After getting into weight training, something is confusing me. They say that you cannot gain muscles by weight training if you are in a caloric deficit. But if someone is actively working on their muscles through weight training, why is this?
Would this rule carry over to someone who had a high % of body fat or does this only apply to people with low body fat %? If someone had a high body fat %, will they still not gain any muscles if they are weight training but in a calorie deficit?
I genuinely don’t understand! TIA!
In: Biology
Your body has Ideas(TM) of How Things Should Go. If you’re in a calorie surplus, it thinks “Oh cool beans, bro, we got extra to work with” and will be happy to go about making muscle.
In a calorie deficit, it’ll go “OH GOD WE’RE STARVING” and will be more reluctant to build muscle.
You CAN build muscle while in a calorie deficit – especially in the first year of your training if you’re new, you can do this and it’s actually somewhat effective. As you grow more experienced and have more muscle built, your body will be more and more reluctant to build muscle while in a calorie deficit. It doesn’t mean you *can’t*, it just won’t be worth it eventually – and at that point is when you start doing the bulk/cut thing.
Also, yes – if you’re fat, you have more calorie storage to work with so you can have an easier time building muscle while losing fat, whereas if you’re lean it’s much more difficult.
In short: It’s not *impossible*, it’s just increasingly difficult, and can very quickly get to the point where bulking/cutting is more worthwhile. If you’re in your first year of training and/or you’re fat, you’re fine. Otherwise, probably bulk/cut. Technically you can still build muscle without the deficit once you get on in experience, but insofar as I can tell it’s just not worth it for the effort and people who get that far are also the sorts who are likely to just bulk/cut anyway.
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