Build muscle lose fat: this 10-week high-intensity training program will help you achieve the impossible—adding muscle while losing bodyfat

Muscle & Fitness, May, 2006 by Chris Aceto

Some things seem impossible. Like the L.A. Clippers winning an NBA championship. Or Kevin Federline (aka Mr. Britney Spears) having a successful music career. Or gaining muscle mass while losing bodyfat. Yes, that all-too-common refrain heard in the gym--"I want to build muscle but also lose my spare tire"--is most definitely bodybuilding's odd couple of opposing goals.

Understand that two rules govern the world of muscleheads: 1) To lose bodyfat, you must eat less; 2) to build muscle mass, you must eat more. That being said, it seems downright impossible to, say, add an inch to your chest and arms while tightening up around the midsection. Or is it?

A carefully designed program combining high-intensity weight training with the right diet and supplementation plan can achieve these seemingly contradictory goals. The key is timing: alternating heavy- and moderate-weight workouts while also splitting each week into two dietary phases, a cutting phase and a building phase. This approach not only allows you to achieve both goals concurrently but also keeps your metabolism elevated, which is vital to burning bodyfat and increasing protein synthesis (muscle growth). Pay careful attention--many variables are at work and constantly change over the course of each three-week cycle.

MISSION 1: LOSE FAT

The cornerstone to shedding bodyfat is a controlled method of calorie reduction--specifically, eating smaller portions of carbohydrates while eliminating excess dietary fat. As calorie intake declines, your body begins using bodyfat for fuel, which makes your physique look harder. However, when you reduce calories, your body also increases the amount of protein it burns, meaning you risk losing muscle tissue, too. The solution: As you decrease calories from carb sources, bump up those from protein sources. This approach shuttles some amino acids into energy production (making up for the carb shortage), which ultimately protects against muscle loss. (See "Get Cut/Rest Day Meal Plan" for diet specifics.)

During a calorie-reduction phase, aerobic exercise can significantly increase fat-burning, but don't overdo it. Zealous cuts in calories, sharp increases in aerobic work or prolonged dieting trigger the body's starvation response--a built-in metabolic reaction in which the body slows its ability to burn calories and bodyfat for long-term survival. This plan sidesteps this issue because it doesn't include extreme calorie reductions, lengthy dieting or marathon cardio sessions.

You can also manipulate your training to increase calorie burn and make your physique look harder. The "Get Lean Workout" utilizes moderate weights for higher-rep sets, which help deplete your working muscles of glycogen (stored carbohydrate) and, in turn, burn fat. Reduce between-set rest periods by 15-30 seconds to keep your heart rate elevated for added fat loss. Spending too much time on higher reps, however, isn't the best way to build muscle tissue, so follow this high-rep protocol for only seven days every third week, then switch to two consecutive weeks with heavier weights and lower reps.

MISSION 2: ADD MUSCLE

Building mass requires not only protein but also calories, especially those from carbohydrates. Calories fuel your training, and if your body doesn't have the resources to train really hard, you won't grow. The muscle-building process, in which the body adds muscle by synthesizing the protein you eat into new tissue, is an energy-demanding event as well. Again, growth can't occur without enough calories (see the "Get Big Meal Plan" for details). Supplementation in this phase will also help you build size.

The "Build Muscle Workout" uses heavier weights for fewer reps and longer rest periods to encourage muscle growth. Follow this heavy-lifting phase five days a week for two weeks; in the long run, this method of training is better for building metabolism-boosting muscle than a high-rep approach.

REST AND RECOVERY

This program provides two rest days each week; it's unwise to lift weights on a daily basis because doing so wears the body down. On these days, cut back your carbohydrate intake and perform 30 minutes of cardio only (don't do any weight training).

HELPFUL HORMONES

Cutting and building are also about hormones, which are influenced by the types and quantities of food you eat. In the cutting phase, the name of the game is insulin control. Insulin, produced by the pancreas in response to carb consumption, is a "pushing" hormone. After you eat a carbohydrate, insulin is released, not only replenishing your muscles and liver with glycogen but, more relevant to this discussion, also pushing dietary fat into bodyfat stores and excess carbs down fat-storing-pathways. When you reduce carb calories, insulin levels decline, which improves fat loss. Another bonus: A low-insulin environment magnifies the fat-burning effect of aerobic activity.

In the building phase, the body experiences hormonal changes that include a boost in insulin. Thus far, insulin has been a bad guy, but not here: It exerts a remarkable effect on muscle growth by forcing amino acids into muscles while increasing testosterone levels. Testosterone encourages muscle growth and fat-burning, but its levels decline when a person diets for an extended period. By moving from a cutting phase to a building phase, you avoid prolonged dieting, which helps maintain testosterone levels and prevents your body from falling into a starvation mode in which metabolism slows significantly. Insulin also turns on key processes in the muscles that lead to their growth.