Can you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

We are living in a sad time for bodybuilding. Although broscience is slowly starting to lose ground, it is being replaced by what we can only describe as bodybuilding nihilism (“nothing-ism”, in fact). Nothing is more important. Nutritional timing? Eat just when you feel like eating. Full body or bro split? As you feel. Eat "clean"? Bro, what does washing your food have to do with this?

Skepticism can be great, but it can also turn into pessimism that kills the mind of bodybuilding to always keep improving and always pushing your limits. The nihilism that nothing matters has gradually changed to “nothing works”. When nothing works, nothing is possible. If someone gains muscle while preparing for a competition, they are immediately accused of using steroids. This is because many people believe that it is impossible to gain muscle and burn fat at the same time. Others say it's theoretically possible, but it never happens to anyone other than absolute beginners and steroid users. And yet,

So let's take a look at the facts

The first law of thermodynamics

You've probably heard someone say that muscle growth and fat loss in the same day is physically impossible because of thermodynamics. Their argument is as follows.

• To build muscle, you need to store energy. To lose fat, you need to burn energy.
• When you have a surplus of energy, your body stores energy. When you are in deficit, your body loses energy.
• Therefore, you need to be in excess energy to gain muscle and in deficit to lose fat.

The first two points, the premises, are true. They refer to the first law of thermodynamics ("motion of energy"), also called the law of the conversion of energy. This law means that energy cannot simply disappear. She has to go somewhere. Building new fat or muscle cells requires energy, and breaking them down releases energy. However, the third point, the conclusion, is wrong.

Why ? Because muscle and fatty tissue are different functional compartments in the body. Therefore, your body independently directs calories to muscle mass and fat mass. Researchers call it calorie distribution, or calorie partitioning, and the resulting change in fat and muscle mass is expressed as a P-ratio.

The body of course needs other substrates to build muscle mass. You need bricks to build a house. Let's see what exactly the body needs. Heymsfield et al. (1982) were kind enough to cut out deaths for us, so we aggregated the results of their healthy control group in the following image. This is the makeup of human muscle tissue.

So what do we need to build muscle mass?

• Lots of water (H2O). You can drink a lot of it during a dry run, so no problem there.
• Several types of protein. Again, you can eat enough protein during a dry run, so no problem here either. For DNA and RNA, we also need nitrogen and phosphate, but these can be derived from dietary protein.
• Glycogen and triglycerides. It basically comes down to energy, as glucose and fat are nonessential nutrients that can be created by the body itself. We also need a lot more energy, because protein synthesis for the muscle building process itself is an energy expensive process.

To sum up, we need protein, water and energy. Where do we find the energy? Easy. Your body is full of them. Take the example of Menno in condition for a photoshoot at around 87 kg and 6% body fat. People think that such a physique "is barely fat any more," but the truth is, he still has quite a bit of it: 5.2 kg to be exact. If we convert this into metabolizable energy based on energy density values, the body still has over 49,000 calories to use. This is more than enough to build pounds and pounds of muscle without even taking into account the fact that you are also consuming energy in your diet.

So, as long as your body has enough stimuli to build muscle mass, which it has if your training program is optimized, it has both the means and the will to build muscle mass while losing. simultaneously fat. And here's how to gain muscle during a cut.

Likewise, your body is able to store fat while burning muscle. The law of conservation of energy only means that you gain energy when there is an energy surplus and you lose energy when there is a deficit. It doesn't say anything about how those calories are distributed or how your body composition changes.

In conclusion, thermodynamics does not exclude the possibility of becoming more muscular while drying at the same time.

Beyond the manual

The theory is very nice, but what happens in real life? Can People Really Gain Muscle While Losing Fat?

Overweight police officers (26% body fat) who started a weight training program lost over 4kg of fat and gained 4kg of lean mass in 12 weeks .

But they were big, so how is that relevant to us? Ironically, it's usually the self-proclaimed scientific skeptics who say you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Yet in dozens, if not hundreds of studies, people lose fat and gain muscle at the same time when they first start training, sometimes even when they are only doing endurance (see here , here and here , for example).

Young, old, in good health, in poor health, men, women, obese, thin, all carry out a body recomposition. Even with poor training programs, crappy diets and suboptimal protein intake. Even men and women over the age of 60 typically gain almost 2kg of lean body mass with the same amount of fat loss in 12-16 weeks (see here and there for example).

But all these people barely trained. What about trained individuals?

Here is an example from one of Menno's clients who had over 20 years of training behind him and already had 107 kilos (235 lbs) times 5 reps before starting coaching. He performed a DXA scan approximately every 3 weeks during the coaching. In the space of two months and 18 days, he lost 3.1 kg of fat while gaining almost the exact same amount of muscle. His weight in the last scan was the same within 8 grams as his starting weight. It is therefore an example of almost perfect body recomposition. You can find an anonymous preview of his DXA scans here and his progress photos below.

Still not convinced? Obviously, it is not as common for trained individuals as it is for beginners to witness body recomposition, but it is still very possible if you follow a good program. Many of my clients with access to reliable body fat measurement techniques, such as a DXA scan (think "x-rays"), have gained muscle while losing fat. Of course, it would be wise to be skeptical of what I say about my clients' results, so let's take a look at some scientific research.

• One study looked at elite gymnasts . These were national level athletes with a training volume of 30 hours per week. They could do 17 pull-ups with their chest touching the bar (try to do even one). They were put on a 1,971 calorie ketogenic diet. In case it isn't obvious, this is pretty drastic for someone who trains more than 4 hours a day. Their body fat percentage fell from 7.6% to 5% - lower than that of many bodybuilders when taking the stage for a competition - in 30 days. Even under these conditions, they gained 400g of lean body mass. And don't forget that they must have lost a lot of glycogen and water by eating only 22 grams of carbohydrates per day.
• Similar results of positive body recomposition have been found in elite athletes from various other sports .
• This study and this study both found positive body recomposition in high performance rugby players.
• This study found positive body recomposition in men with a bench press weighing over 100 kilograms.
• This study found a positive body recomposition in NCAA Division football players who already squatted 174 kg and dropped 131 kg.
• Even some women competing in IFBB were found to gain muscle during preparation for their competition in a study that carefully monitored their hormone levels .

Conclusion

Gaining muscle during a weight loss regimen is not only possible, it should even be normal for most people on a serious program. As long as the stimulus for muscle growth is carefully designed and individualized, your body will find a way to gain weight. Your body is not your enemy. It's a miraculous survival machine that adapts to the stress you put on it. When you understand it, you can control it.

So that slanderers go and be seen. When you don't think what you want is possible, you've already lost before you even started.

Related research and references:

If you are interested in these kinds of topics, we have a complete training course for those who are passionate about training and nutrition. To find out more, click below!
1. Bayesian France training / MennoHenselmans.com