How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle: A Complete Guide

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time you’ve come to the right place.

I mean, at the end of the day, isn’t that really the holy grail of fitness?

Who wouldn’t want to be leaner with a bit more lean muscle on their frame?

Because, ultimately, while I’m sure you care quite a bit about seeing the number on the scale go down, your main goal is probably improving your overall body composition.

You probably want to look more toned.

You probably want to look more defined and have more “cut” muscles.

And, as you know, achieving that look requires you to focus on both fat loss and muscle gain.

But the million dollar question remains.

Can you have your cake and eat it to (no pun intended).

Can you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

And if you can, HOW can you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

Well, lucky for you, I’m about to cover all that and much much more.

So, without further ado, let’s dive right into it.

We Need To Start Off With This…

Before we get into the ins and outs of whether you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time (and how to do so), I need to cover a couple things first.

I first need to briefly explain how to lose fat and how to gain muscle individually.

Because, candidly, if you don’t know how to do those things independent of one another, how in the world would you ever be able to do them at the same time?

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle: Weight Loss 101

How To Lose Fat

Okay, so, how do you actually lose fat?

Well, what I’m about to tell you probably isn’t exactly what you want to hear.

Weight loss isn’t nearly as complicated as most people would have you believe.

I’m not saying it’s easy, because we all know it’s far from it.

But it is simple.

The only way to lose body fat is to be in a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit is simply eating fewer calories than your body burns.

So, for example, if you burn 2,000 calories a day and eat 1,500 calories to lose weight, you’d be in a 500 calorie deficit.

Despite what you might see from fitness influencers pushing discount codes on social media, there is no magic pill, potion, or device that can help you “melt the fat off”.

At the end of the day, nutrition is the main driver of fat loss.

Later on we’ll talk a bit more about this, but for now I just wanted to lay the foundation for how to lose fat.

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle: Muscle Gain 101

How To Gain Muscle

While nutrition is the main driver of fat loss, training is the main driver of muscle growth.

And, more specifically, there are a few key aspects of training that influence muscle gain the most.

Let’s briefly touch on each of them.

Exercise Selection

I have to be honest with you.

I’m really tired of seeing all these overly complicated novel exercises that people promote all over social media.

Just because something looks cool doesn’t mean it actually works.

And just because the person promoting the exercise looks good doesn’t mean it’s an effective movement.

To maximize muscle growth, you want to stick to basic, tried and true compound exercises.

While there are tons and tons of different variations of these exercises, it’s never a good idea to deviate from the basics.

Things like squat variations, deadlift variations, row variations, bench press variation, lunge variations, etc yield the best results.

These are the exact types of exercises that I program for my online coaching clients.

Progressive Overload

Now that you know it’s a good idea to stick to basic exercises for muscle growth, the next step is prioritizing progressive overload.

What is progressive overload?

So glad you asked.

Simply put, progressive overload is doing more over time.

Whether it’s increasing the weight, doing more reps with the same weight, using better form and technique over time, etc.

As long as you’re prioritizing these things gradually, you’ll be able to build muscle.

Training Intensity

This one is pretty simple and straight forward.

Once you learn how to dial in your form on a certain exercise, it’s important to train with enough intensity on that exercise.

When it comes to weight lifting, intensity refers to how challenging a given set is.

The easiest way to track this is to ask yourself how many more reps you could have gotten on a given set.

At the end of each set, you should feel like you only could’ve gotten 1-3 more reps at most once that set is over.

If you’re doing it right, your face will probably look something like this:

I know, I know. Not everyone can look as beautiful as me while training.

But I digress.

Ultimately, this is super important and underrated when it comes to making sure your workouts are actually effective for muscle growth.

What Are The Scenarios Where You Can Lose Fat And Gain Muscle At The Same Time?

Now that we’ve covered how to lose fat and gain muscle individually, let’s go over a few possible situations where you can do both at the same time.

Later on I’ll give you my real, honest take on what YOU should actually be doing.

But for now, think of the scenarios that I’m about to discuss as theoretical situations where it’s possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

And, one more quick thing I want to mention.

When I say “how to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time”, I don’t literally mean doing both at the EXACT same time.

Meaning, you’re not going to be able to do both in the same day or even the same week.

