Column 76 | Commuting for the muscles

ANSWER

Only for absolute beginners can it perhaps work to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. Such a drastic change is a real shock for the body, which then reacts by building muscle and - due to the increase in metabolism - by reducing fat. For advanced athletes, which I count you among, this is not possible, as the body has already largely become accustomed to the training stimulus and no longer responds to it so extremely. In view of your data, I therefore recommend that you build muscle first and then go on a diet to reduce body fat.

The pendulum diet is actually very well suited to both goals. However, that doesn't mean that it supports both goals at the same time. To build muscle, you need to consume more calories than you use up, i.e. create a positive calorie balance. In contrast, to reduce fat, the calorie balance must be negative - here you should eat less than you use up.

I recommend a build-up phase of eight to twelve weeks. You can also extend the duration to 14 to 16 weeks if you see steady progress. However, if you don't see any further muscle gain after twelve weeks, it's time for a diet phase. You should allow six to eight weeks for this. If you put on a little fat during the build-up period, that's not a problem. The diet phase is all about burning that fat...

Based on your body weight, you calculate a basal metabolic rate of around 1900 calories. If you do moderately strenuous work, you should choose a PAL factor (= Physical Activity Level) of 1.3. Adding the digestive loss (0.1) gives you a multiplier of 1.4. You therefore need to consume 2700 calories per day to maintain your weight - i.e. neither gain nor lose weight.

To build muscle, you increase this calorie value by 500 calories, which gives you a total calorie requirement of 3200 calories per day. If you want to lose weight, you have to subtract 500 calories, which gives you 2200 calories. Either way, you have to "oscillate" around these values. I recommend the following calorie distribution per week for the muscle building phase:

When it comes to training, try to follow a certain rhythm. With a three-way split, training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is ideal, as you have a rest day between each training day. In addition, there is no training at the weekend, so you give your body enough rest. With a four-way split, training days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday would be suitable.