Alternating periods of higher and lower caloric intake with proper periodized training should achieve constant progress in terms of gaining muscle and losing fat. In this manner you can swap for new muscle mass, while staying in great shape.
Lose fat and get muscles
You might ask yourself is it truly possible to lose fat at the same time gain muscles. You have to be aware that the body is not able to perform both activities at the same time. The only time these two processes have been successfully carried out is when a person, starts with bodybuilding. In this case, weight training is a new stimulator of the body that allows gaining muscle mass and at the same time, very successfully loses body fat. Another case is when the exerciser after a long period of not training, starts with the training again. The body responds by restoring muscle mass that it previously had.
Man with an index of body fat greater than 10%, and women with more than 12%, should concentrate on fat loss.
If you fall into this group, we highly recommend you to first lose the weight and then try to gain new muscle mass. The best way to achieve it is with a diet that consists of 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein and 20% fat. Most of the people are responding really well to this balance of nutrients. Those who have problems are people who hardly gained weight so you will need to increase your intake of carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates should mainly come from complex, slowly digestible food sources such as oatmeal, grits, brown rice and sweet potatoes in combination with fibrous vegetables; green beans and broccoli. The main supply of protein must be chicken, turkey, and tuna, salmon and lean red meat. Since you’re focused on the reduction of fat, eliminate fruit and dairy products, not because they are not healthy, but because of the fact that fast carbohydrates in these foods slow the melting fat. Also, try using fish oil, extra virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil.
Slimness is a sign of muscle gaining
Once you get down below 10% of BF (or bellow 12% for women) go ahead and start a cycle of mass. The only thing you need to do is to increase the intake of nutrients. Proteins at 2.5-3.0 grams per kilogram of body weight, carbs to 1.5-2 grams, and intake of essential fats to be in three tablespoons per day for men and 1.5 for women spoon. Let the cycle continues until your BF again comes at the level 10%, or 12%. At this point you can stop and start with a reduction of calories. Understandably, if you enter more than the body can spend, one part has to be stored as fat.
Weight training and cardio
Four to five sessions per week, from 45 to 60 minutes, in most cases, should do the job. A good strategy to avoid stagnation is changing parameters such as series, repetitions, and rest between sets. Of course, it must be logical and altered the way to get the best out of training, forcing the body to work harder. For example, four weeks to training with a large number of repetitions, 12-15, use shorter rest periods between sets, say 60 seconds or less. After these four weeks, take again a period of four weeks, reduce the number of repetitions, 8-10, increase rest between sets, from 90 seconds to two minutes. When it comes to cardiovascular exercises, 5-6 sessions of 30-45 minutes should be enough when reduced the fat. Now, if you have difficulties with gaining pounds, the ideal solution is a high intake of carbohydrates and quality fats.