Can you gain muscle while eating at a deficit?
Asked by centamichel on Aug 31, 2009
in Fitness
Answer
While you are losing weight, you can’t add much muscle, but you can try to keep the muscle have and then build more when you get to maintenance. To do that, you must weight-train to increase your strength and do cardio-type exercise slow and long to burn fat. Your calorie deficit should not exceed 250-500 calories a day to avoid breaking down muscle to provide glucose. You must also keep your protein intake on the high side (20-25% percent of calories) to replace regular protein losses as they occur. It’s also important to eat some carbohydrate and protein right after exercise and to rest for at least a day in-between lifting weights. Read a discussion about gaining muscle while maintaining a calorie deficit at the Calorie Count forums.
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