Comments on: Reducing Body Fat Percentage by Gaining Muscle – Q&A

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:44:43 +0000

Would depend entirely on the deficit being created.

By: CDiorP

CDiorP — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:25:40 +0000

What is the avg of Body fat % loss in a month… if you are working out 6x a wk and eating a healthy diet… eating every 2-3 hrs, little carbs, no sugars, or whites (breads/sugars)???
I am 5′2″ and 105lbs with 25% and my GF is 155lb and 28%… I don’t know what would be a considered a “good” loss after each month…

By: TCO

TCO — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:11:59 +0000

Just as you can lose weight way faster than gaining muscle, ALSO it is a much faster way to better appearance. All these fatsos thinking that they will be stick figures or that they look good because of muscles are like fat women who think guys like their tits. If you have some big serious fat deposits, diet them off! Don’t eff around. It is so fricking easy. Just put down the beer, put down the donut. Pick up the salad.

By: TCO

TCO — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:08:33 +0000

I gained muscle (about 30% strength gain and visible development in the showy muscles) while also losing 3#/week. Did not do anything fancy. Ran a basic diet (NutriSystem, but I think any other would work fine) and lifted at the YMCA. I think the key was just being diligent with both the lifting and the dieting. Too many people worry that their lifts are not “helping” because the gains are not sudden. Sometimes, you get the same issue with dieting as well although here losses are faster. I think the average person can easily maintain muscle and actually get stronger, if they just stick to a program. And it does not need t be something fancy. Just something stuck to!

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:10:09 +0000

While potentially true (it will depend on the ratios gained), that wasn’t the question asked. Hence that wasn’t the question addressed.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:11:54 +0000

So, one thing not addressed here and probably what the person originally asking the question was after is a change in appearance. While certainly losing body fat is going to change appearance, adding 10, 15, or 20 pounds of muscle with even a bit of fat gain is certainly going to alter appearance significantly. Probably in the direction the person wants.

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:51:28 +0000

The value of 6 cal/lb at rest for muscle (~13 kcal/kg) comes from a chart in this paper

Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2001 Mar;4(2):143-7.Click here to read Links
Dissecting the energy needs of the body.
McClave SA, Snider HL.

The 50 cal/lb value is decades old and completely incorrect.

By: Chris D

Chris D — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:07:30 +0000

Hi Lyle. While doing biosignature modulation with Charles Poliquin, there was a place he has written that 1 pound of muscle = 50 kcal. I had read that article already with your comment being only 6kcl for one pound. Since i’m a nobody and cannot argue with him, I didn’t speak. But could you point the study where those value come from so that if i’m having a chance I can point that out to him.

Big thanks.

Best

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:06:31 +0000

Work the math, the impact of muscle gain is still negligible on body fat percentage, the majority of the effect is due to fat loss just as the simplified equations show.

And losing fat while gaining muscle is exceedingly difficult under most conditions. It can be done but not easily.

Lyle

By: Mark Flicker

Mark Flicker — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:00:01 +0000

While the tables are great…there are much more complex interdependencies that are not being discussed here. Your tables assume muscle gain = weight gain and fat loss = weight loss. In reality we all know that is not generally the case. Your last comment is the most valuable. Muscle gain and fat loss in combination are the ultimate and can be achieved with the correct combination of diet, strength training (as opposed to weight lifting…they are different) and cardio