Both Building Muscle and Losing Weight

Question. If I want to lose weight but also build muscle, should I lose the weight first before doing any lifting, etc.? I've been told that if I do such excercises now, I'll only gain muscle at the weight I am now and that will prevent me from being as slender as I want to be. Is that true?

Fat loss and muscle mass building are 2 different things. You can do both at the same time. Also keep in mind you're a woman, so you can't really build that much muscle mass anyway.

Oh, no, I definetely don't want to be like one of those women bodybuilders. I just want to be nicely toned and rid of all this flab.

Like I said, building muscle and burning fat are two different things. You can start lifting now, just make sure to keep doing cardio.

Doing typical muscle building excerises is a great contribution to your losing weight. 

It obviously burns calories helping your weight loss, and also will lead to toned muscles and skin so you don't get any flappy bits when you do lose weight.  Make sure you eat plenty to keep your muscles strong and recovering quickly from your workouts.

like kathywainman said, exercise will help to burn calories and to firm up your body.  I have some news that is potentially bad though.  Unless you have JUST STARTED eating different you can't lose weight and gain muscle simultaneously.  If you have been dieting for a while then you will have to gain a little muscle and fat by eating more and working out hard and then trim back the fat afterwards by doing conditioning workouts and cutting back on your calories again. And I really mean a LITTLE BIT, like 5 pounds total for a gain of 2-3 pounds of muscle.

In general yes, workout and be sure to drink alot of water, eat plenty of protien, get as many good night's sleeep as you can and rest your muscles, doing only a fun activity or nothing athletic one day a week.

That's not true. I gained muscle mass while losing weight and fat. In fact as of late, I keep losing fat and building muscle mass, so my weight is holding steady.

Go Ask Alice put this very nicely, so I don't have to type out a huge long response but rather can cut and paste instead.




As far as humans are concerned, we can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Anabolism, the process of building muscle, requires more calories taken in than expended, plus appropriate resistance exercise to stimulate the many cells involved in muscle development, and adequate rest to allow repair and growth of muscle tissue.

Muscle tissue is comprised of 15 - 20 percent protein, 70 - 75 percent water, and glycogen (carbohydrate), fat, vitamins, and minerals in the remainder. Because of the work involved, rest required, and calorie intake needed, it's unlikely for a person to be able to gain more than two pounds of muscle in a week. As a person adds muscle, her/his metabolic rate increases slightly.

With weight loss, the goal for many is to lose fat and keep muscle. The body does not burn fat only when fewer calories are consumed; carbohydrate and protein are also utilized for energy. When a person loses weight, s/he usually loses not only fat, but also water and protein. If one is restricting carbohydrate in his/her eating plan, protein will be used for energy and will not be available for muscle repair. If a person is taking in too little protein, s/he will not have an adequate amount available to fulfill its many functions, including muscle and tissue repair, enzyme and hormone production, fluid balance, and red blood cell production, among others. Weight loss involves fewer calories taken in than expended, so in this deprivation mode, one would not have the excess calories required to build muscle. As a matter of fact, low calorie eating plans can result in protein deficiency and loss of muscle tissue.

So, what is the answer to this quandary? While trying to lose fat, it's important to work on preserving muscle. Dieters frequently lose lean body mass and experience decreases in basal metabolic rate. Stopping or excluding resistance exercise does nothing for maintaining strength, muscle tone, and bone health. Keeping lean body mass by weight training will also help to keep one's metabolism up. In order to preserve lean body mass, taking in sufficient protein (2 g/kg. or 0.9 g/lb of body weight) is recommended. Timing of protein intake may play a significant role in its use to repair muscle tissue ? within two hours of a workout can help assure its availability. The amount of protein will depend on the intensity of the workout and a person's energy needs. Including protein, along with carbohydrate, post-exercise seems to be optimal in muscle repair.

Also, DM you are the exception rather than the rule. Some people are predisposed to gaining muscle. You've seen them at the gym, the guys who just look at weights and get bigger. This is not the norm and most people aren't so lucky.

I enjoy Christian Finn's take on this subject.

Great post... also the Christian Finn article was interesting.  Quotes studies with numbers, which puts things in context... interesting for people who want to lose weight in the round about way of building muscle to improve metabolism.

The study said they took a group of men to have them build muscle for eight weeks, they ate on average 4339 calories a day, trained  60 to 90 minutes a day four times a week. The result was that they gained six pounds of muscle.

Now other places I have read say that each pound of musle  adds up to 15 calories to RMR... some sources say only 5 to 10. So say ten.  The men's RMR improved by 60 calories.  Interesting perspective.

dont worry, you will never look like a man.  first of all, you're not a man.  you do not have the (amount of male) hormones like a man, and also you do not have the muscle mass like a man.  Professional body builders work really hard at looking like, well, a professional body builder.

building muscles is great for preventing osteoporosis.

eh i am a guy but i manage to kick 2-3 pounds to the curb while upping my weight by 10 pound intervals fairly consistantly... so ya its possible and there is no trick just dont do either side in a huge extream, split days yadda yadda....

I have been able to increase my lifts while losing weight, but the muscle does not seem to grow. From what I have been able to find, your muscle may not grow in size, instead it becomes more efficent.

But this is coming from a casual lifter, so take it for what it is worth.

I know that ur muscles do not grow while losing body fat % but shouldnt they atleast look more defined and cut (better) than they did before since you are strength training

Thank you everyone for your replies. That information was really helpful, and the article as well. I did in fact just start dieting recently (about two weeks ago). It has always been really difficult for me to lose weight. But when I do lose it, I want to make sure that there is still some muscle mass because as I previously mentioned, I do not want excess skin, fat, etc.

billb, yup, strength-training will increase your strength even when you're eating too little to gain new muscle.  There are a lot of things that go into strength besides just muscle mass.  Here's a good article that should help flesh this out for you.