Sport calorie consumption: weight loss vs. muscle

[mikom]

i believe i read here somewhere that losing weight and building muscle cannot be done at the same time because losing weight requires limiting calorie intake while building muscle requires calorie increase.

while the first is obvious, i 'd like an explanation of the second...

1...WHY do you need to increase your calories to build muscle? if i can do cardio for 1.5 hours a day on limited calories, why do i need to increase calories to pump iron for 40 minutes 4 days a week? how does +calories = muscle? i thought it was protein = muscle.

2... i guess definitions are in order. what is meant by "building muscle"? are "they" talking "body builder" muscle as in lots of mass, or just decent muscle?

thanks

btw,,,my goals are not to build thick muscle that looks like i live in the gym. i am short and i don't like that kind of muscle. i prefer something less than gymnasts' body, but i am striving for a "fighter's body" look. ie, well defined delts, good back, nicely cut but long lats, good forearms, tight front, NO OVERLY DEVELOPED PECS OR ARMS(i think these two muscle groups tend to make short people look chunky and squat). these are muscle traits i notice in fighters.

 

[Nicolasd]

Not an accurate medical description but -

Muscle requires a lot of energy. Your body will only build muscle if it has plenty of energy available. A lot of your body's processes are designed to optimize chances of surviving starvation.

This goes for any sort of muscle build. It doesn't matter if you're thin or body builder sized, if you're not eating and getting enough calories to surpass your energy expenditure, you won't build muscle.

Technically, I believe that while cutting, you can build muscle for say an hour after a meal, and then after that start start burning fat (and some muscle). You can't both build muscle and lose fat at the exact same time, but that doesn't mean your body can't be building muscle at some periods of the day and burning fat in others. However, it isn't very effective imo as opposed to having distinct bulking and cutting periods.

Defined muscles come from properly sized muscles and low body fat. Bulking and cutting like a bodybuilder would is your best bet for gaining a body that looks like you want, just stop bulking at the muscle mass you want (bear in mind that as you cut and lose fat, your muscles start looking better because they get defined). If you're doing this to be a fighter, you should tailor your workout more towards getting the endurance needed for fighting though.

 

[Chillen]

That was a very good post, Der.

 

[malkore]

your body is a temple.
exercise is symbolic of the construction workers.
food...calories...those are the raw materials.

without raw materials, no amount of workers will get much accomplished.

you can't make something from nothing.