How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle at the Same Time (3 Simple Steps)

Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time? Yes–and it’s known as body recomposition, where you build muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, recomp does come with a catch. We need to be at a calorie deficit in order to lose weight and strip off fat. But the drawback with being at a calorie deficit is that it severely compromises our ability to build muscle. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to build muscle while losing fat, and in today's video I'll share 3 steps for how to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

The first thing you need to do for body recomposition is setup your diet. Eat at a very slight deficit of roughly 5% to a maximum of 20%. And aim for around a protein intake of around 1g/lb of your bodyweight. Then, fill the rest of your calories with carbs and fats.

Next, to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, beyond training your muscles at an adequate volume, switch up your routine. For example, switching to a new training split, increasing or decreasing your muscle training frequency, and/or switching up some of your exercises or the manner in which you perform them.

Next, we need to optimize our nutrient timing so to build muscle while losing fat. First, you need to ensure that you’re evenly spreading out your daily protein intake into about 3-5 meals throughout the day. Also aim to have adequate carbs and protein shortly before and after you train.

When it comes to the question of ‘Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time,’ the answer is yes, but you need to follow the action plan below:

Step 1 (Set Up Nutrition): Eat just slightly below maintenance calories (~5-20% deficit, or ~100-500 calories below maintenance). Multiplying your bodyweight in lbs by ~14-16 can give you an estimate as to what your maintenance calories are. Ensure your protein intake is ~1g/lb of your bodyweight, and consider going above this if you’re relatively leaner (e.g. 15% body fat or below).

Step 2 (Switch Up Training): Switch up your training routine. Still ensure that you’re training with the optimal muscle training frequency and weekly volume, but switch up your training to provide a new stimulus for growth.

Step 3 (Optimize): Spread your daily protein intake fairly evenly into at least 3 meals per day, and ensure that you’re ingesting adequate pre AND post workout protein + carbs in a timely manner.

Bonus Step (Measure): Track your bodyweight, circumference measurements, progress pictures, and strength in the gym. Use these to variables to gauge your progress.

A body recomposition isn’t ideal for everyone, but in the cases I went through and with the protocol I previously outlined, it can be an effective way for you to shortcut your transformation. But, in the long run, you’ll likely eventually want to transition to a dedicated muscle building or fat loss period and prioritize one or the other. And for an all in one, step by step program that shows you not only how to successfully achieve a body recomposition, but also then shows you exactly what to do afterwards so that you can continue to strip off fat and build lean muscle as efficiently as possible with science, then simply take the analysis quiz below to discover which specific program is best for your body and where it’s currently at:

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

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MUSIC:

FULL BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE:

UPPER/LOWER BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE:

PUSH PULL LEGS WORKOUT ROUTINE:

[Just_City]

Wish me luck boys I’m gonna do this!!!! Gonna update in 3-5 months. I want to feel better in my life!!!

UPDATE-1/29/24
First just wanna say thanks, I was not expecting 9k likes and I appreciate all the support this comment got.

Well to begin my starting weight started at around 140lbs(skinny fat) and my current weight is 172.5lbs, 5”9 1/2 at 21 years old. I gained 16lbs (could’ve been a bit more if I knew what I know now) of lean muscles my first year and it’s about halved every year since then. Going animal based most definitely helped me maximize my genetics and gained muscles id probably wouldn’t have had. I workout 30m to 1hr everyday for four weeks then I take a 1 week break, I do feeder sets on 2 muscles I worked on yesterday then 2 working sets for the muscles I’m focusing on today. I switch between full body and upper/lower depending on my mood.

Currently doing about 70% weighted calisthenics and 30% free weights, I fell in love with calisthenics and it gave me a more “dense” look if that makes sense. Gymnastics rings might be one of the best gym equipment you can get honestly.

Movements I like doing the most in no particular order: Romanian deadlift, Bulgarian split squats, reverse grip barbell bench press, inverted sit ups for back/glutes, Roman chair weighted sit-ups/ring leg raises, chest supported row/ring inverted rows, ring pull-ups (wide grip chin ups are my favorite), behind the back cable shoulder raises, and ring dips. I focus more on the stretch and recently incorporated lengthen partials. Jump rope for cardio anything and I get bored.

Supplements: beef collagen powder, potassium glucante, fermented L-Citrulline( 8g thirty minutes before workout and 2g before sleep) I take it daily and it gives you like a sort of a “permanent” pump throughout the day and vascularity is crazy.

What I eat: beef(any ruminant that’s on sale really), Bone broth, grass Fed butter, beef tallow, small amounts of heart/liver(I put a-bit inside ground beef so I don’t get the taste) raw goat/sheep milk, kefir, eggs, bee pollen, royal jelly, Celtic sea salt/potassium glucanate in distilled water, chicken and some fruits. On the weekends I treat myself to something.

Btw raw goats milk(sheep is better if you can find it) and 3 to 4 raw Pasteur raised/cage free eggs in milk is amazing for hardgainers.

