Another gaining weight/fat/muscle question

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Apologies if this is a repetitive question, but I couldn’t find the answer in these forums.

Jordan, I know you’ve said that one cannot gain muscle and lose weight at the same time. I asked you that over at the SS forums and I realized that I actually meant it in a different way. Is it possible to gain muscle and simultaneously lower your body fat percentage while on an intermediate program? i.e., by gaining more muscle than fat? And, if it is possible, how dependent is the ratio on the individual versus the program and diet?

2

In an absolute sense, yes, and over the long term this may compound depending on the context- if done correctly anyway.

The ratio of muscle:fat gain has multiple inputs and if I had to rank the general importance of them here’s what it’d look like:

  1. Genetics and drugs
  2. Diet
  3. Training
  4. Large chasm
  5. Everything else
3

Thanks for the clarification! I would bet that when most young males ask about body recomp this is what they actually mean.

4

Wow, I had very similar questions.

A) Dr Feigenbaum, from your practice, do you see a maximum “hard cap” on the ratio muscle : fat that must people should reasonably expect to aim for?

For instance, if I am 20% BF, anything higher than a 4 :1 ratio means that you are lowering BF for some time. If you are 10% body fat, you need a ratio > 9:1 to achieve the same.* So, any idea if such an absolute hard cap exists?

B) Then I guess there must also be a kind of “soft cap” if you want to gain weight fast, i.e. I guess that there exists a trade-off between speed of mass gain and “quality” of mass gain. From your experience (or empirical evidence), any idea of a maximum muscle : ratio that people might reasonably consider achievable in a fast weight gain?

I am not talking about genetics monsters but only about every day normal people.

*Note for the geeks: if you are X% body fat, you need a ratio > than 100 - X : X to lose BF % while gaining weight. This is an exponential function (graph (100 -X)/X to see it), so the it becomes exponentially difficult to achieve reduction of BF by gaining weight. Hence the question on “hard” and “soft” caps.

5

A) Not really. It’s way variable…

B) Not really without context

That all being said, best an average person can hope for 50/50, in general

6

Could you clarify that a bit? I feel like I’m missing something because in response to my OP you wrote that it is possible to gain muscle and simultaneously lower your body fat percentage while on an intermediate program, but a 50/50 spread would mean that body fat percentage is increasing, right?

7

That quote does not apply to losing weight in the context of an overweight novice losing weight.