People who lose weight may also lose muscle. This is referred to as weight-loss-induced muscle loss, and it puts you at risk of developing sarcopenia, a disease defined by reduced muscle mass and poor muscular function.
You will encounter additional challenges if you take measures to retain your lean muscle mass while decreasing extra weight. Tracking your progress might be more challenging because the numbers on the scale do not always change, even if your body shape does.
Fat Loss vs. Muscle Gain
Young women who followed a 12-week combined cardio and strength program shed 10% of their body fat while gaining muscle mass by nearly 9%, according to one research. A 12-week swimming program decreased body fat and boosted physical strength in a smaller study of older women.
Beginners, according to studies, respond quickly and efficiently to both strength and aerobic training. The outcome is comparable if you previously gained muscle but subsequently lost it. Because your muscles have a “memory” of what it was like to be bigger, re-building that muscle is simple.
If you exercise moderately and want to improve your fat-muscle ratio, you can lose body fat while creating lean body tissue over time. Indeed, if you’re new to exercising, you’re more likely to benefit from both fat loss and muscle gain.
If you’re a seasoned exerciser or bodybuilder looking to gain a lot of muscle while simultaneously losing a lot of fat, it might be challenging because both objectives typically conflict. Why?
Simply said, building muscle requires ingesting more calories than you spend. You must consume less calories than you burn in order to lose weight. When you lower your calorie to lose weight, your muscles may not receive the nutrition they require to grow.
Methods for Exchanging Fat for Muscle
Here are a few ideas to help you attain a healthy balance of fat loss and muscle building.
Exercise both your heart and your muscles.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned exerciser, the idea is to incorporate both cardio and strength training into your workout program.
Cardio without strength exercise might result in muscle loss (shrinking rather than growing). Weight training without cardio, on the other hand, can impede fat loss. As a result, both.
Exercise should be prioritized according to your objectives.
Despite the fact that your workout will include both aerobic and strength components, you do not need to emphasize both. If you’re a marathon runner, work on increasing and strengthening heart rate. Bodybuilders focus on muscle growth.
A combination of the two is the best way for a beginning or average exerciser to lose fat while maintaining muscle mass. Remember, it is possible to lose fat without seeing any weight-loss, so your scale may not be a true indicator of your accomplishment.
Remember to Maintain Your Diet
Although exercise is crucial, the majority of fat loss occurs in the kitchen. The USDA recommends consuming a diet high in fruits, vegetables, lean meats, beans, lentils, whole grains, low- to no-fat dairy, and oils (vegetable oils and oils found in nuts and shellfish) to consistently maintain a healthy weight.
You may also benefit from consulting with a trained nutritionist to help you establish an eating plan that meets your goals. In most cases, a nutritionist can design a meal plan that allows you to eat foods you love while still obtaining the nutrition you need to lose fat while weight training.
Adjust Your Recovery Times
While overtraining or failing to give your body enough time to recover between sessions may not result in muscle loss, it can have an effect on your muscle’s strength and endurance. It can also raise the likelihood of injury, making weight-loss exercise more challenging.
Overtraining may be detrimental to both beginner exercisers and athletes. If you see your workout performance is deteriorating or you are feeling weary, take a day or two off. Allow your muscles to fully recover to avoid catastrophic injury.
Changing the amount of time you rest between workout sessions may also be useful. The following rest durations are recommended based on your exercise training goals. These suggestions come from the National Academy of Sports.
Resting no more than ninety seconds between sets can help you gain muscle growth.
Sixty seconds between sets to increase muscular endurance is good.
Resting 3-5 minutes between sets can help you build muscle strength.
Resting 3-5 minutes between sets can help you gain muscle power.
How to Lose Weight While Maintaining Muscle
You may not want to grow muscle while losing weight, but you also do not want to lose the muscle you have already gained. You’re in luck since there are a few things you can do to shed weight while keeping muscle mass.
Increase Your Protein Consumption
A 39-person research revealed that consuming a high-protein diet can help protect muscle while cutting calories to reduce weight. While everyone lost weight by cutting calories, those who ate more protein lost less lean muscle mass. A study of 20 obese people yielded comparable findings.
Protein is found in lean meats, fish, eggs, and dairy products. If you aim to eat a plant-based diet, non-animal foods high in protein include nuts, beans, legumes, and seeds.
If you have any time of medical conditions, it is advised for you to talk to your doctor before starting a high-protein diet. This eating plan may have an influence on renal function, therefore it’s worth thinking about if you have a kidney problem.
Obtain the Necessary Nutrients
According to study, some meals might help you maintain muscle mass vs others while reducing fat mass. For example, a study of 80 obese older people revealed that taking a supplement containing leucine and vitamin D (together with whey protein) helped preserve their muscles when they were on a low-calorie diet.
Again, contact with your doctor before beginning any additional program. They can also advise you on how much of each supplement to take based on your health and medical conditions.
Regular exercise is essential.
The potential of exercise to burn calories and build muscle is widely understood. What is less stressed is that if you do not make exercise a habit, you will most likely lose the muscle that you currently have.
How long does it take between exercises for your muscles to deteriorate? A five-day absence, according to one research, can cause lean muscle mass to diminish in size. So, to burn calories and protect your muscle mass, try to exercise on a regular basis.
The Final Two Cents
When it comes to eating and exercise, it is vital to keep your overall health in mind, even though it is possible to lose muscle mass while attempting to lose weight. Eat healthy diets and avoid under or overtraining at the gym (or at home) to keep muscle loss to a minimal.
It is also useful to assess your development using methods other than the scale. You can drop inches without losing weight if you increase muscle while shedding fat. Similarly, don’t rely on pain to signify a good workout; this is a strength-training fallacy.) Instead, concentrate on your physical size and how great you feel.
