Should I gain, maintain, or lose weight?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Jordan,

If my goal is to maximize muscle gain while minimizing fat gain, do you think I should gain, maintain, or lose weight? My stats are the following:

Age: 22
Height: 5’10
Weight: 173 lbs
Waist (measured around the umbilicus): approx 84.5 cm (33.3 in)
Background: I’ve been going to the gym inconsistently for the past 5 years, and I ran the SS NLP for a few months before plateauing about two years ago.

I’m currently running the at-home template and plan to switch to the hypertrophy template once gyms re-open.

2

I’d probably maintain currently and then continue that for a few weeks when you get back to barbell training. Provided you can keep your waist < 34", you can gain a little weight, slowly, after that. Adherence to the training and nutrition interventions is going to be the most important thing here.

3

Thanks for the response Jordan. Would you define slow weight gain as around 1/2 pound per week?

4

That’s probably fine :slight_smile:

1 Like
5

Hi again Dr. Feigenbaum,

I have another question for you–would you say that the following three scenarios are all functionally equivalent in terms of the body composition outcomes they would achieve for someone like me? (i.e. someone with a normal weight/waist circumference who wishes to maximize muscle gain while minimizing fat gain):

  1. Go on a hypertrophy program at starting weight of 173lbs and slowly gain weight to target goal weight of 190 lbs
  2. Drop weight to around 160lbs, then go on a hypertrophy program and slowly gain weight until 190 lbs
  3. Go on a hypertrophy program at starting weight of 173lbs and slowly gain weight to 200lbs, then drop weight down to 190 lbs

Assume that the training and the rate of weight gain (1/2 lb per week) is the same in all three scenarios. Would you say that the ultimate body composition (i.e. amount of muscle and fat the person has) in all three scenarios is functionally equivalent? In other words, for body recomposition, does the order of weight gain/weight loss matter in terms of outcomes?

6

It’s definitely not necessary, but if he wants to- sure. The idea that most people are underweight and should gain weight is laughable.

7

I don’t think there’s likely to be a big difference, at least not one I could predict off-hand.

So, figure out what you want to do right now and where you want to be in 3, 6, and 12 months Then do that.

8

Thank you for the response. I’m curious why you think there won’t be a difference; my initial thought was that during weight loss I would lose more fat than muscle, so when I would start to gain weight I would be at a better off body composition to begin with. And then assuming my weight gain is equal in all scenarios with regards to fat/muscle (say, 50/50 per pound) then I would end up more lean with the scenarios where I go on a cut. Is this not the case?

9

After weight loss, you preferentially will replenish fat stores and all of this is much more complicated. Again, I wouldn’t predict a big difference, if any, between the two situations.

10

Jordan, in order to avoid things getting out of hand and just getting fat while gaining muscle, is a slow, small weight gain as mentioned above, the name of the game? I know some fat gain is unavoidable during weight gain, but is gaining slowly and continuing to train a way to hopefully minimize it?

11

If you’re asking if I think slow weight gain is better than rapid weight gain, the answer is yes.

12

Thanks, that’s essentially what I’m asking. Is it accurate that your fat-to-muscle gained ratio would be more optimal if you gained 10 pounds slowly over several months as opposed to say, a few weeks?

13

It’s likely, yes.

14

Thanks for the response. Do you know of any further readings where I could learn more about this? (i.e. how the body preferentially replenishes fat stores after weight loss)

15

This was originally described as Kennedy’s lipostatic theory. Here’s a good article describing some of the evidence and thoughts around this:

16

Thanks for the link Jordan. I did a bit of research after reading that article you sent me, and I would love to hear some of your feedback on the conclusions I’ve drawn (I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert, so I may be very wrong).

It seems like most of the data on collateral fattening (based on that article) was based from the Minnesota experiment where it was essentially subjects who lost extreme amounts of weight (~25%, what they called ‘semi-starvation’) while undergoing no resistance training.

The article further notes that some of the collateral fattening results from the Minnesota experiment may be due to adaptive thermogenesis and impaired lean tissue growth. From my understanding, in non-obese individuals who are resistance training and looking to lose just some weight, these conditions wouldn’t necessarily exist, since adapative thermogenesis only seems to take affect after losing <= ~10% of your body weight[1] and impaired lean tissue growth, particularly in weight loss, can be mitigated by increasing protein intake and increased resistance training[2]. The International society of sports nutrition position stand: diets and body composition (2017) basically concluded what my conclusion was:

However, the majority of the existing research showing AT [adaptive thermogenesis] has involved diets that combine aggressive caloric restriction with low protein intakes and an absence of resistance training; therefore, essentially creating a perfect storm for the slowing of metabolism. Research that has mindfully included resistance training and adequate protein has circumvented the problem of AT [25] and LM loss [26], despite very low-calorie intakes.

Basically, based on the research I’ve done, I’m not sure the collateral fattening idea/results can be generalized to resistance training populations looking to lose significantly less weight, given that the mechanisms–notably adaptive thermogenesis and the amount of lean mass loss–are not happening or happening significantly less. What are your thoughts?

[1] Rosenbaum, M., & Leibel, R. L. (2010). Adaptive thermogenesis in humans. International journal of obesity (2005), 34 Suppl 1(0 1), S47–S55. Adaptive thermogenesis in humans | International Journal of Obesity

[2] Slater, G. J., Dieter, B. P., Marsh, D. J., Helms, E. R., Shaw, G., & Iraki, J. (2019). Is an Energy Surplus Required to Maximize Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy Associated With Resistance Training. Frontiers in nutrition, 6, 131. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2019.00131