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How To Build Muscle And Lose Body Fat At The Same Time | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
Can you build muscle and lose weight at the same time? Find out more from an expert nutritionist.
Richie Kirwan - an expert nutritionist - is going to talk about how the body changes when the goal is to build muscle while losing fat. Otherwise known as body recomposition. We’ll talk about what conditions are needed for body recomp. Richie will talk about some practical points people can apply to give themselves the best champ of efficiently body recomping.
If this is your goal, give this a watch and let us know how you get on.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:49 - Is it possible?
04:16 - Body recomp with less body fat?
06:39 - Lose weight on a calorie surplus
09:04 - How to successfully body recomp
10:26 - Bulking and cutting
11:35 - Any more questions on body recomp?
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0:00
build muscle and lose fat at the same
0:02
time is it even possible let's talk
0:04
about that
0:07
how's it going guys my name is Richie
0:08
Kerwin and today we're going to talk
0:10
about what is considered to be the Holy
0:12
Grail of body changes building muscle
0:14
while losing fat otherwise known as body
0:17
recomposition we'll talk about what
0:19
conditions are needed for body recomp
0:20
and at the end we'll talk about some
0:22
practical points people can apply to
0:24
give themselves the best chance of
0:26
efficiently body recomping so let's be
0:29
honest when most people start out with
0:31
their Fitness or healthy eating Journey
0:33
they often have the exact same goal in
0:36
mind builds a muscle and lose some body
0:38
fat even if they don't specifically say
0:40
they want to build muscle they might say
0:42
they want to get toned that literally
0:44
just means building some muscle so that
0:47
it shows better under slightly less body
0:48
fat it's a very desirable goal because
0:51
we all want The Best of Both Worlds and
0:53
we want it right now the thing is
0:55
wanting to gain muscle and lose body fat
0:58
at the same time has a pretty major
1:00
inherent problem both are two completely
1:03
separate goals for fat loss we need to
1:06
be in a calorie deficit which means we
1:08
need to be eating fewer calories than we
1:10
burn consistently for long enough to see
1:13
an effect fat loss is a catabolic
1:15
process which means we are breaking down
1:17
tissue the tissue is mostly fat but if
1:20
you don't plan your diet and exercise
1:21
well it can include a lot of muscle too
1:24
on the other hand muscle gain is an
1:26
anabolic process which means we're
1:28
building up tissue and for that we need
1:31
a calorie Surplus or more calories than
1:33
our bodies need this is why body
1:35
recomposition can be so hard both goals
1:38
are Polar Opposites but it is possible
1:41
sometimes there are a couple of
1:43
situations where muscle gain and fat
1:44
loss happens simultaneously specifically
1:47
when someone has a lot of body fat to
1:50
lose or when someone is a total newbie
1:53
to training in the case of having a lot
1:55
of body fat to lose that means that
1:57
someone still has a lot of extra energy
1:59
to use in the body despite the fact that
2:01
they might be in a calorie deficit and
2:04
losing body fat having that extra body
2:06
fat means someone can probably still eat
2:07
a decent amount of calories while losing
2:09
weight and that extra body fat might
2:12
Slow Down Changes in hormones that can
2:14
reduce anabolism when somebody loses
2:15
weight for example extended dieting and
2:18
low body fat levels are often associated
2:20
with drops in testosterone which
2:22
promotes muscle growth and increases in
2:24
cortisol which increases muscle
2:25
breakdown someone with higher body fat
2:27
who isn't in a very extreme calorie
2:30
deficit might not suffer from these
2:31
extreme changes in hormones and may be
2:33
able to continue building muscle the
2:35
other example I mentioned was newbies or
2:38
people who are new to resistance
2:39
training everyone knows what newbie
2:41
gains are those very quick and usually
2:43
very noticeable gains in muscle size
2:45
when somebody starts Lifting for the
2:46
first first time this happens because
2:48
on-trained muscles are very sensitive to
2:51
anabolic stimuli and adapt and grow when
2:53
they get worked hard to be honest if
2:55
someone is completely untrained you
2:57
could probably get some muscle growth
2:58
just by getting them to start jogging
3:00
regularly this means that total newbies
3:02
can gain muscle even when in an overall
3:04
calorie deficit and even when their
3:06
nutrition isn't great which means they
3:09
can pretty easily body recomp but
3:11
anybody who's been Lifting for a year or
3:13
more will know that those newbie gains
3:15
don't last long there is another example
3:18
where body recomp is pretty common and
3:20
that's in lifters who are returning from
3:22
a layoff of a few weeks months or even
3:25
years without any consistent training
3:27
this is because muscle memory can
3:29
