If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you should lift weights to build muscle to increase your chance of success.
Not only will lifting weights and building muscle catalyze your fat loss, but it will also help you to keep off the fat in the long term as well.
The reasons why are very straightforward, but many people who start their weight loss journey often wait until they have lost the fat before hitting the weight room.
However, they are wasting precious time in so doing.
Here’s why.
Why You Should Lift Weights to Build Muscle When Losing Weight
One of my most frequently asked questions is “should I wait until I lose the fat to build muscle?”
The answer is a resounding “no.”
You should lift weight as soon as possible.
Even if you are trying to lose fat.
And the reason is simple: building muscle will increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) by a considerable amount.
Within your first year of lifting, it is not uncommon to gain 15-20lb of lean muscle tissue.
Muscle is “metabolically active”, meaning that your body must expend calories to retain muscle mass.
To put this into perspective, each pound of muscle you grow, your BMR will increase by 6-15 calories per pound.
While this might not sound like a lot for the effort it takes to build a pound of muscle, but its effect is cumulative.
If you gain 20lb of muscle, you will burn between 120-300 calories per day at rest.
A fat burner — if taken properly, around the clock, considering its half-life — will burn, at best, 100 calories per day or around 3-4% of your BMR.
Muscle can do several times this.
Furthermore, when you exercise, the fact that there is more muscle mass to contract, more calories will be expended.
In addition to this, muscle mass is extra weight and extra weight requires further caloric expenditure for the same movements.
All of this means that more calories will be burned — at work, rest, or play.
The best course of action to take will be to adopt a training regimen that emphasizes compound movements such as Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Presses, and Rows to induce maximal muscle growth.
If you need a program to help you build muscle while losing fat, try our popular David eBook.
Can I Build Muscle While Losing Weight?
The answer is a resounding “yes.”
Your body will react to training stimuli.
Even if you’re in a calorie deficit, your body will adapt to the external stimulus — stress — caused by lifting weights.
As you get stronger in the gym, your muscles will tear down and elicit muscle protein synthesis.
While you need to be in a slight calorie surplus to build muscle optimally, if you apply a training principle which includes progressive overload, you will build muscle — even when losing fat.
Beginners can enjoy significant muscle growth even in a calorie deficit, provided they are training properly.
If you need a program to help you build muscle while losing fat, try our popular David eBook.
Don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected] for personalized coaching and a client questionnaire if you’d like DEDICATED tailor-made personal training on strength training, building muscle, losing fat, developing athleticism, and more — all to your liking, lifestyle, habits, and taste!
Otherwise, don’t forget to claim your FREE eBook detailing how to lose 20lb of fat while building muscle in 12 weeks! You can claim it here.
Alternatively, you can pick up a FREE eBook on fundamental strength principles offering an introductory workout program.
