate 3 weight lifiting days with 4 rest days? like, (A – rest – B – rest – C – rest – rest) ?
I also read that, when in a muscle growth only routine, it’s better to do cardio on the supposed rest days. Is that also right?
By the way, sorry If I’m asking something you already wrote about, I’m actually with a bunch of tabs openend here to read more of your articles.
I’m trying really hard to do this shit right as best as possible, putting a lot of effort in it. Thanks for all the help.
Ha, I hear ya on the annoying, conflicting and overall horse shit advice out there. Happy to provide the opposite.
Regarding your questions, I definitely wouldn’t recommend weight training 6 days per week when trying to lose fat. Hell, I wouldn’t recommend that when trying to build muscle. 3 weight training days/4 rest days is definitely the better idea.
And regarding cardio, there’s a few acceptable times to do it, and it would really take a full article to cover them all and explain why (I’ll get to it one of these days). But generally speaking, your off days from weight training would be one of the better choices.
I almost fell for the #8 trap again this year of keeping my calories about 20-25% below maintenance and then adding 30 mins of ‘walking’ EVERY day after my weight workouts. After doing it yesterday and realizing that I only burned c. 150 calories for 30 minutes of walking, I quickly dropped it. I am now am stuck with slightly-tired legs on Lower day and a more overall tired body since I went back to 3 sets of exercises instead of 2 (but I also added some carb/protein calories to Pre & Post WO shakes).
150-200 calories per session still amounts to 1lb of fat loss in about 17-23 days. This is less than half of my fat loss from just cutting calories below maintenance (c. 500) and it takes twice as long to get there.
Be smart, not stubborn; more is not better!
Hey, I was just wondering if you had any advice about muscle building while taking martial arts classes ( which is basically a load of cardio ).
Thanks. :]
Well, it’s mostly a matter of A) ensuring this additional activity doesn’t cancel out the caloric surplus required for muscle growth, and B) not overdoing it in terms of overall training.
Whether that means you may need to cut back a little with weight training or martial arts (or a little of both) depends mostly on how you’re recovering and which type of training is more important to you.
Thanks a lot. I think it’s pretty cool you actually reply to people. ( You must be real
lol )
I’m really enjoying your site. There is an endless supply of information on here I love it.
One quick question regarding your e-book, have you ever thought about making a hard copy ? I’m one of those people who love to hold a real book you know.
Glad to hear it, and yup… I’m definitely real.
Regarding the book, a bunch of people have actually asked me about putting out a hard cover version. I don’t have any plans to do anything like that right now, but it may be something I look into more down the road.
Hi,
I am so glad that i stumbled on your website. There is a lot of good info here.
Question: I am trying to loose fat and maintain/build muscle. I am 30lbs. overweight and in the past I have been able to lose the weight but not the fat. My question is that I enjoy
yoga and I am training for a 5k race. How do I incorporate both activities into my schedule without loosing hard earned muscle from my weight training?
Follow the recommendations in this article, especially eating enough protein and (at the very least) maintaining your strength levels. Beyond that, if you have another goal that pretty much requires doing a significant amount of endurance work, you can’t really reduce it. Doing so may help your muscle maintenance goal, but it may hurt your endurance goal. You kinda just need to decide what’s more important right now and then just do everything else as best as possible to compensate.
I have one more question; how precise do I need to be with my calorie intake? Do I need to measure and weigh food or can I use the “palm” method meaning for meat, eat the size of the palm of my hand? Again, thank you so much for this website.
Whatever method will best ensure you’re accurately and consistently reaching your ideal totals for the day, that’s the one to use. Some people might be able to just eyeball their serving sizes and make estimates that are REALLY close while others (probably most people) will screw it up.
By default, I think most people should at least start off weighing and measuring just to get the hang of it. A food scale is as cheap and simple as can be and only takes an extra few seconds to use. For a lot of people it can be the difference between overestimating and failing as a result, or getting everything just right and succeeding.
I have finally found the answer. Thank you! I joined a gym 5 months ago and have been working out 3 times per week for 20 mins with weights (lots of reps no resting in between) and 40 mins of cardio (jogging). My trainer re-checked my progress and told me that I lost 10 pounds. (lost 3 pounds of muscle, 3 pounds of water and 4 pounds of fat). He told me to go on a low carb diet, eat more protein and workout less. I want to lose 20 pounds of fat and not lose anymore muscle. I started a lower starchy carb diet and took a break from the gym for a week. I thought workout hard and lose fat fast but apparently I have been doing it all wrong. I am going to use your tips and read as much as possible on your website. Thanks for writing this article!