I’ll leave with a quote “yes, isn’t it pretty to think so?” - Jake - The Sun Also Rises

If your still reading I hope you succeed in whatever your doing and take advantage of every opportunity life gives you, keep pushing and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Peace and Love ❤️

[syukrihantu]

One thing I would add is: get enough sleep, at least 7 hours

If you're sleep deprived while being on a caloric deficit and working out, you're gonna get fatigued quickly

[shubhgymjam]

video summary:
1. Set up your diet : eat on a very slight deficit n eat more protein rich food.
2. Switch up your exercises : Work hard on your muscles and change the routine if you are not getting results with the current one.
3. Optimize : Spread your protein intake into 3 meals/day. ( point similar to 1)

[thexavianfamily]

Currently got out of a toxic 10 year relationship. I use to be a pretty fit guy but over the course of those years I have gained so much weight to the point where I hate looking at myself. Now, this break up has got me motivated once again. I've lost 15 pounds the last 2 1/2 weeks. I want to better myself and this video ensures that I won't stop until I meet that goal. Wish me luck I will try and update.

[johntitor]

“This will work on beginners, detrained, fat people and slackers”
Me: *I am all of those*

[EthioMod]

I'm watching this while eating a Cake Pop from Starbucks.

[HrithikSuresh]

Okay started this a month ago, here’s my update:

I’m a 22 year old male with a height of 5 8 and a weight of 70kgs. Moderately skinny fat. I have worked out before in a gym when I was around 18 but with poor consistency.

I’m 33 days into my workout regiment and I am following the full body workout. I am decently consistent by at least hitting the gym 4 times a week. I can tell you this has been pretty successful in my eyes. I feel stronger and look fitter. Lost a bit of belly fat while my weight remained the same. Chest looks more toned. With my arms gaining slight muscle.

I started benching with just the barbell and as of today I can bench 50kgs. Dead lift, I started with 40kgs and I hit 90 today. For the shoulder press I’m still mainly using only the barbell. Squats I started with only the barbell but now I’m squatting upto 60kgs.

The only downside I see to this workout plan is that it may get monotonous pretty quickly. I will continue this for another month and then switch to the upper lower body split.

Hope you guys are able to find the motivation and give it a shot. It’s worth it. All the best :)

[RawDoggin_]

bonus tip: dump any and all cardio except very low impact ones like walking or mayyyybe jogging. you are already in calorie deficit AND trying to build muscle. your body is walking on thin ice and you must not tire yourself any more than necessary. just keep all your strength to working out and walking, the rest is all diet.

[alainkaizer]

Jeff is that teacher who sometimes uses complicated terms when teaching a subject then there's Jeremy who is that classmate that explains it all to you using terms easier to understand, and both just released a new video, can't wait til gyms reopen here.

[adityaprabhu]

For those who are wondering, this definitely works. I have been somewhat working out for 6 months with little to no results. I bought a weighing scale, tracked calories, tried progressive overload, did what this video said and have never looked better.

[ramireeezzz]

Jeremy has been such an inspiration through out these tough times! All the tips from his well-laid-out videos combined with a meal plan I received from *Agoge diet* are a recipe for success... I'm 20 days in my fitness journey and seeing the great results so far, I finally believe it's meant to happen for me too. Consistency and self-belief is key!!

[KG-bylk]

Thank you so much for this video! I noticed that despite being on a considerable deficit and working out hard to the point of failure 5 times a week for last 6 months I was barely burning any fat and also started to burn off some of my hard earned muscle. Thanks to this video I realise I've been on a 1000 cal deficit, not timing my protein intake correctly and sabotaging my progress big time!

[DtlaDaisy]

Love how organized the steps, action plan, summaries are. The graphs, studies and comparisons help so much. Thank you!!

[kylonballah]

I love this guy and hope his channel fires off and shines like a golden age of fitnesss

[ExploreTheMouse]

This video was so informative and perfect for what I’m struggling in currently. I am 60 pounds down and 33 more to go and I’m really trying to start building back muscle and tracking calories and macros has been a little bit of a struggle recently.

This video helped a lot figure out a plan moving forward!

Thank you!

[jjfish]

I did this in the summer of 2022 and saw insane changes in my physique while my weight stayed the same. this guide works extremely effectively but I got lazy with it towards the end of 2022 and gained 20 lbs. i’ve began doing body recomp again and 2 weeks back into it im seeing change in my physique already

[Nebulousss]

It's so hard to eat high in protein foods... I feel like I should just throw a chicken breast in every meal lol

[jsephhd]

You've earned a subscription. The amount of effort and research you put into your videos are so scientific its really shook the fitness industry where many have claims without evidence to support them. You are changing this bit by bit, thank you.

[AmmarFPS]

The amount of information in this 10 minutes video is insane

What a great video 👍

[bradleysota]

My friend recommended me to your videos, he has subscribed to your program for about 4-5 months, you have changed his life! I want to make a difference this year as well and I appreciate these video, and soon might enroll, thank you J!