A Lean Body Sculpting Post–Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time… by Brad Campbell

Before I get into today’s post, I wanted to share something with you.  I was tagged in the following message on Facebook the other day: “Fire alarm drill in my dorm mid shower.  Thank you Brad Campbell for helping me make my body bearable for everyone else in my building to look at!”

That’s what it’s all about right there.  I love helping people change their bodies, but more importantly improve their confidence and overall lifestyle.  You never know when you’re gonna have to run down the street half-naked, so let that be your motivation.  Thanks to Laurence for the shout out…

By the way, I created a new group on Facebook the other day…so if you haven’t already, join us here:  TopFatLossTrainer.  It’s a cool way to connect, stay up to date, give blog post suggestions, share your results (or stories of naked triumph, lol) and basically kick it like judo.

Alrighty then, for this post I wanted to touch on the concept of building lean muscle and losing fat at the same time.  It’s safe to say this is probably something that most of the population wants (or should I say, needs) to do.  Problem is, many think it’s just not possible and those who do generally go about it the wrong way.

I’ve discussed the conflicting nature of trying to accomplish these two opposing goals at the same time in previous posts.  I’ve also taught you that it’s possible to overcome this dilemma through highly strategic cycling of calories, paired with the perfect workout regimen.

Surprisingly, there are actually quite a few ways to go about gaining muscle, while simultaneously losing fat.  My favorite method, and the one that I’m employing right now, is to attack both objectives within the same DAY.

How do I go about this?  Wouldn’t I need to have either a caloric deficit to lose fat, or a caloric surplus to build lean muscle within a given day?

“Yes” and “Yes” would be the answers.

But, with a little “strategery” (as G-dub might have said once or twice during his reign), you can actually do both within the same day.

In case I’m losing you, here’s my favorite dummy-proof blueprint for how to build muscle and lose fat within the same 24-hour period:

Step 1: maintain a caloric deficit throughout almost the entire day (roughly 20 hours or so).  Lean proteins and healthy fats should make up the majority of your meals, along with extremely low GI carbs (read:  vegetables).

Step 2: eat at a caloric surplus for a brief period throughout the day (roughly 2-4 hours).  This overfeeding period starts about 1.5 hours before your workout and continues until a couple hours post workout.

Nearly all of your carbohydrates for the day will be consumed in this muscle building window (includes high GI carbs), along with lots of protein (mostly in powder form) and almost no fats.

Step 3: follow a workout routine that is nearly all strength training and almost no cardio.  Workouts must be intense, high volume, heavy (or “highly challenging,” if we’re talking bodyweight-only strength training), and fairly metabolic.

Currently, I’m doing 2-3 muscle groups per day, using supersets (or tri-sets) and lifting 6 days per week for about 20 minutes per workout.  Of course, I’m going heavy (or using very challenging bodyweight exercises), using a work:rest ratio of about 2:1 and utilizing only multi-joint movements.

That’s pretty much it.  Now, there are lots of other ways to achieve this, but this happens to be my personal favorite because I feel like it’s the closest you can actually get to doing both things “at the same time.”

Is this the fastest way to build lean muscle?  No.

Is this the fastest way to lose fat?  Nope.

Is this the fastest way to build lean muscle and lose fat at the SAME time?  I’d say so, but that depends on what your definition of “at the same time” is…

Sure, you could bulk like a maniac for 4 weeks, then cut like a crackhead for 4 weeks…but I don’t see that as being sensible, nor would I consider that as being “at the same time.”

Another method would be to devote certain days of the week to muscle building and other days of the week to extreme fat loss.

However you choose to do it, the main thing is that you understand and incorporate the principles of each respective change in body composition.  You really need to think things out and focus on which phase you’re trying to accomplish during every hour of the day…and then act accordingly, so that the muscle building or fat loss can actually occur.

Doing both of these feats at the same time and actually getting somewhere will require you to be on your A-game all day long.  This isn’t the time to be winging it and hoping for the best.

Anyways, that’s just a several-mile-high overview of how it’s actually possible to gain muscle and melt fat at once, without having to cycle or choose one phase over the other.  Which is good news, right… ‘cuz most of us need to do a little of both at any given time.

To really drive home the point about needing to have “muscle building moments,” or blocks of time where you’re taking major action to ensure maximum lean muscle gains…here’s a pic of tonight’s post-workout meal:

Okay, so I’m rocking about 1.5 chicken breasts (shredded), 2/3 box of stuffed tortellini noodles topped with pesto sauce (looks kinda gross, but it’s so good) and 1 large peanut butter rice krispie treat.

I should point out that this was about 30 minutes after finishing my weight training workout.  I also had a high carb snack a little while before working out, along with a carb/protein shake immediately before, during and immediately post-workout.

Why is this important?  Well, just think about all the carbs and calories I consumed in such a short window.  I would never eat that much in an all-out fat loss phase, nor would I even consider having that many carbs (outside of a cheat day).

I’d personally also never eat like this all day long, even if my only objective was to build muscle.  That’d essentially be an all-out bulking phase, which I think is dumb and the equivalent to buying a sexy sports car and driving down the road with a cover on it.  So, we’ll leave that to the meatheads.

But for a brief period of time within an otherwise extremely fat loss favored day of eating, this is IDEAL for both preventing muscle breakdown and promoting muscle building.

What I’m doing is totally catering to lean muscle building during the absolute most critical minutes of the day (right before, during and immediately after strength training)…and then flipping the script and pampering my fat loss ambitions during all other hours of the day.

The result?

Theoretically, the most ideal environment you could create to achieve both muscle building and fat loss in one day.  And coming from a pharmacy background, I’ll be the first one to say that theory doesn’t mean much.  It’s the “real world” that counts and I can assure you that my results using this approach have been nothing short of spectacular.  Same thing goes for my clients.

So YES, I’m here to tell you it CAN be done.  But it ain’t easy and it won’t happen by chance.  You need a specialized diet and workout regimen that’s built to deliver the ripped body goods.  Just so happens, such a program exists.  You can learn more here: Diets (scroll to “build muscle and lose fat diets”)…

I’ll go into more detail about some of the other factors involved in adding muscle and losing fat at the same time in future posts.  For now, you at least have the basic idea of what needs to be done, plus a couple of great resources (the anabolic cooking meal plans and Holy Grail program) to help you get things rolling.

Keep rocking that beat.

Your Coach,

Brad Campbell

Posted in Build Muscle | Toning Exercises by Brad Campbell | 12 Comments