Reader H. contacted me twice during the last 10 days. His question: “How can you lose fat & build muscle at the same time?”. Every time I replied, I received an error back from his mail-server.

I got your question H. Here’s your answer to how you can lose fat & build muscle at the same time.

Question. I’ve been following the Abs Diet and training program for the last 18 months. It worked well for me. But now I need to move it up a level. I hope the 4 sets of 12 reps have given a good base for strength training.

I started your beginners strength training program a week ago. I’m keeping a log of training & diet. My current stats:

• Age: 31
• Height: 1m82 (6″)
• Weight: 80kg (176lbs)
  
• Body fat: 18%

My goals

• Lose body fat to 10-12%
• Keep body fat at 10-12% year-round
• Build muscle mass – as much as possible

My question. Can I lose body fat & build muscle at the same time if:

1. I perform the beginner strength training program 3 times a week
2. I apply progressive loading until I achieve intermediate strength stats
3. I eat healthy clean food 90% of the time
4. I do a slow bulk: increasing calorie intake as weight increases on the bar
5. I eat real food. Only using whey in breakfast, pre & post workout shake.

My current diet:

• 06:30: 50g oats, 250ml semi-skimmed milk & 30g whey in water
• 09:30: 1 apple
• 12:00: chicken/fish/beef with salad bowl
• 15:30: handful of almonds
• Pre-workout: half of a 30g whey with 300ml water shake
• 18:00-19:00: training
• Post-workout: second half of whey shake
• 19:30: chicken/fish/beef with peas, sweet corn & cottage cheese
• 1-2 cups of strong green tea
• 1-2 cups of coffee
• 1.5 litres of water

My diet is slight relaxed at the weekend but nothing too far off this baseline.

Answer. How can you lose body fat & build muscle at the same time? This is a very popular question. I’m preparing several articles on the subject. But don’t hold your breath. It will take some time. In the meanwhile, here’s some info on losing body fat while building muscle.

The Abs Diet. I’m not familiar with the Abs Diet & training program. This is my opinion based on the info you gave me.

4 sets of 12 is good for bodybuilding & endurance. For strength, 5 reps & lower work best. You probably have a solid base of technique (I hope). But you’ll need to adapt to squatting 3 times a week. Once you have, you’ll see the difference.

Losing Body Fat & Building Muscle. You weigh 80kg & want to lose body fat from 18% to 10% while building muscle. How do you achieve this? Here are some tips. You’re already applying several of them.

• Eat every 3 hours.
• Eat eggs for breakfast.
• Eat clean food 80% of time.
• Eat proteins with every meal.
• Drink 1 liter water per 1000kcal daily.
• Eat enough calories – 18x your goal weight in lbs.
• Get 2g of protein per bodyweight in lbs a day (80kg *2,2 *2= 350g).
• Be patient & persist. Stick to the beginner strength training program & increase the weight every workout.

Strength is Key to Losing Fat & Building Muscle. Your body doesn’t like stress. The more you stress it by adding weight, the more you force it to adapt. Your body adapts to the load by building stronger & bigger muscles.

The stronger you become, the stronger you’ll look. When you have a 150kg squat, 80kg Overhead Press & 200kg Deadlift, you will be muscular. It’s just a matter of time.

You weigh 80kg at 18% body fat. Get your daily calories from clean food & train hard. Your body will “turn the fat into muscles”. You’ll stay at the same bodyweight, but with more muscles & less fat. Dropping to 10% is perfectly doable.

I Answer Every Single E-mail. If you don’t get a reply, please try again. Or post it using the comment. Either I didn’t receive your e-mail or you didn’t receive mine. If I get an error back, I’ll answer your e-mail by making a post like this one.