Is it possible to lose fat while maintaining weight?
Sort of. For example, you could lose 1 pound of fat but gain 1 pound of something else (water, glycogen, muscle, etc.) during the same period of time, thus allowing your weight to be maintained while fat is lost.
However, this is more of a short term of thing, as the rate of fat loss should almost always significantly exceed the rate of any sort of gain or anything else. Meaning, if you’re trying to lose fat but are maintaining your weight for weeks/months at a time, it’s mostly just a sign that you’re failing to actually lose fat.
So i need to bulk up first then cut later?
Impossible to answer that question. It depends on your goals and where you’re currently at.
Allright. Tnx anyway and more power
I found your site and just kept reading. I need to lose fat ,and about 10 years ago I did all of this and lost over 60 pounds and was very fit. I am older now, and hitting close to 50 years old. I clean for a living and am tired. I am on night shift. I really want to get back in shape, and feel good, but I know I do not have the time like I use to. I do not want to be married to excersizing I just need to lose fat and get my strentgh back. I believe you have inspired me to do that. Jullin and other fitness teacher annoy me. Sometimes they do not realize age does make a difference. When I was her age I looked great too. I am not out to be number 1. I just need to improve my health and want to live longer. I am probaly 30 lbs over wieght,and mostly in the trunk area. That is definely fat and I am going to win this battle. With the help of coming to you for answers. Thank-you you have helped me to do what I need to do to boast me back and get my life back on track.
You’re welcome… awesome to hear the site has been helpful. Be sure to keep us updated on your progress!
I stumbled upon this site while looking for answers on optimum caloric deficit. I must thank you for explaining the concepts in extremely simple and understandable language, and yet covering all the nuts and bolts of this science. I have considerable bulk to lose, and was not making much of a headway due to all kinds of (mis)information and not knowing where to look for real guidance. A lot of explanations given by you ring true — am looking forward to implementing your techniques wisely and with comfort that ‘I know what I am doing’. Thank you for this effort — and thank you many times over for keeping this wealth of information free.
You are quite welcome, glad it has helped clear up some of your confusion.
Be sure to keep us updated on your progress!
I have been weight training three times a week for 9 months and love it! But before that I was a cardio jukie and I still am. I lost fat when I first started weight training and eating properly (lost 10lbs of fat and gained 5.5 lbs of muscle). This level felt great for me as I was not overweight but wanted to lose some fat and gain some muscle and the outcome was perfect. But I have gained the fat back because I felt too good and figured I could ‘cheat’ way too often. Now I am paying the price. I want to lose the fat again but maintain the muscle that I gained and have kept. But when I gain fat(as I have recenlty done)I panic and turn to increased cardio in addition to my strenght routine. I just do not have faith that I can (or even should) limit carido and still reach goals. But so much working out (cardio and weights)I know is just too much and I get too sore and tired (I am a 48 year old female). What would you suggest for someone who is scared to give up cardio altogether? I alternate my cardio with running, spinning class, elliptical, swimming. I feel like at my age there needs to some cardio as weight maintennec is difficult for women as they get to this age/stage of their life. And I do like cardio workouts too. Also I tend to panic when I gain fat and go lower with calories trying to lose. My loss stage calories should be 1300-1400. But I feel if I eat that each day then there is no ‘bank’ for a free meal or two. I read your cheat meal info. I feel like if I eat all my calories for each day and still have 2 free meals then the deficit is ruined for the week or at least compromised. And I psychologically need 2 free meals although I will admit I also need to learn how to control them a bit better. Another topic!!
So basically you want to do cardio, enjoy doing cardio and feel you have an actual need for doing cardio. Well, in that case, do cardio!
As for how much, it’s tough to be specific. Really, as much as is needed to satisfy your reasons for doing it, but not so much that you exceed that and hinder muscle maintenance by too much.
so what would be your recommendation based on also doing 3 strength training sesions per week?
Hi, thanks for such an informative website! My question is, when calculating protein requirements for the day, do the measurements you give refer to the weight of pure protein in a meat for example or just the weight of the meat itself? For example as a 130 lb women do I eat around 150 grams of meat a day or 150 of protein found in perhaps closer to 750 grams of meat per day, please? Thanks in anticipation of your reply.
I’m referring to the amount of protein, not the weight of a high protein food. So in your example, I’m referring to 150 grams of protein (not 150g of meat).