How Do I Cut And Not Lose Muscle?

On Oct 20, 2022

Ask The Pro Trainer: How Do I Cut Without Losing Muscle? :

Eat lots of protein, this will help you sustain the muscle loss. Equal amount of carbohydrates must also be consumed on workout days.
Do not do a lot of cardio, as this will burn up your muscle. …
Exercise three times a week on alternate days and not more than that. …
Do high intensity, low reps, high set workouts. …
Lose your weight gradually. …

Eat lots of protein, this will help you sustain the muscle loss. Equal amount of carbohydrates must also be consumed on workout days.
Do not do a lot of cardio, as this will burn up your muscle.
Exercise three times a week on alternate days and not more than that.
Do high intensity, low reps, high set workouts.
Lose your weight gradually.

You will be at a caloric deficit, but still eat enough protein to maintain your current muscle. Your weight loss will target fat instead of muscle. If you decide to cut with no exercise or stick to pure cardio, then yes you will lose most of the muscle you built during bulking. How does bulking and cutting work?

If you’re losing strength while cutting make sure to: Don’t exceed a 25% daily deficit Use the same intensity (weight on the bar) as before Do just the amount of cardio you need to reach your goals (anywhere from no cardio at all to 3-4 hours per week) Eat the optimal amount of protein Expect yourself to be strong in the gym Cut back on volume if you’re not recovering properly

The Best Way to Get Ripped & Not Lose Muscle

Compound Exercises. Compound exercises should be central to your workout for getting ripped without losing muscle because this type of exercise can encourage muscle gain and fat loss.
Repetition Range.
Rest Periods.
High-Intensity Interval Training.
Schedule.

How to get lean and build muscle?

3. Do High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) HIIT is an awesome tool for getting lean and building muscle tissue. Adding one or two HIIT sessions per week can maximize fat loss and boost your body’s natural fat-burning metabolism, especially when your diet is on point.

That’s OK; starving yourself is never the answer to losing body fat. There’s nothing wrong with listening to your body and allowing it to function as well as it can. You can’t get shredded in a day, so take the time to do things right and your body will thank you!

On day one of your new cutting program, it’s easy to do too much too soon. The last thing you want to do is drop your calories to minimal rations. Incorporating this dramatic change at one time will help you drop weight quickly, but will almost certainly sacrifice some of that hard-earned lean muscle mass.

Getting lean and retaining size is a difficult task to say the least. But, it’s definitely not impossible. When you transition into a cutting regimen, remember a few crucial factors: 1. Progress Slowly. On day one of your new cutting program, it’s easy to do too much too soon.

This is not the way to get shredded. If you cut your calories this much, you will end up losing significant lean muscle mass and severely damaging your metabolism. If your metabolism is damaged, any variation from your get-lean diet will result in rapid fat gains.

Why is it important to cut calories?

A cut is only successful when calories are reduced over time. This prevents your metabolic rate from slowing down and helps spare muscle tissue. The 2nd reason is… not getting enough daily protein. The bottom line here is: if you don’t get enough protein while cutting, you WILL lose muscle. And that’s a disaster.

Don’t go low-fat to build muscle. You need fat to optimize production of anabolic hormones Click To Tweet. Secondly, the high-carb intake means chronically high insulin levels, which makes it much harder for your body to release its stored body fat for energy.

A Natural Society article on this study stated: “First, dieters who take on a weight loss regimen often focus their efforts on reducing fat rather than reducing sugars and processed carbohydrates. For them, carb intake goes up while trying to reduce calories.

How to minimize muscle loss?

Complimentary to this, when you are losing fat (catabolic) you aim to minimize the muscle lost. Using both diet and exercise, you can create the desired changes in your body. Controlling both aspects is essential, but personally I think diet is the more complex part of the problem so I will focus on that.

The two main forms of exercise discussed in maintaining muscle while losing fat are weight training and cardiovascular training. Lifting. You must be lifting otherwise you will certainly lose muscle, that is a given. Lifting will send signals to your body instructing it to build muscle.

Fat comes off gradually, especially during activities such as cardio that take energy to perform. So by consuming a deficit of calories during cardio and most of the day, and a surplus after a workout, you are taking advantage of the times when your body burns the most fat and builds the most muscle.

Going back to homeostasis, you can minimize the unwanted effects (either muscle loss or fat gain) by deviating from homeostasis very slightly. This means gain weight slowly andlose weight slowly… otherwise you will encounter the bodybuilding friction and either gain extra fat or lose extra muscle

The key vitamins and minerals that can be depleted quickly while cutting are: Vitamin B1. Vitamin B6. Vitamin E.

Whether bulking or cutting, creatine is excellent for taking your workouts to a higher level. Creatine helps replenish ATP (adenosine-diphosphate) faster in the muscles, which allow you to lift a weight for a longer period than without creatine supplementation. Because of this characteristic of creatine, it makes itself a top choice of supplement when it comes to preserving your hard earned muscle.

Your body does not want to gain or lose weight and there are certain biological mechanisms for maintaining this dynamic steady state. At any given point, your body will be in either of two states: an anabolic state or a catabolic state. When you gain weight, you will gain muscle and fat (anabolic pathways).

How to prevent muscle loss?

Strength training helps prevent muscle loss while increasing muscle mass. Make sure your routine is balanced and targets all the main muscle groups. Give your muscle groups time to recover. You can aim to target each muscle group a maximum of twice per week.

To keep the muscle you have while losing fat, you’ll need to strike a balance between limiting yourself and pushing yourself as much as you can. Each person will have different results. Listen to your body, and adjust your workout and eating plan accordingly.

To optimize fat loss while maintaining muscle mass, follow a healthy diet that meets your nutritional and energetic needs. Eating healthy foods may also help you feel full, so you’ll be less likely to overeat. Before your workout, make sure you’re well hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids.

Give yourself enough time to recover between workouts. This is especially important if you’re eating fewer calories and doing intense workouts. Get plenty of sleep , which helps restore your energy levels.

Exercise is another important aspect of maintaining muscle mass. Research from 2018#N#Trusted Source#N#examined the effect of calorie restriction combined with resistance, endurance, or both types of training in older adults with obesity.

For your workout to effectively build strength, you must push your muscles to their maximum capacity. This may involve taking a break before proceeding.

If working with a professional isn’t possible, consider finding a buddy with whom you can create an eating and fitness plan. Together you can help each other succeed.