How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat Simultaneously

For many years it was assumed that you couldn’t burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. Thanks to advances in sports science, we now know this to be completely untrue.

It’s not easy, but it is possible.

Achieving the elusive balance of building muscle while shedding fat might sound like a fitness paradox, but it’s entirely possible with the right strategies. By focusing on strength training, nutrition, and recovery, you can optimise your body composition for long-term success.

Here’s a breakdown of how to achieve these goals effectively.

1. Focus on Strength Training

Strength training is the cornerstone of building muscle. Resistance exercises like such as weightlifting, or bodyweight exercises such as pull ups and push ups stimulate muscle fibres, promoting growth and preserving lean mass even when in a calorie deficit.

You can’t build muscle without focussing on your resistance training. It absolutely MUST be your priority, otherwise muscle simply can’t be built. Building muscle in a calorie deficit is hard enough without you making it even tougher without resistance training.

Key tips:

• Use compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups to target multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

• Gradually increase the weight you lift (progressive overload) to challenge your muscles over time.

• Aim for 3–5 sessions per week, ensuring your routine covers all major muscle groups.

Strength training signals your body to prioritise muscle retention and growth, even when you’re losing fat. This prevents muscle breakdown during fat loss phases.

2. Maintain a Calorie Deficit

To lose fat, your body needs to burn more calories than you consume. However, an aggressive deficit can lead to muscle loss, fatigue, and hindered recovery.

Using an app to assess your calorie requirements, and then making sure you’re weighing and measuring your foods to stay on track is really important if you want to succeed in concurrent fat loss and muscle gain, you really need to dial in both the training and nutrition.

How to find the right balance:

• Calculate your maintenance calories and subtract 300–500 calories for a moderate deficit.

• Monitor your progress with weekly weigh-ins and adjust as needed.

• Avoid extreme calorie restrictions, as they can stall muscle growth and harm your metabolism.

It’s impossible to do this with guess work, so use a fitness app to track your calorie intake and ensure you’re hitting your goals.

3. Prioritise Protein

Protein is critical for muscle repair and growth, especially when in a calorie deficit. It also helps keep you feeling full, making it easier to stick to your diet. Without an adequate protein intake you’ll get nowhere near building muscle in a deficit, so you MUST hit protein targets.

Tracking your protein daily isn’t just a good idea, it’s absolutely imperative if you want to achieve serious body recomposition goals.

How much protein do you need?

• Aim for 1.6–2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily.

• Spread your protein intake across meals to optimise muscle protein synthesis.

Best protein sources:

• Animal-based: chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and low-fat dairy.

• Plant-based: tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, and quinoa.

• Protein supplements like whey or plant-based powders can help fill any gaps.

4. Incorporate Cardio Strategically

Cardio can help create a calorie deficit and improve cardiovascular health without sacrificing muscle. The type and frequency of cardio you choose will depend on your goals.

Cardio choices have to be at the extreme ends - either very low intensity such as walking or easy cycling, or the high intensity sessions that preserve muscle mass whilst getting your heart rate up really high. Anything in the middle ground might see you lose muscle mass.

Guidelines for effective cardio:

• Opt for low intensity cardio, such as brisk walking or cycling if you’re doing it 4-5 times per week.

• Include high-intensity interval training (HIIT) if you’re going less frequently (1-3 times per week) for its fat-burning benefits while minimising muscle loss.

• Avoid excessive cardio, which can interfere with recovery and muscle-building efforts.

Combine cardio with strength training to maximise calorie burn and preserve muscle mass.

5. Get Plenty of Rest

Rest and recovery are as important as your workouts and diet when it comes to building muscle and losing fat. During rest, your body repairs muscle fibres and adapts to training stimuli.

If you don’t rest after intense training, your body won’t adapt properly. As much as training is important, good quality recovery is too. That’s when the muscle tissue is repaired and rebuilt, so making sure you are taking steps in this direction is vital to ensuring your body recomposition goals are hit.

Tips for better recovery:

• Prioritise 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night to support muscle repair and hormonal balance.

• Take at least one or two rest days per week to allow muscles to recover.

• Manage stress levels, as high stress can lead to cortisol spikes, which promote fat storage and muscle breakdown.

Active recovery:

On rest days, engage in light activities like stretching, yoga, or walking to aid recovery without overloading your body.

How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat Simultaneously - Final Thoughts

Achieving the balance of building muscle and losing fat is challenging but entirely achievable with a strategic approach. By prioritising strength training, maintaining a moderate calorie deficit, eating plenty of protein, incorporating cardio, and focusing on recovery, you can improve your body composition and fitness simultaneously.

For personalised training and nutrition guidance, AdMacFitness can help you optimise your approach to reach your goals efficiently and sustainably.

Want to improve your health and fitness? Let the AdMac Fitness Personal Trainers help…

AdMac Fitness has been helping the people of East London transform their health and fitness for nearly a decade.

We help people using tried and tested fitness approaches. Our expert team of personal trainers, based in both Bow and South Woodford can help you get a grip of your health forever. With our guidance and experience, you can relax knowing that your fitness journey is going to be guided by some of the best personal trainers in East London.

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

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AdMac Fitness: Arch 457 Robeson St, London E3 4JA

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