Can you simultaneously burn fat and gain muscle?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2017-01-14

I often receive messages (not just occasionally, but constantly): "I want to burn fat and gain muscle mass; what should I do?" And especially gifted individuals write: "I want to lose weight and gain weight," which leaves me completely puzzled. Most people are convinced that it is possible to simultaneously burn fat and increase muscle. Is this true? Yes and no. Let me explain why:

From the Theoretical Perspective

Look. An essential and primary condition for burning fat is caloric deficit nutrition. This means you must eat fewer calories than you expend daily, approximately 20% less. Otherwise, the body has no need to burn fat. After all, why would it when there are enough calories?

The key condition for gaining muscle mass, on the other hand, is to consume more than you expend. Again, about 20% more. Otherwise, where will the body get the energy and protein required to build muscle?

I think you don’t need a dissertation on logic to understand that it is impossible to simultaneously eat more than you expend and less than you expend. These two essential conditions are mutually exclusive. Hence, the logical conclusion: it is impossible to burn fat and gain muscle simultaneously. But what does practice say?

From the Practical Perspective

From a practical standpoint, I have observed situations where fat burning and muscle gain occurred simultaneously. This was evident both visually and through some anthropometric data (more on that below). I can say with 100% certainty that it actually happened. But why, for whom, and under what conditions is this possible?

To achieve this, two essential conditions must be met:

1. A person must be a complete beginner. This means they should have no prior training experience. Ideally, they should never have engaged in any physical activity (excluding physical education classes).

2. The person should have a high percentage of body fat and a low percentage of muscle. A high fat percentage is defined as over 20% body weight for men and over 25% for women (body fat calculator). A low muscle percentage is defined as less than 40% for men and less than 35% for women (muscle mass calculator). Typically, a body with such a combination looks like a sack, even if the overall weight is relatively small.

Why Is This Possible?

But why can such individuals burn fat and gain weight simultaneously, while others cannot? The reason is that a beginner's body is very sensitive to any load. Due to the complete absence of such loads in everyday life, a high percentage of fat and a low percentage of muscle have formed. This level is so high and so low that it is not normal for the human body.

Therefore, as soon as the body senses a load, it immediately strives for normalcy, simultaneously burning fat and gaining muscle. This means that initially, it does not need a caloric deficit to burn fat. It will burn it without a deficit, simply due to the impact of the training.

Similarly, building muscle does not necessarily require a caloric surplus. The energy from burned fat will be used to build muscles.

However, this sensitivity to loads lasts only a few months—usually 2-4 months. After this period, a decision must be made: to work towards muscle gain or fat loss. During this time, the body will shed a few kilograms of excess fat and gain an equal amount of muscle. After that, the sensitivity to loads will decrease, slowing this simultaneous process.

My theory may not be completely accurate, but I am 100% sure that this simultaneous occurrence (fat burning and muscle gain) happens only in beginners. Trust my 10 years of coaching experience.

How to Know That You’re Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle?

1. Body weight has increased, but measurements have not changed.

2. Body weight has not changed, but measurements have decreased.

Both of these scenarios indicate that body density has increased. Remember physics: if the volume of an object decreases while the weight remains the same, its density has increased. And muscles, for those who are unaware, weigh about 30% more than fat. So, due to the change in percentage of muscle and fat, the overall density of the body changes.

Conclusions

1. Simultaneous fat burning and muscle gain are possible only for beginners with a low amount of muscle mass and a high amount of fat mass.

2. This “freebie” can last a maximum of a few months.

3. In other cases, these two simultaneous processes are impossible. A choice must be made between them, as there has to be a choice between caloric deficit and surplus.

4. An exception to the entire discussion in this article is the intake of anabolic steroids. In this case, it is possible to burn fat and gain muscle simultaneously (but this doesn’t happen for everyone or all the time). However, this case is not covered in this article.