Everyone thinks it’s impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. I’m here to tell you this just isn’t the truth. You need to be eating extremely well, as well as mixing in some aerobic calorie-burning activities on your off days.
Log Your Progress
While this step is important in all muscle building plans, it is especially important for losing fat and building muscle simultaneously. You will go nowhere without a good record keeping system. It’s just too complicated for our brains to be able to remember accurately. Keep meticulous track of your workouts and nutrition. This includes:
- Exercises performed
- Sets, reps, weight, and any notes on form or overall performance
- Meals
- Frequency and size of meals
- Overall mood for the day and potential mistakes made in diet or workout
The Workouts
When you lift, lift hard. Compound exercises like the squat, deadlift, and bench press are absolutely key for blasting your muscles. Don’t just routinely perform these exercises. You need to be committing 110% in the gym on your workout days if your’e looking to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.
Sample Workout
Perform this workout three times a week. For the compound lifts, try to use a weight that leaves you close to exhaustion on the last reps of the 3rd set.
- Squats – 3×5 (3 sets, 5 reps)
- Deadlifts – 3×5
- Bench Press – 3×5
- Dips – 3×5
- Pullups – 3×5
The Diet
You need to be eating extremely well to be able to get ripped and strong at the same time. On your workout days, consume a lot of lean proteins, and follow our muscle building diets guide in the diet section of our site. It is important you have a caloric surplus on your workout days – this allows your muscles to regenerate and repair, which over time will increase your muscle mass.
On your off-days, remember to add cardiovascular exercise to your day, but also switch up your diet. You need to operate at a caloric deficit on these days. Keep your carbohydrates low, and remember to stay away from any empty calories like sodas, white bread, candies, and juices that aren’t 100% fruit juice. By doing this and aerobic activity, you will start to burn fat on your off days and build muscle on your workout days, and you’ll be on the path to having an amazing body.
