is it possible to build muscle while at caloric deficit?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

lets say you chug nothing but protein shakes all day and don't eat anything else.
for me, that would be about 6 shakes, giving me about 200g of protein.
however, 6 shakes mixed in milk is only 1200 calories.

at a caloric deficit, i should be losing weight right?
but i'm taking in a ton of protein. what happens?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I doubt you'll gain muscle. My understanding is past a certain amount of protein it doesn't really matter if you take even more. You'll also have a hell of a time being functional on 1200 calories of almost entirely protein. I've more or less done it, but it's not easy.

 

[Pantlegz]

You can but the method your suggest wont work and your body will turn the protein into glucose. It is possible with something like cyclical Keto or IF to drop body fat and gain muscle but it's very hard to stick to them long term (for me at least) and even though you're maintaining mass your lifts wont progress for shit and may suffer some. I'm a big fan of cyclical keto, it's worked wonders for me and if I weren't so determined to just get stronger I would be on it more often than I am.

 

[tedrodai]

something like cyclical Keto or IF

What's IF?

Anywho, I've been able to put on some muscle while in a caloric deficit over the past 5 months, unless you mean a strict deficit. Like I posted in another thread recently, I'd be in deficit for about 5 days per week and surplus for a couple days a week to help me recover from my workout routine (pretty intense cardio and weights-mix of strength and endurance). It was something close to -15lbs fat and +2lbs muscle, so not real spectacular, but I made solid, steady progress and stuck to my routine (cept when shin splints threw me off from my original workout, bleh). Diet was consistently around 30-40% protein (more on the surplus days), 30-40% carbs, 30% fat.

 

[polarmystery]

Not a great way to restrict calories. Missing tons of other nutrients as well going that route.

 

[Pantlegz]

What's IF?

Intermittent fasting

 

[darkxshade]

Answer is yes and no... yes for a certain bf% and no for a different bf%. As you can imagine, someone who's really fat could do it and logically it gets harder then to impossible as it drops to low levels. So it's possible, obviously.

 

[magomago]

verrrry slowllly

 

[Wuzup101]

Possible yes - depends on the person, their starting condition, their body fat, and how big of a deficit. If you are eating only 50% of your caloric needs to maintain weight and are already fairly fit, you probably aren't going to gain any muscle while losing weight (and you'll probably also lose a decent amount of muscle). If you are someone who is relatively un-fit / new to weight lifting and eating 80% of your caloric needs to maintain weight, you certainly may lose fat while gaining some muscle. Most people who do not have the "benifit" of being new to the sport (and already in good shape) will simply try to retain as much muscle as they can while cutting the fat. Even for those who do see the benifits - they don't last forever. Take advantage of them while you can.

 

[ArchAngel777]

The body doesn't do energy transactions once every 24 hours or once every week. It is always taking from a wide range of energy sources. It is very possible to build muscle while losing fat. However, it is more complicated and a much slower process. As we gain more and more knowledge of the human body, meal timing and workout regimens should in theory be able to provide these results on a consistent basis. Unfotunately, we don't yet know enough for this to be a 'reliable' means. Each person will have to experiment a bit. I am attempting this right now.

So far I am running less than a 500 cal deficit, and lifting heavy. Also making sure I am getting ~1.33g per pound of lean mass in protein. So far I am getting stronger, but that could be just the result in recruiting more motor units or technique improvement.

One thing is for certain at this point. Most people will find their results are better with a SLOW bulk followed by a SLOW cut. If all goes well the slow cut can also add a tiny bit of LBM.

Then of course there are PEDs, which bypass the body's rules/limits.

 

[Mackowitz]

I think it's very, very difficult. I have always stagnated or regressed on my max lifts when I have lost weight. I have a high body fat, so I have weight to lose - but whenever I have lost weight I've lost a proportionate amount of strength.

When I dropped for 278 lbs to 240 (about 13% weight loss) I went from benching 305 for 3 reps relatively easily to barely completing 3 reps of 275. Squats and dead lifts had similar losses. For me, I think there are two issues with strength loss. (1) it's just freakin' hard to gain strength with a deficit and (2) to get the deficit I up my cardio A LOT which is probably burning lean muscle no matter how good I am at keeping the protein intake up.

 

[heavyiron8]

lets say you chug nothing but protein shakes all day and don't eat anything else.
for me, that would be about 6 shakes, giving me about 200g of protein.
however, 6 shakes mixed in milk is only 1200 calories.

at a caloric deficit, i should be losing weight right?
but i'm taking in a ton of protein. what happens?

Your body will burn those protein + any muscle tissue you have for fuel.. Human body is a lot more complicated than you think, you don't just eat protein and expect to lose fat and gain muscle. You need a protein amount in grams equal to your body weight in pounds (NOT from protein shakes, from whole foods like skinless chicken breast, 90/10 ground beef, fish, etc), plus about a pound equivalent of nonstarchy veggies, like asparagus, brocolli, green peppers everyday. Get good fats into your diet. A good example would be almonds, salmon fish (good protein source as well), olive oil. Eat brown rice, brown rice pasta, oatmeal, quinoa, 100% whole grain carbs. Your calorie intake should be 500 less than what you burn (BMR + what you burn for exercise) per day. Even if you do all of this, its hard to gain muscle while losing fat, its guaranteed to be the best way to MAINTAIN muscle while losing 1 pound a week in fat.

Of course if you're a complete beginner in weightlifting, its definitely possible to do the above while gaining some muscle.