The ability for you to burn fat and build muscle boils down to your diet and exercise habits. Within M&F and outside of it, there are plenty of fitness enthusiasts who’ve accomplished these goals simultaneously, serving as anecdotal evidence that it’s possible to achieve body recomposition. Follow these seven tips to burn fat without losing hard-earned muscle.
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Combine Strength With Hypertrophy
Pure strength training, such as lifting heavy singles, doubles, or triples, relies heavily on your neural drive, the speed you shift from using Type I to Type II muscle fibers, and your ability to get maximal muscle fiber recruitment. While those are extremely beneficial for setting PR’s in the gym, they don’t maximize how much muscle you put on or maintain during a cutting phase.
Instead, combine both to create an intense muscle-building workout. For example, do five heavy reps, rest for 20 seconds, repeat that same exact weight for three reps, rest for 20 seconds, and then do two more reps. You’re still able to use a very heavy weight, but you made it last for 10 reps. This creates a huge stimulus for thicker muscles and the “pump”.
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Use Slow Aerobic Cardio
With fat loss comes cardio training. Yet the kind of cardio you do can maintain all your hard-earned muscle or destroy it.
Use slow and easy methods of aerobic exercise such as walking on a treadmill at an incline, an easy bike ride, or a light jog. Maintaining an easy pace will only use your Type I muscle fibers, which are extremely fatigue resistant, and promote more blood circulation to help clear lactic acid and metabolic waste. It also improves your aerobic energy system to support more intense workouts, better recovery between sets, and more results in the gym.
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Eat More Lean Protein
If you want to maintain as much as possible (if not, grow it) during a cutting phase, you consume the optimal amount of protein. First, it boosts your metabolism throughout the day because protein takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat. Second, it keeps you full to prevent overeating.
Finally, it prevents excessive muscle loss that could happen during a cut. Target at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, and get your protein from clean sources like lean meats, nuts, eggs, fish, and quality supplements.
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Drink BCAAs
Branched Chained Amino Acids are essential amino acids, meaning they must come from the diet. As the building blocks of protein, BCAAs are stored within muscles and can actually be used for energy during exercise. During a cutting phase, they’re a great alternative to high-calorie protein powders because they’re calorie-free (or close to it), which will ensure that you’re still maintaining the calorie-deficit necessary to get leaner.
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Eat Carbs After Your Workout
Carbs are not evil. In fact, even during an ambitious leaning phase, you still need carbohydrates, especially if you’re still lifting heavy.
After a hypertrophy-driven workout, your muscle fibers are damaged and your energy reserves need refueling. Starving your body of carbs will hurt your recovery and lead to increasingly crappier workouts. Instead, eat carbs post-workout. Once you finish your last set, your metabolism is high and your insulin sensitivity—your body’s ability to tolerate carbs—is at its highest.
Pick starches like rice, baked potatoes, and sweet potatoes to start the recovery process and fill your body with energy it needs to perform at a high-level.
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Sleep 8 Hours a Night
Recovery is just as important as your training, especially during a cutting phase. Since you’re putting your body through the tremendous stress of calorie-restriction and heavy weights, you need time to let your muscles recover and rebuild.
While your body secretes growth hormone throughout the day, it peaks at night while you sleep and it’s also highest when your sleep is deepest. Skimping on sleep, however, will only short-change your muscle growth and repair.
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Maintain Only a Moderate Caloric Deficit
Crash diets will cause muscle loss no matter what you do. It’s far too extreme on the body and won’t give your body enough nutrients to heal and recover. Worse, you’ll also risk health problems and even overtraining.
If you want to cut after a bulking phase and still have muscle to show for it, start with a moderate deficit of only 500 calories—it’s just the right number to spark fat loss without sacrificing muscle size or strength gains. Track your progress every few weeks in the form of body-fat percentage, circumference measurements, and photos to ensure you’re on the right direction.