actually allow d-trained lifters to
3:31
regain muscle pretty quickly as soon as
3:33
they restart training which means they
3:36
can probably gain muscle and lose some
3:38
body fat at the same time for example in
3:40
a group of elite rugby players who had
3:41
been detrained for four weeks and then
3:44
put through a high intensity training
3:45
cycle for 11 weeks there was an average
3:48
loss of 2.2 kilograms of body fat and a
3:51
gain of 1.8 kilograms of muscle mass
3:53
those kind of gains are really only
3:55
possible in Elite athletes after they've
3:57
d-trained for a while and lost some of
4:00
their original muscle size so up to now
4:02
we've spoken about a couple of examples
4:03
where gaining muscle and losing fat at
4:05
the same time is pretty common namely
4:06
newbies or people who D trained and
4:09
people with a lot of body fat to lose
4:10
but what about people that don't fit
4:12
into those categories namely experienced
4:15
lifters with lower levels of body fat
4:17
can they still body recomp you'll be
4:19
happy to know that the short answer is
4:21
yes but as always we'll have to talk
4:24
about some conditions in a really
4:26
interesting review paper barakatidal
4:28
discuss a number of papers that show
4:30
just that and I think it'll be useful to
4:33
describe some of the studies mentioned
4:34
in their review so for example in one
4:36
study a group of recreational
4:38
bodybuilders with at least two years of
4:39
training experience did a linear
4:41
Progressive overload training plan for
4:43
10 weeks that means that the training
4:45
intensity was increasing as they got
4:47
stronger they also supplemented with
4:49
whey protein and were getting a total of
4:51
2.1 grams of protein per kilogram of
4:53
body weight per day at the end of the
4:55
experiment they had lost 1.4 kilos of
4:58
body fat and gained 5 kilos of muscle
5:00
mass if that sounds like a lot it is and
5:03
I'll talk about that a little more in a
5:05
moment in another experiment by hornadal
5:07
they had a group of young resistance
5:10
trained men supplement with greater
5:12
doses of whey protein and train three
5:14
days a week with a linear Progressive
5:16
overdose program for six weeks they were
5:18
eating 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram
5:20
of body weight per day and were in a 500
5:22
calorie Surplus after six weeks bat
5:25
group lost one kilogram of body fat and
5:28
gained 2.9 kilograms of fat-free Mass
5:31
again that sounds pretty damn impressive
5:33
now these are just two examples of a
5:35
number of studies that show the same
5:37
thing that in certain situations it's
5:38
possible to gain muscle and lose body
5:41
fat at the same time some of the common
5:43
factors of these groups that were able
5:44
to do that were having a well structured
5:47
Progressive overload-based training plan
5:49
following a high protein diet of at
5:51
least 2 grams and up to 4 grams of
5:53
protein per kilogram of body weight per
5:54
day and starting out with a slightly
5:56
higher body fat percentage it's also
5:59
really worth pointing out that just
6:01
because a research study says that
6:02
someone has two years of training
6:04
experience doesn't necessarily mean that
6:06
they're an advanced lifter for example
6:08
in the study I mentioned where they
6:09
gained 5 kilograms of muscle mass over
6:11
10 weeks it's very possible that the
6:13
participants had pretty inadequate
6:15
training programs before the study and
6:17
the study was the first time that they
6:19
had really been challenged by their
6:21
training that would have led to a form
6:22
of newbie gains or gains in response to
6:25
a decent training program remember one
6:27
of the most important factors for
6:28
building muscle is a solid consistent
6:30
Progressive overload-based training
6:32
system unfortunately most recreational
6:35
lifters go to the gym and don't really
6:37
have a plan when it comes to training oh
6:39
and for anyone wondering how it's even
6:41
possible that someone could lose fat in
6:43
a calorie surface or build muscle in a
6:45
deficit it's worth pointing out that the
6:47
balance between catabolism and animalism
6:49
changes throughout the day catabolic or
6:52
breakdown reactions and anabolic or
6:54
building up reactions are happening all
6:57
the time in our bodies but it's the
6:58
overall balance that matters when it
7:00
comes to what happens to body
7:01
composition over time so for example
7:03
someone could be in an overall daily or
7:06
weekly calorie deficit but if they eat
7:08
enough protein add a meal that can
7:11
stimulate muscle protein synthesis for a
7:13
few hours after that meal so there may
7:15
be enough spikes in muscle protein
7:17
synthesis throughout the day to
7:19
stimulate muscle growth even though the
7:20
person may still be losing body fat at
7:23
the times of the day when they're not
7:24
eating enough in some situations so
7:27
we've spoken about lifters with some
7:28
decent experience and it seems that they
7:30
can still body recomp but what about
7:32
Elite level physique athletes who are
7:35
pushing the limits of body conversation
7:37
