Mixed Messages - Improve Performance, Loss Fat, AND Gain Muscle?!

I work with a lot of athletes and one of the biggest conundrums my clients face is that they have many goals. They want to improve their performance, they want to lose fat, and they want to gain muscle. All of these are great goals to have. The problem is, they don’t always play well together. Let’s break them down into pairs to find out why.

Improve performance/Lose fat

This pairing is difficult, but not impossible to achieve. With the right mindset, nutrition plan, and exercise plan, it is possible to see performance gains while losing fat. It’s not easy, and performance definitely will suffer if you don’t do it right. If, however, you are willing to pay careful attention to your diet, eat mostly whole foods in the right proportions for your exercise needs and weight loss goals, and work intelligently on your performance, you can make gains in performance while losing fat. The key here is planning. If your diet does not align properly with your exercise demands, you can have poor results both from a performance and weight loss perspective. When a client tells me that s/he wants improved performance and weight loss at the same time, I am careful not to put them into a large caloric deficit immediately and to ensure that they eat enough to maintain their training regimen. This enables gradual weight loss (the best kind if you want to preserve muscle mass) and maximizes performance at the same time. A large caloric deficit may result in quick weight loss, but at the expense of performance and muscle mass, neither of which constitutes a desired result.

Improve performance/Gain muscle

This pairing can also be achieved, depending on your definition of improved performance. Apart from very slow grow stemming from months and years in the gym, adding muscle mass requires being in a caloric surplus. A caloric surplus equals weight gain and that equals, well, fat in addition to muscle. (For more on that, check out Massing for Muscles, Part I http://www.fit-fab.com/finding-your-fit-fabulous/massing-for-muscle-why-did-i-mass). As a result, while you probably will be able to move more weight in the gym on a mass, things like body weight movements and cardio inevitably suffer. The good news is that after you finish adding muscle and diet appropriately to cut fat and preserve the new muscle, body weight movements and cardio come back quickly and with a vengeance. Again, this strategy requires careful planning and execution in the kitchen and in the gym for maximal results. Without the right training strategy and volume, you’ll end up putting on very little muscle and more fat than you would like.

Lose fat/Gain muscle

Apart from people who are brand new to eating and exercising appropriately, it is almost impossible to gain muscle at the same time you lose fat. Losing fat requires being in a caloric deficit, and gaining muscle requires a caloric surplus. By definition, the two are mutually exclusive. There is, however, a way to do both over time. It’s called periodization. In one phase, your focus is on losing weight. In another, your focus is on gaining muscle. By utilizing these phases in a comprehensive nutrition strategy, you can improve performance, lose fat, and gain muscle. Interested in learning more? We’d love to chat!