Not knowing whether you want to gain muscle mass or lose body fat is an annoying issue to have.
If you are drawn between the two, you might consider yourself "skinny fat".
Constantly shifting between cutting and bulking and not seeing much change.
Let's tackle this issue once and for all.
So starting off, there is a mental adjustment that you have to make.
You need to understand that the term "skinny fat" is ONLY around because some guy decided he wanted to shit on himself and what better way to do that, than to take two negative terms that are the complete opposite from each other to describe his own body.
Making him seem like a hopeless case.
Because people tend to be too hard on themselves, and the fitness industry is loaded with brands and trainers who make money off people's insecurities, the term got popular.
However, if you think about it being "skinny fat" is just the average body.
A normal person.
So that being said, this will be the last time you shit on yourself.
Start using the word "average" or "normal" to describe your body's situation rather than "skinny fat".
Now let's get into how to build muscle and lose fat.
If you are a beginner (someone who hasn't followed a structured program before), congrats you should be able to do both at the same time.
If you are a bit more advanced, you will have to split up the two goals.
Let's start with the beginners, probably most of you reading this.
So, in order to both build muscle and lose fat at the same time you will need to do a couple of things.
A calorie deficit is required. Not optional, but required. This will ensure you lose fat. A calorie deficit means you are eating less calories than your body burns in a day. To find your intake multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 8-12 and that is the number of calories you will eat in a day. If you want to approach this more aggressively use the number 8 and if you want to be more conservative use the number 12. Both ways are good, just pick what works for you.
You have to be lifting moderate-heavy weight at least 3x a week. By moderate to heavy, I mean you should be picking a weight you can do for no more than 15 reps on your best day and full effort, and no less than 6 reps. With the majority of your training ( about 75% ) towards the higher end of that rep range 8-15 reps, and the rest ( about 25% ) around 6-8 reps.
You have to progressively overload your exercises, meaning you need to get stronger over a period of time. So if you did the 20 pound dumbbells today for 12 reps then next week you should do it for 15 reps, then the week after that grab the 25's. That needs to happen. You don't have to progress every week but over time there should be a progression. So, track your weights and exercises, and progress on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis.
Be consistent and patient. Stick with it for at least 12 weeks before thinking about switching anything up. This will take time but the better you understand that, the less likely you are to wait. Take it day by day, week by week, and then month by month and the time will fly. Anytime you think about quitting just remember, you could've made it to your goal had you just kept going. Sounds like common sense, but it's easy to forgot. You got this!
For the intermediate and more advanced lifters, the process differs.
You will still build muscle and lose fat, but over the course of a 6-8 month period splitting the two.
Pick your battle and stick with it. Find out whether you want to cut up or bulk up and stick with it for an extended period of time without looking back at the other option. 9 times out of 10 I recommend cutting first because if you already are not extremely content with your body fat levels, you will not last the appropriate duration during your bulk. So, I say cut for at least 12 weeks, if not 16-20 weeks depending on how much you have to lose. If you don't know how much you have to lose, reach out to me. If you are doing to bulk first do it for at least 16 weeks, if not 20-24. Building muscle takes time, so be patient. To cut, take your bodyweight in pounds and multiplied by 8-12 to get your calories, and to bulk take your bodyweight in pounds multiplied by 16-18 to get your calories.
You have to be lifting moderate-heavy weight at least 3x a week. By moderate to heavy, I mean you should be picking a weight you can do for no more than 15 reps on your best day and full effort, and no less than 6 reps. With the majority of your training ( about 75% ) towards the higher end of that rep range 8-15 reps, and the rest ( about 25% ) around 6-8 reps.
You have to progressively overload your exercises, meaning you need to get stronger over a period of time. So if you did the 20 pound dumbbells today for 12 reps then next week you should do it for 15 reps, then the week after that grab the 25's. That needs to happen. You don't have to progress every week but over time there should be a progression. So, track your weights and exercises, and progress on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis.
Be consistent and patient. Stick with it for at least 12 weeks if you want to lose fat and at least 16 weeks if you want to build muscle before thinking about switching anything up. This will take time but the better you understand that, the less likely you are to wait. Take it day by day, week by week, and then month by month and the time will fly. Anytime you think about quitting just remember, you could've made it to your goal had you just kept going. Sounds like common sense, but it's easy to forgot. You got this!
Follow those guidelines, and you will be all set to see a body transformation.
The big takeaways here are....
Don't be a dick to yourself.
Be consistent for an extended period of time.
Push yourself to progress your exercises over time.
Be patient with the process.
Enough reading, time to get your journey started! :)
If you are looking for help feel free to sign up for my free 14 day healthy habits challenge in my dropdown menu.
Otherwise, I am always here if you need me answering questions any and everywhere!