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How to Build Muscle Without Getting Fat
If you are looking to build muscle without getting fat, there are many helpful tips that will limit your weight gain while getting stronger. The main goal is of this blog is to help people get into great shape.
Building muscle will not only increase your metabolism, but it will also reshape your body to a more aesthetic appearance.
Here are favorite ways to build muscle without getting fat.
Count your calories


To really minimize any body fat increase when trying to build muscle, you really need to be as accurate as possible.
A salad you may think is 500 calories, is actually 800 when you drown it in ranch dressing!
MyFitnessPal is a great app that can help you calculate your exact calories
To build muscle without getting fat, we recommend eating 500 calories more than your daily allowance for men. For women, 250 calories more should be sufficient.
These are just guidelines and should be adjusted for every body type. If you start putting on too much body fat right away. Lower the calories by 100 a day until you find a nice balance.
Clean eating vs dirty bulking
When I was trying to put on as much weight in my 20s to build muscle I ate everything in sight. I did more muscular but I also go fat.
Learn from my mistakes and stick to healthier cleaner foods. Clean proteins. Complex carbs and lots of veggies.
Keep the dietary fats low and stick to quality Whole Foods with minimal ingredients.
Building muscle on a calorie deficit
Although not ideal, You can build muscle while on a calorie deficit.
Remember that your body will be using its own body fat for storage. But if you are weight training intensely, protein synthesis will be increased which will lead to you gaining strength and muscle.
If you lower your calories too drastically, you will have decrease in strength which will slow down your muscle-building goals.
Best weight training exercises to build muscle without getting fat
Most people know that weight training will increase muscle mass.
But the key is to focus on compound movements that recruit several muscle groups. This will also increase your metabolism and help you build muscle without getting fat.
Here is a sample workout using several compound movement exercises:
- Squat
- Bench press
- Back rows
- Shoulder press
- Bicep curls
- Triceps extensions
Do more cardio
A great way to build muscle without fat is to do more cardio.
We recommend doing high-intensity interval training to maximize fat burning and increase metabolism. 30-60 minutes really should be the maximum you should be doing per day.
Decrease your rest period between sets
When weight training, decreasing your rest people will help you still build muscle without getting fat.
I like to rest for 30-60 seconds between each set. It definitely will challenge your heart which will help you minimize fat gain while building muscle.
Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a great tool to help maximize the fat-burning effect while building muscle. When you are in a fasted state, your body will be using its own fat as fuel.
There is a misconception that you will lose muscle while fasting. Unless you are doing 24-48 hour fasts, your muscle will be preserved (especially in the combination with weight training).
I think a good fasting/feed window is:
- 16 hours fasting (8 pm-12 pm)
- 8 hours feeding (12 pm-8pm)
I also enjoy being able to eat 2-3 big meals instead of 5-6 smaller meals.
Lower your carbs while keeping protein high
Keeping your protein high and carbs low can also help you gain muscle without getting fat. Try to have less than 50 grams of carbs per day to maximize fat loss while building muscle.
Start using creatine
Creatine is one of the best supplements to build muscle and strength. I have been using it for over 15 years with great results. There are so many supplements on the market that claim to build muscle and strength. However, Creatine is one of the most studied muscle performance supplements. And the findings are usually the same. It works!
Although it is not required to help you build muscle without getting fat, it is well worth it. Creatine is cheap too!
Just remember if you do decide to use creatine, drink lots of water! We recommend using Optimum Nutrition Brand Creatine Monohydrate.
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