Should I lose fat first then build muscle?

[ErinLynn]

bulk then cut. this doesn't mean binge then starve. start doing a 40,40,20 meal plan, stay anabolic and eat CLEAN food. your body is only as good as the fuel you give it. focus first on cardio, HIIT. When you want to build muscle make sure to really give your muscles time to recover, two days. What I do when I build is warm up with one easy set with weights about half of what I intend to do. Depending on the quantity of exercises I will be doing I adjust my warmup rep accordingly. Since I do several shoulder exercises I knock the warmup down to 8-10 per exercise instead of 12-15 like what I do for biceps which I do fewer exercises with. After you warmup, pick your poison (or weight) and tense your entire body, focus your breathing and do 1-2 sets of 5-6. I used to not think this would actually build muscle, but it does. Lift heavy and LOW VOL when you want to build muscle. Once your notice your muscles getting bigger start cutting. When I do this I rest minimally between exercises (seems more like a cardio workout) and significantly drop the weight I lift. To compensate I do higher reps. For me at least, it's only truly effective when I take little/no rest break. It will seem more difficult because the set is longer, but it's worth it. Striation in shoulder=awesome. Mix up your exercises and weight from to time so your body doesn't adjust to the same monotonous sequence.

[monica200917]

...i need help with this too. I have lost about 30 pounds. I have been eating low carb and i work out 5 days a week. I lift (supersets) majority of the time..and may incorporate sprints 3 of the days. I see and feel myself toning up. But i don't see much muscle. I'm thinking maybe because there is still SO much FAT. So, from what I've been reading..it's possible i need to eat more protein and healthy carbs possibly. But im also wondering if i need to do nore cardio. .but i know too much cardio doesn't help with muscle gains....I have never been pre diabetic . But low carb has been the only thing that has worked so far...can anyone shed any light...thanks in advance

[Partyrocking]

...i need help with this too. I have lost about 30 pounds. I have been eating low carb and i work out 5 days a week. I lift (supersets) majority of the time..and may incorporate sprints 3 of the days. I see and feel myself toning up. But i don't see much muscle. I'm thinking maybe because there is still SO much FAT. So, from what I've been reading..it's possible i need to eat more protein and healthy carbs possibly. But im also wondering if i need to do nore cardio. .but i know too much cardio doesn't help with muscle gains....I have never been pre diabetic . But low carb has been the only thing that has worked so far...can anyone shed any light...thanks in advance

More information would help, like how much you weigh, how tall you are, what program are you running, and what are you eating.

Generally speaking, you don't need any cardio to lose weight, but it may be helpful to increase your daily burn.

[monica200917]

I am 5'4. I weigh 300.4 lbs currently. I have no idea what kind of program I'm on..but right now I only do weights and sprints. Normally two days of legs/ two days of arms. A variation of workouts I find on Bodybuilding.com. then i do 5 min Sprints. . I feel li ke i may not be eating ENOUGH...and with that the righr foods you know

[LunaLifts]

I am 5'4. I weigh 300.4 lbs currently. I have no idea what kind of program I'm on..but right now I only do weights and sprints. Normally two days of legs/ two days of arms. A variation of workouts I find on Bodybuilding.com. then i do 5 min Sprints. . I feel li ke i may not be eating ENOUGH...and with that the righr foods you know

That's not how it works. Losing fat means being in a caloric deficit, if you're not losing weight you're not eating less than you burn. There's no "right" or "wrong" foods, no food will make you bigger or smaller unless the calories put you over or under maintenance. How do you track your intake, and portion sizes? Your TDEE (calories burned in a day) are around 2500 at a sedentary activity level, but you do workout so you're at least at a light activity level making it closer to 2800cals. That means if you're not losing weight, you're eating at least that much.

Keep in mind that when it comes to tracking accurately, volume measurements can be off (see here). You should have a kitchen scale for portioning meats, veggies, grains, most things that aren't liquid or pre-portioned.

As for a program you should get on a consistent lifting program to maintain muscle mass as you lose weight. There's a stickied thread at the top of this forum for beginners, it'll have recommendations.

