How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle At The Same Time (Step By Step)

Build muscle, lose fat. Pick one. Well, what if I want to do both at the same time? Known as body recomposition. Many people believe this is impossible or only reserved for a small percentage of people. But that's not entirely true. Most people definitely can build muscle and lose fat at the same time. In fact, it happens all the time in research, and not just in beginners. This study found positive body recomposition in pro football players already squatting over 382 pounds and benching over 289 pounds. And even some women at extreme levels of leanness preparing for a bodybuilding show have been found to gain a bit of muscle during this process. So what's the secret? Well, the major problem with trying to build muscle and lose fat at the same time is there are two opposing goals. Typically, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. But because muscle building is such an energy demanding process, the this usually prevents you from building muscle. However, the energy your muscles need to grow doesn't just have to come from your diet. With the right nutrition and training plan, you can actually signal your body to use its existing fat stores as energy towards building muscle and as a result, build muscle and lose fat simultaneously. So how do we do it? Well, there's three steps to this, starting with nutrition. Now, the most important part of your nutrition is your calorie intake. And although you want to be in a calorie deficit to stimulate fat loss, it's it shouldn't be as aggressive as it is during a typical dieting phase. As for what that sweet spot is, let's take a Look at this 2021 meta analysis. Researchers pooled together 59 fat loss studies to try to find at what point a calorie deficit becomes too low for building muscle to be possible. Here's a graph of the results. Notice how many people were able to build muscle when the deficit was small, but as soon as it surpassed a deficit of around 300 calories, muscle growth came to a halt and even began to decrease as soon as the deficit grew larger than 500 calories. Now keep in mind, this data is from subjects following standard fitness programs employed in research studies, which usually aren't the most ideal programs for building muscle. So with the optimized training plan, I'll show you later on in this video, it's very possible you'll still be able to build muscle even in a 500 calorie deficit and beyond. However, based on this data, if you want to maximize your odds of being able to recomp it's likely that a slight deficit of around 200 to 300 calories is best. And if you do want some help calculating this, you can head over to builtwithscience.com calculator okay, so we have calories figured out, but what seems to be just as important is your protein intake. You see, a calorie deficit reduces your rates of muscle protein synthesis, so less of the protein you eat will be used as a building block for building muscle. Eat too little protein and your body will start to look for it elsewhere, such as your existing muscle mass. As for how much to eat to counteract this, let's take a look at three studies. Each of them had subjects eat in a calorie deficit, but assigned them to either a low or high daily protein intake of different amounts. Every single study found superior muscle growth in the high protein group. And since subjects were still in a calorie deficit, they managed to lose fat at the same time. Now, unfortunately, we don't yet have a study that compares protein intakes that are both relatively high during a calorie deficit, such as 0.8 versus 1.2 grams per pound of body weight. However, I think it's pretty safe to say that you'll be pretty much close to maximizing your growth at about 0.8 grams per pound. And if you really want to be on the safe side, bump it up to one gram per pound. So the next step is to pair your nutrition plan with a training plan designed to force your muscles to grow. And there's a few relevant studies that can help us determine what the best approach might be. One of them is a study published just last year where researchers took 130 subjects with at least six months training experience and compared the effects of having them train with heavy weights versus lighter weights while in a calorie deficit. A common belief is that lighter weights for high reps is better for fat loss, whereas heavier weights for less reps is best for building muscle. But in this case, both approaches resulted in a similar amount of fat loss as well as a little bit of muscle game. But this does heavily depend on one factor. Effort. And this is honestly where I believe most of you guys are falling short. You see, in order to maximize growth, you need to take each of your sets at least within three reps short of failure. And in fact, based on a new preprint study, it might be advantageous to take each set even closer to failure than this thing is. Most people don't train anywhere close to hard enough to reach this. But no, you Got more. Come on, come on, come on. You have at least three more Go. And this brings me to an important point I want to make. There really isn't a special body recomposition training plan. It's about doing the basics, but doing them well. Push hard enough during your sets, train with enough volume, work each muscle at least twice per week, and most importantly, stay consistent even if you're an experienced lifter. Fixing any one of these variables can very well be the stimulus your body needs to continue building muscle despite being in a deficit. But before I cover who exactly body recomposition is best suited for, there is one more variable you need to make sure you don't overlook. Sleep. Okay, so