I simply mean doing both within the same time frame which often takes several months at the very least.

I just thought I’d mention that to be as clear as possible!

Situation #1: You’re Trying To Lose Weight AND You’re New To Lifting Weights

Remember how I mentioned earlier that the only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit?

Good. Glad you’re paying attention.

Let’s say your main goal is weight loss.

And, because you read my articles and consume my other social media content, you’ve started eating in a calorie deficit to lose body fat.

Now let’s add one more layer to that.

Not only are you eating in a calorie deficit, but you’re also following a good weight lifting program.

More specifically, this is your first time ever following a well put together weight lifting program.

By the way, if you don’t know how to structure your workouts, use this guide to help you out.

In this scenario, even though your main goal is weight loss, you’ll likely end up building some muscle at the same time as a by-product of being new to weight lifting.

Don’t Make This Common Mistake

Our bodies are primed for building muscle when we’re new to lifting weights.

Essentially, the less time you’ve spent lifting weights and the less lean muscle you already have on your frame, the easier it is to add new muscle.

But here’s one key thing to understand about this.

The larger the calorie deficit, the harder it is to build muscle (even as a beginner).

So, for instance, let’s use the example I mentioned earlier about someone’s maintenance calories being 2,000 (Again, this is just an example. I’m not saying that your maintenance calories are 2,000).

To lose fat, all that person needs to do is eat less than 2,000 calories a day.

However, when it comes to muscle gain as a beginner, here’s the issue.

Let’s say this individual is somewhat impatient and wants to lose as much body fat as quickly as possible rather than opting for a more sustainable approach.

So, let’s say this person decides to eat 1,200 calories a day.

For them, that’s an 800 calorie deficit (800 calories below the amount of calories they’d need to maintain their weight).

If you put yourself in that big of a deficit, chances are you aren’t building any muscle.

Do This Instead

Now let’s tweak this scenario slightly.

Let’s say that person instead opted for a more sustainable calorie deficit.

Say 1,500 calories (500 calories below the amount of calories they’d need to maintain their weight).

Now that they’re in a more reasonable deficit, their body will be in a better position to build muscle as a beginner.

Again, because they’re in a deficit, muscle gain won’t be optimized.

But it is possible.

Especially if their weight lifting program is centered around progressive overload.

Think of this scenario as “unintentionally” building muscle.

In this situation the primary goal is fat loss.

Muscle gain is just happening as a by-product of being new to lifting weights.

Situation #2: You Used To Lift Weights And Are Coming Back To It After Taking Time Off

I won’t go into too much detail on this one because I think it’s pretty self explanatory.

If you’re somebody that used to lift weights consistently, you probably built some muscle as a result.

But if you took time off of weight lifting for whatever reason (an injury, life getting hectic, etc), you probably lost quite a bit of that muscle.

That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news.

It should be pretty easy for you to rebuild that muscle once you start lifting weights again.

Even if you’re in a calorie deficit to lose weight.

This is because of something known as the muscle memory effect.

Just like maintaining muscle is significantly easier than building it, re-building muscle that you once had is easier than putting on new muscle in the first place.

Practically speaking, this scenario would involve you eating in a small-to-moderate calorie deficit (roughly 300-500 calories below maintenance) while following a good workout program.

This should allow you to re-build a lot of that muscle within a few months.

Situation #3: Body Recomposition

This scenario is essentially the holy grail of the aestethic side of fitness.

Body recomposition is when you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time over the course of say a 6-12 month period.

Now, you might be thinking.

“Dylan, what’s the difference between this and the other scenarios you just mentioned?”

The other two scenarios involve being in a more moderate calorie deficit with fat loss being the primary goal.

In those scenarios, muscle gain just happens as a by-product of weight lifting.

It isn’t necessarily the primary goal.

But in body recomposition, muscle gain is just as much of a priority as fat loss.

In the next section I’ll discuss exactly how to go about doing body recompoition.

I’ll also talk about whether or not it’s something you should even be considering for yourself.

Something To Consider

There’s something I want to briefly mention about body recomposition.

It is a VERY slow process.

And, candidly, in my coaching experience, it only works well for extremely patient individuals that have some experience with both fat loss and muscle gain.

