In this instructional video, Eric Roberts explains that losing fat while building muscle is indeed possible, but the amount of muscle you can gain depends primarily on two personal factors: your current body‑fat percentage and your training experience. He outlines how a higher body‑fat percentage provides more stored energy for muscle synthesis, while beginners to proper strength training can achieve more muscle growth in a calorie deficit than seasoned lifters. Roberts then presents the non‑negotiable pillars for success: a modest daily calorie deficit of 250–500 kcal, protein intake of roughly 0.8 g per pound of goal body weight, a strength‑training program focused on heavy lifts in the 5–10 rep range, daily step goals of 5,000–10,000, and 1–3 sessions per week of low‑intensity cardio. He provides free calculators and workout program links in the description, and offers one‑on‑one coaching. The video concludes with a simple progression plan: cut until reaching the desired body‑fat level, then shift to maintenance calories and decide the next goal.
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The million-dollar question: how do you lose fat but build muscle at the same time? Is it even possible? And if so, what is the most effective way to go about doing it? There's a lot of talk about this, and if you don't understand the process of how it actually works, you're going to end up wasting unnecessary time and energy and effort not seeing the progress that you want to see. But don't worry, because by the end of this video, I'm going to break all of this down in a simple, easy-to-understand way so you can know exactly what to do with your program to see the best results. First off, is it even possible to begin with, or is it just a bunch of BS? Well, yes, it is possible, and the process is actually quite simple. Your body has stored fat that it will break down through being in a calorie deficit, and then in combination with a proper strength training program, your body will use the calories from the stored fat along with a proper protein intake in order to build muscle. So yes, it's possible, but— and this is a big but, which I know some of you are trying to build— the amount of muscle that you are going to be able to build while still losing fat is going to be highly dependent on you as the individual. Specifically, there are going to be 2 main factors that are going to affect how much muscle you can build and how much fat you can lose. The first factor is your current body fat percentage. Fat is a stored fuel source that your body uses for survival. So the less that you have, the harder it's going to be to use this fuel source towards building new muscle. On top of the fact you don't just have more calories to build muscle, the more muscle you have, the more calories you need to maintain it. So for example, if you're somebody with a lower body fat percentage and you have less body fat to lose, you will build less muscle while losing fat at the same time. It's not that it can't happen, it's just much harder and less effective. Whereas if you're somebody who has a higher body fat percentage right now and you have more body fat to lose, your body is going to use more of this stored energy to put towards building more muscle. So if you're trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time right now, if you are at a higher body fat percentage, you might not like it, but it's actually a positive for you In this scenario. And obviously everything between— this is just going to work on a spectrum. So the less fat you have to lose, the less muscle you'll build. The more fat you have to lose, the more muscle you'll build. Now the second factor is going to be your training experience. For example, the longer you've been following a proper lifting strength training program, the harder it is going to be to build muscle while being in a calorie deficit. Now remember as well, this is a proper strength training program. I'm not talking about if you're doing Beachbody, for example. I'm not talking about if you're doing Orange Theory, for example, or HIIT classes or anything like that. Now, nothing against these things if you enjoy them, but they're just not a proper lifting program. So if you— or if you've just been going into the gym and you're kind of just You know, doing random machines, I wouldn't consider all of that being on a proper program. So even if you've been working out for a while, if you haven't been following a proper program, then I would still consider you not following a proper program for a long time. Which is actually good because the more beginner you are to following a proper strength training program, the more muscle you'll be able to build while also being in a calorie deficit. Because the stimulus will be so new to your body, your body will have no choice but to respond and build a significant amount of muscle. And again, this is also going to work on a spectrum, right? So it just goes from the less advanced you are, the more muscle you'll build. The more advanced you are, the less muscle you'll build. Now I know this seems a bit like it depends and you haven't gotten a concrete answer yet, but stick with me because we're going to go over what program you should follow. But really quickly to sum up, the more beginner you are with the more fat you have to lose, the more amount of muscle you're going to build in a calorie deficit. And the less beginner you are and the less fat you have to lose, the less muscle you will build in a calorie deficit. And also keep in mind, we are talking about people who are not on steroids or performance-enhancing drugs. Now, if you're somebody who doesn't fall into one of those extreme categories and you kind of more so fall in the middle of that spectrum, you're probably wondering what should you be doing to maximize your progress? Well, here's where most people go wrong. It doesn't really matter what you do with your program, and let me explain why. The reason being, there is no such thing as a special program you need to follow that is going to help you lose fat and build muscle at the same time, because losing fat and building muscle is just going to be a process that naturally happens on its own. What is the non-negotiable you need to lose fat no matter what? A calorie deficit like we said earlier. So if you're trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, there's no other thing you'd really do other than number one, going into that calorie deficit, which I recommend going into roughly about a 250 to 500 calorie deficit. And this just means you're eating 250 to 500 less calories minus your maintenance, which if you need to know what your calorie deficit number is, there'll be a free calorie calculator in the description of the video. You would eat the right amount of protein in order to fuel muscle growth, which again is roughly about 0.8 grams of protein per pound of your goal body weight. So whatever it is you want to weigh, you would take, let's say, 150 times 0.8, that would be 120 grams of protein per day. You would follow a proper lifting program with none of this like lightweight for high rep to tone the muscle. You would try to lift heavy in the 5 to 10 rep range, and you would try to build muscle. If you need a proper lifting program, again, there'll be a free workout program in the description of this video. And then you would try to hit your daily steps. I recommend getting at least 5,000 steps per day, as close to 10,000 as you can. And then you would maybe throw in some additional cardio for a little bit of extra calorie burn, roughly 1 to 3 days a week of 15 to 30 minutes of low-intensity cardio. And then like we've been saying, from there, the amount of muscle you will be able to build while losing fat will just depend on where you are at on the spectrum of more beginner, less beginner, more fat, less fat. And so if your main goal right now is to lose fat and get a little bit leaner, you would do this right here. And however much muscle you build is how much muscle you build. And then once you get to your desired weight or level of body fat percentage, you would just increase your calories to maintenance and then decide what you would like to do from there. So to recap, losing fat and building muscle happens no matter what. It just depends on the degree of how much muscle you can build depending on your scenario. I hope this video helped, and if you're interested in getting some one-on-one coaching with your specific scenario, click the link in the description of this video.
