How To Lose Body Fat Without Losing Muscle
September 15, 2009 | 9 Comments
Q: Hi. I’m wondering about how to lose body fat without losing muscle. In your manual for losing fat [Warp Speed Fat Loss] you said you never witness someone losing muscle mass while on a diet if he / she were working out at the same time. and you brought some studies to support it. What about “Starvation mode”? How do you prevent your body from keeping the fat and burning muscle for energy.
A: Good question. It is possible to lose muscle while dieting but if you do it right then you don’t have to worry about muscle loss. I’ll use what we do in Warp Speed Fat Loss as an example of precautions that you can take to prevent muscle loss but the strategies are really applicable to any weight loss diet and training program. First let’s look at why your body would breakdown muscle to use as fuel when dieting. There are three main reason.
- Body’s Problem: Needs energy.
- Body’s Problem: Needs enough amino acids to maintain important bodily functions.
- Body’s Problem: Energy is low thus needs to only keep around essential parts that require calories.
You have your own set of problems in regards to how your body acts when it comes to functioning on low calories.
- Your Problem: You want it to specifically use store fat to fill the energy void.
- Your Problem: You want the body to get amino acids from places other than hard earned muscle.
- Your Problem: Need to convince your body that lean muscle is essential.
Fortunately it isn’t to hard to make sure that you and your body have their needs met and everyone is happy. The truth is that you have enough stored energy in the form of body fat to last a very long time . Lack of energy isn’t the issue. What we need to do is show your body how to access that energy(i.e. your body fat). To do this we use a low carbohydrate diet. This controls insulin levels and allows your body to access its essentially unlimited supply of energy whenever it needs.
Photo Courtesy of baostar
We don’t want your body to start using lean muscle to meet its amino acids needs so we just simply add more protein to the diet to meet any increased need your body have (or may think it has). This is a dieting technique that has been around forever but it is still just as effective as it ever was.
The final problem is the trickiest and it can’t be helped with diet. How do we convince your body that your muscle is essential so that it keeps it around? This is where your training comes in. My partner in crime Alwyn Cosgrove has found that the addition of heavier weight training not only forces the body to hold ont0 the muscle that it has but in some cases people actually get stronger (while dieting!). What is heavier? 2-4 sets of 4-6 reps seems to be the sweet spot between lifting heavy enough weight but completing enough reps so that you are burning sufficient calories.
Those are the three ways that you can ensure that you beat ’starvation mode’, lose fat and not muscle. I recommend that you put all these tips into action at once. You can do it yourself or you can use Warp Speed Fat Loss where Alwyn and I have integrated all these techniques into a 28 day comprehensive rapid weight loss plan.
–> Click Here to Learn More About Warp Speed Fat Loss
9 Responses to “How To Lose Body Fat Without Losing Muscle”
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Mike – I have just started the Warp Speed Fat Loss program and recognize the heavy lifting portion of the plan will help maintain muscle. I am not sure about total calories, though, because at 116lb, I have had to calculate my own food template and come up with fewer than 1,200 calories daily. I am really hungry late in the day. Plus, I am uncertain as to how to handle the hi carb/low carb days in relationship to total calories consumed.
Could you shed some light?
Debra,
Do you have access to the private forum? That is where i can answer all your WSFL questions. I'll email you directly to make sure you have access.
-Mike
Is it possible to eat “too much” protein? I mean is it possible to gain weight due to overeating protein ?
How do you counter the fat loss plateaus that occurs in the 3 and 4 weeks into your WSFL plan? Is this likely to be caused by starvation mode?
Just wanted you guys to know how effective Warp Speed can be. I used to diet the anorexic way: few calories equals little fat. That was when I was 17 and I managed to lose over 25 lbs on a 300 kcal diet a day. Anyway, after that I quickly gained it all back (can't starve forever) and I had to eat very little to stop the weight gain. A holiday made me put on even more weight and I hated it. Then you guys came with Warp Speed and for the first time, I started losing again. And I gained muscle. Went from 31% bodyfat to 15% in two warp speed sessions.
Then I went on a holiday with my family and I was worried because they are typical unhealthy eaters. Since I was staying with them, I had to eat what was served. So in 5 weeks, I had everything from fries to brownies, in pretty big quantaties.
When I came back, I was afraid I gained because I felt kinda off (airplanes make me retain water) but I found out I only gained 2 lbs. Now I continue with the Naked Nutrition guide and well, I feel great. I thought I would never be able to get my metabolism back up, but I managed thanks to you.
Informative and concise. Great to read what I already know but put in a different and useful way. Thanks.
Mike – I have just started the Warp Speed Fat Loss program and recognize the heavy lifting portion of the plan will help maintain muscle. I am not sure about total calories, though, because at 116lb, I have had to calculate my own food template and come up with fewer than 1,200 calories daily. I am really hungry late in the day. Plus, I am uncertain as to how to handle the hi carb/low carb days in relationship to total calories consumed.
Could you shed some light?
Hey there! Great post so far. However, I think you can learn more about weight loss and getting optimum low body fat by visiting this website! http://www.threesixtyhealth.com
It includes fitness tips, and teaches you getting in shape. Weight loss should not be done using extreme diets or related things like that! Getting in shape should be much easier. Find a fitness buddy and guide each other the path down low body fat today!
Do visit http://www.threesixtyhealth.com
Cheers,
Kelsey.
Mike, all things being equal, and following the tips in your article above, and the tips in your (similar) t-nation article ("Death Match: You vs. Your Body "), how low could a person get their body-fat percentage through diet alone (eg 12%)?