Because, if you’re brand new to fitness, there’s something to be said about the motivation you gain from actually seeing physical chances happen relatively quickly and on a regular basis.

Realistically, body recomposition can work well for relatively lean individuals who only have 10-15 pounds of fat to lose while wanting to build muscle at the same time.

Even if that doesn’t apply to you and you have more weight to lose, keep reading because a little later on I’m going to dive into exactly what I believe the best course of action is for the average person who wants to learn how to lose fat and gain muscle.

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle At The Same Time: Step By Step Guide

Like I mentioned in the previous section, if you only have a little bit of body fat to lose and you want to gain muscle, it’s very much possible to do both over the course of several months.

In this section I’ll dive into a few key principles of what you need to be focusing on to ensure that you know how to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

How To Approach Your Workouts

Remember how I mentioned that progressive overload is a pivotal aspect of building muscle?

Well, when it comes to how to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, providing your muscles with a progressive training stimulus is key.

Because, at the end of the day, if you’re not getting progressively stronger, you’re not really giving your body any reason to change for the better.

A lot of people only focus on the nutrition side of things (which we’ll get into here in a minute).

But, ultimately, training is just as if not more important for body recomposition.

Here’s an analogy that should help you conceptualize this.

Think of fitness like a car, where training is the engine and nutrition is the gas that fuels performance.

The better the fuel, the better the engine will perform.

However, without the engine, the fuel in and of itself is pointless.

Of course proper nutrition is vital for your overall health.

But when it comes to losing fat and building muscle at the same time, it isn’t enough to just have the fuel.

You need the engine to be firing on all cylinders for the car to perform at its best.

So, in this analogy, training needs to be dialed in just as much as nutrition to maximize progress.

If you want to get the most out of muscle growth, progressive overload should be your primary focus.

What About Nutrition?

So, where does nutrition come into the equation for body recomposition?

Well, there’s really two main things to focus on here: calories and protein.

Calories

In order to optimize muscle growth in a body recomposition phase, you’ll need to be in a smaller calorie deficit.

So, while your calories would normally be 25-40% below maintenance in a traditional fat loss phase, in this situation they’d only be about 10-15% below maintenance.

Based on the example I used earlier of someone’s maintenance calories being 2,000, they’d want to eat roughly 1,700-1,800 calories at the lowest to effectively lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Obviously this will make fat loss slower.

But remember what I said earier?

Body recomposition is best for patient individuals who are okay with making slower progress.

It’s not an easy journey.

But slower progress comes with the territory of trying to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Protein

Eating enough protein is INCREDIBLY important for body recomp.

Since the amino acids in protein are the building blocks of muscle, you’ll want to optimize your protein intake to optimize the entire process.

You need to give your body a reason to build muscle in a small calorie deficit.

A higher protein intake will do that for you.

Since you should only be recomping if you’re already relatively lean (if you don’t have too much body fat to lose), a good protein target is 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

So, for example, someone who’s 150 pounds looking to recomp would want to eat roughly 120-150 grams of protein per day.

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle At The Same Time: What YOU Should Be Focusing On

Earlier in the article I promised that I’d tell you what I believe the best course of action is for you to take.

I’m going to give it to you straight like I always do.

If you have more than 10-15 pounds of body fat to lose, I do NOT think you should be focusing on losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.

Now, like I already talked about, it is possible to unintentionally do both at the same time.

It can simply happen as a byproduct of you being in a calorie deficit for weight loss while being new to lifting weights.

I stand by that 100%.

However, if you’re someone who’s newer to fitness and you have a higher amount of body fat to lose, it’s very difficult to have your cake and it to.

In my coaching experience working with many different kinds of people from all walks of life as well as my own personal fitness journey, I know that weight loss AND muscle gain are both really hard to do in and of themselves.

I don’t say that to discourage you.

I’m just saying that because it’s the truth.

You can very much focus on weight loss and muscle gain one at a time and crush both individually.

However, for the average person, trying to do both at the same time is really hard.

And why would we want to make an already challenging process even harder?

I would rather you dominate one at a time than kind of half-ass both simultaneously.

Hope that makes sense.

Now go out there and kick some butt on what you need to be doing to crush your own individual fitness goals!