the most relevant study we have regarding sleep and body recomposition was published back in 2020. Researchers took untrained men and randomly assigned them to either a workout program consisting of two full body workouts per week, or that same workout program plus a sleep education program designed to improve both the quantity and the quality of their sleep after 10 weeks. Both groups had similar increases in muscle, with a trend favoring the sleep group when it came to fat loss. However, the sleep group actually ended up losing a significant amount of fat, while the workout only group ended up gaining a little bit of fat. Other studies have shown similar effects as well, where sleep deprivation negatively affects both muscle gains and fat loss. So to make sure you don't sabotage all the work you put into your nutrition and training, try to get at least seven hours of sleep per night. All right, so now that we've covered how to recomb, let's discuss the most important part. Who body recomposition is best suited for and whether or not it's actually worth your time pursuing. So first off, the higher your potential for growth, the more likely you'll be able to recomb. And there's three main groups of people who satisfy this criteria. The first group are beginners who can basically touch a weight and end up growing. The second group has to do with the fact that muscle regrows far easier than it took to initially grow it. Lawrence, one of our Bill of Science members, is a good example of this. He took some time off training, and in his first two months back, although his body weight didn't change very much, he was able to build some muscle while losing a good amount of fat. But the third group is where I think most people fall under. And Nick, another one of our Built With Science members is a perfect example of this. Although he had been training for several years, he was pretty much just going through the motions. He never properly applied progressive overload and had plenty of other areas where his training could improve. And he also just didn't know how to approach his nutrition. After we helped optimize his plan, he quickly saw results and experienced incredible body recomposition over the course of several months. Although his actual body weight didn't change too much, he clearly built a good amount of muscle while losing a ton of fat in the process. That said, even if you do fall into one of these three groups, there's still one more condition you should satisfy. And the importance of this is highlighted in a recent 2023 case study. Researchers analyzed a group of professional bodybuilders during the contest prep and found that as they got leaner, building muscle became far less likely and eventually muscle loss became inevitable once they surpass a certain level of leanness. It is interesting, however, that a few of the female subjects were still able to build a little bit of muscle. And another study has actually shown similar results that suggest that body recomposition may be more likely to occur in females even when relatively lean. But we definitely need more research. But overall, although the exact minimum level of body fat required to recomb isn't entirely clear yet, I'd say around 15% body fat for males and at least 22% for females is a good minimum. But now it's time for the million dollar question. Is body recomposition even worth your time? Well, first off, if you're someone who's pretty lean or has been training both hard and consistently for at least six months, then you're probably going to have a hard time trying to recomb. Secondly, even if you are likely to recomp, you should also consider what your main goal is right now. I know you want to do both, but what's truly more important to you right now? Building muscle or losing fat? For example, while you might end up building a little bit of muscle during a recom, most research suggests that a surplus or lean bulk is is likely superior. Whereas if your main goal is to lose fat, then a slightly more aggressive deficit would definitely lead to more fat loss, with the possibility that you'll still be able to gain a little bit of muscle. It's also likely no coincidence that no bodybuilder on the planet, at least that I'm aware of, natural or enhanced, tries to recomp their way to muscle growth. They use bulking and cutting cycles and end up looking better year after year. And perhaps just as important, we as humans like to see things go in the right direction during a recomp. Results can be slow and your body weight doesn't really help indicate whether things are going in the right direction, so you have to rely on other metrics like small differences in progress, photos, strength in the gym, how your clothes are fitting, and tracking your waist circumference over time. Without proper guidance, this can be a lot more difficult to navigate than a traditional bulk or cut where the scale and quicker body changes can lead the way. That said, I do think for some people it is worth a shot and at the very least it's helpful to be mindful of when dieting in the event that your weight is stuck and you think you're not making progress, but you're really just building muscle and losing fat simultaneously. And as a recap, here's who is best suited for here's how to execute it and here's what to expect and how long it typically lasts. And if you need some help optimizing your plan, Then head to builtwithscience.com and take our 30 second quiz to find the best step by step training and nutrition plan for you and your body. I highly recommend that you give this video a watch next for some new science based training techniques you can start applying today to speed up growth. Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time.