can they gain muscle while losing fat
7:40
too well that's probably a lot less
7:43
likely in fact in the same review paper
7:45
from barakatidal they included a number
7:48
of case studies that followed
7:50
bodybuilders through their competition
7:51
preps to see how their body composition
7:53
changed of the six case studies they
7:56
included only two showed an increase in
7:58
muscle mass one was a female competitor
8:01
who dropped from 30 to just over 15 body
8:05
fat and increased fat free mass by 1.3
8:08
kilos over 24 weeks the other was
8:12
another female competitor who dropped
8:14
eight kilograms of body fat and
8:15
increased fat-free mass by 0.7 kilograms
8:18
over a 32-week prep all of the case
8:21
studies in men showed a drop in fat-free
8:24
Mass during their preps so it would seem
8:26
that when someone is pushing their
8:27
natural genetic limits of muscle mass
8:29
someone who's been training well and
8:31
consistently for years and aiming to get
8:34
as shredded as possible body recomp is a
8:37
lot less likely especially in many teams
8:39
the little bit of evidence we have on
8:41
women is a little more encouraging and
8:43
might have something to do with the fact
8:44
that women naturally have higher body
8:46
fat than men
8:47
but that's pure speculation at this
8:49
point but the good news is most of you
8:51
listening to this are probably not
8:53
physique competitors so there's still
8:55
hope for simultaneous fat loss and
8:57
muscle gain luckily the same review
8:58
paper had a list of recommendations to
9:00
help increase the likelihood of a
9:02
successful body recount firstly and most
9:05
importantly use a well-structured
9:07
resistance exercise plan that
9:09
incorporates Progressive overload to
9:11
make sure you're giving your body the
9:12
signals it needs to stimulate muscle
9:14
growth if you don't know what
9:15
Progressive overload is well that's the
9:17
first thing you need to start learning
9:18
about before you even start thinking
9:20
about anything else next eat a high
9:22
protein diet preferably from 2.6 to 3.5
9:26
grams of protein per kilogram of body
9:28
weight per day to try and get even
9:29
better results from that protein try to
9:31
evenly distribute that amongst at least
9:33
four and maybe up to six meals a day
9:36
next track your progress you can't
9:39
manage what you don't measure so track
9:41
your body weight changes changes in body
9:43
circumference performance in the gym the
9:46
weight you lift how you feel and the
9:48
food you eat
9:49
that way you can adjust your training
9:51
and diet over time to help improve your
9:53
results and finally prioritize sleep
9:56
well I haven't discussed it in this
9:57
video I have done a whole other video on
9:59
the importance of sleep for body
10:01
recomposition basically a lack of sleep
10:03
can make building muscle harder and make
10:05
you more likely to lose muscle if you're
10:06
in a calorie deficit I know how hard it
10:08
can be to prioritize sleep but believe
10:10
me when I say it's damn important for
10:13
body composition and health in general
10:15
finally something that I would add to
10:17
the list of things necessary for a
10:18
successful body recomp is patience body
10:21
recomp is an incredibly slow process
10:24
that doesn't lead to noticeable results
10:26
very quickly in most cases unless you're
10:28
a newbie or have a lot of body fat to
10:30
lose that's why you're going to need a
10:32
lot of patience to make it work I have
10:35
had many clients that have come to me
10:37
and told me that their goal is to build
10:38
muscle and lose fat and often I have to
10:41
tell them that they'd be much better off
10:42
just picking one and focusing on that
10:45
for a few months before then trying to
10:47
focus on the other if that sounds
10:48
familiar if it's because that's how a
10:50
typical bodybuilder bulking and cutting
10:52
Cycle Works they spend a good chunk of
10:54
their time in a small calorie surplus
10:56
building muscle and hopefully not
10:58
putting on too much fat then they go
11:00
into a small calorie deficit for a chunk
11:02
of time to help them lose body fat while
11:04
holding onto as much muscle as possible
11:07
it's much easier for people to focus
11:09
their attention on one specific goal
11:11
with their training and nutrition it
11:13
allows them to see improvements in
11:14
either muscle size and strength or fat
11:16
loss a little more quickly which can
11:18
have a really powerful effect on
11:20
motivation and adherence so if you're
11:22
not easily motivated or don't have a lot
11:24
of patience for slow results body recomp
11:27
might not be for you and there's nothing
11:29
wrong with that I just want people to be
11:30
fully aware of what they're getting into
11:32
before they dedicate a big chunk of time
11:34
to it so did that help clear things up
11:36
around body recomp as always if you have
11:38
any questions let me know in the
11:39
comments below and remember to like And
11:41
subscribe to my protein YouTube channel
11:42
for more great evidence-based nutrition
11:45
information
11:49
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