How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle at the Same Time (3 Simple Steps)

Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time? Yes–and it’s known as body recomposition, where you build muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, recomp does come with a catch. We need to be at a calorie deficit in order to lose weight and strip off fat. But the drawback with being at a calorie deficit is that it severely compromises our ability to build muscle. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to build muscle while losing fat, and in today's video I'll share 3 steps for how to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

The first thing you need to do for body recomposition is setup your diet. Eat at a very slight deficit of roughly 5% to a maximum of 20%. And aim for around a protein intake of around 1g/lb of your bodyweight. Then, fill the rest of your calories with carbs and fats.

Next, to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, beyond training your muscles at an adequate volume, switch up your routine. For example, switching to a new training split, increasing or decreasing your muscle training frequency, and/or switching up some of your exercises or the manner in which you perform them.

Next, we need to optimize our nutrient timing so to build muscle while losing fat. First, you need to ensure that you’re evenly spreading out your daily protein intake into about 3-5 meals throughout the day. Also aim to have adequate carbs and protein shortly before and after you train.

When it comes to the question of ‘Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time,’ the answer is yes, but you need to follow the action plan below:

Step 1 (Set Up Nutrition): Eat just slightly below maintenance calories (~5-20% deficit, or ~100-500 calories below maintenance). Multiplying your bodyweight in lbs by ~14-16 can give you an estimate as to what your maintenance calories are. Ensure your protein intake is ~1g/lb of your bodyweight, and consider going above this if you’re relatively leaner (e.g. 15% body fat or below).

Step 2 (Switch Up Training): Switch up your training routine. Still ensure that you’re training with the optimal muscle training frequency and weekly volume, but switch up your training to provide a new stimulus for growth.

Step 3 (Optimize): Spread your daily protein intake fairly evenly into at least 3 meals per day, and ensure that you’re ingesting adequate pre AND post workout protein + carbs in a timely manner.

Bonus Step (Measure): Track your bodyweight, circumference measurements, progress pictures, and strength in the gym. Use these to variables to gauge your progress.

A body recomposition isn’t ideal for everyone, but in the cases I went through and with the protocol I previously outlined, it can be an effective way for you to shortcut your transformation. But, in the long run, you’ll likely eventually want to transition to a dedicated muscle building or fat loss period and prioritize one or the other. And for an all in one, step by step program that shows you not only how to successfully achieve a body recomposition, but also then shows you exactly what to do afterwards so that you can continue to strip off fat and build lean muscle as efficiently as possible with science, then simply take the analysis quiz below to discover which specific program is best for your body and where it’s currently at:
builtwithscience.com/bws-free-fitness-quiz/gend…

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

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FULL BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE:
Full Body Workout A - youtube.com/watch?v=5JmWguyvu7Y
Full Body Workout B - youtube.com/watch?v=MWcJuLKB7RY

UPPER/LOWER BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE:
Upper body workout - youtube.com/watch?v=acp77RhVzMM
Lower body workout - youtube.com/watch?v=YPLopuFxz-0

PUSH PULL LEGS WORKOUT ROUTINE:
Push workout - youtube.com/watch?v=FWDXsqHo14A
Pull workout - youtube.com/watch?v=tPphF8gepd8
Legs workout - youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9B6pqHUQE