[Vicki1989]

I'm going for the "both" option too. I need to lose about 65lbs, and I'm following a general healthy eating plan, trying to eat a a deficit. I really hate cardio, so am doing mostly lifting - hopefully any lean muscle that's lurking under the fat will eventually start to help burn more calories.

[BrotherWolf]

...i need help with this too. I have lost about 30 pounds. I have been eating low carb and i work out 5 days a week. I lift (supersets) majority of the time..and may incorporate sprints 3 of the days. I see and feel myself toning up. But i don't see much muscle. I'm thinking maybe because there is still SO much FAT. So, from what I've been reading..it's possible i need to eat more protein and healthy carbs possibly. But im also wondering if i need to do nore cardio. .but i know too much cardio doesn't help with muscle gains....I have never been pre diabetic . But low carb has been the only thing that has worked so far...can anyone shed any light...thanks in advance

You don't give enough informations but if you have lost 30lbs i have to assume you are eating at a deficit and with that you do not build muscles, sure you might get a bit of muscles of you are a total newbie
but just like fat, muscles need food to grow losing fat and building muscles could happen at the same time if you do it right but body weight shouldn't change much . Not having enough informations i can tell you that doing more cardio won't help

[BrotherWolf]

I'm going for the "both" option too. I need to lose about 65lbs, and I'm following a general healthy eating plan, trying to eat a a deficit. I really hate cardio, so am doing mostly lifting - hopefully any lean muscle that's lurking under the fat will eventually start to help burn more calories.

if the muscles are there it is already burning calories....

[birdiefu]

I am 5'4. I weigh 300.4 lbs currently. I have no idea what kind of program I'm on..but right now I only do weights and sprints. Normally two days of legs/ two days of arms. A variation of workouts I find on Bodybuilding.com. then i do 5 min Sprints. . I feel li ke i may not be eating ENOUGH...and with that the righr foods you know

At your weight, honestly I would cut out sprints as they are likely quite taxing on your joints at that weight. Focus on lifting on a progressive program, eating at a deficit, and only moderate cardio if you desire. You said you lost 30 pounds, in what timeframe was this? What are your cals/macros at?

One of the "benefits" of being overly fat is that you can get away with dieting techniques that would be considered "stupid" at lower bodyfat levels without as many issues with losing lean body mass and metabolic problems. Understand that at your stats, you have a long road ahead of you still, although every step of the way is one bit closer . You won't realistically see much definition still until you lose a significant amount of weight, but it is great that you are seeing changes.

[monica200917]

So it looks like most are saying do BOTH. Which I am (thank God) . But if there is a lot of fat i guess i Just wont see much of the muscle until more of the fat leaves...i LOVE lifting. Hate cardio. I do sprints

[monica200917]

I weigh 296.. down 39lbs. About 6 inches around waist and 4 around hip. I am about 5'4. I lift typically supersets/dropsets. And cardio is normally no more than 10 min of a variation of sprints. I am low carb

[LunaLifts]

I weigh 296.. down 39lbs. About 6 inches around waist and 4 around hip. I am about 5'4. I lift typically supersets/dropsets. And cardio is normally no more than 10 min of a variation of sprints. I am low carb

Congrats on the weight loss so far, but a few things to keep in mind:

Low carb won't make you lose weight any faster. Eat enough protein and fat (.8g per lb of ideal body weight, and .4g per lb of ideal body weight respectively, ideal being somewhere in what's a healthy weight range for your height). Then divide the remaining calories however you want, it can be all carbs if you want as long as you get enough fat and protein.
Eat under your TDEE (link), don't eat below your BMR (those are the calories your body needs to function). That's it, it comes down to eating less calories than you're burning. Eating less carbs doesn't effect weight/fat loss, neither does cardio which may be taxing your joints while you're at a higher weight anyway.

I you don't have a scale to weight your foods, you should get one. Volume measurements can be off up to 20%, and eyeballing isn't accurate at all (unless you've done so much weighing you know almost exactly what a portion should look like).