Gain Muscle While Losing Fat

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Im not very tall but I’v bulked up a bit and I wanna continue gaining weight. However, if I gain anymore I will become fat. I also need to maintain my fitness over the break (October to January)

Some of guys in the higher grade Rugby League teams here gaining around 6 kg whilst decreasing skin fold and bodyfat. All within a time of 3 months. Their gym programs revolve around strength and conditioning programs, not bodybuilding programs. Not only that they perform Cardio multiple times a week.

This probably might not seem like a big deal compared to some of you, but I need help on this.

2

[quote]clean and squat wrote:
Im not very tall but I’v bulked up a bit and I wanna continue gaining weight. However, if I gain anymore I will become fat. I also need to maintain my fitness over the break (October to January)[/quote]

Have you looked at any of the information that Concept 2 put out regarding training for rugby using their rowing machines? They discuss strength training in that guide too.

There seem to be basically two ways you can gain muscle and decrease bodyfat at the same time: 1) as a beginning lifter 2) using chemical “assistance” (steroids, gh, etc.). I’m not saying those teams are doing that, instead I would question your information source. If you know for sure that they’re actually gaining around 6kg in 3 months, and you know their actual bodyfat percentages, you can probably get a hold of their training routine. In which case, I’d just do what they’re doing.

3

[quote]clean and squat wrote:
Im not very tall but I’v bulked up a bit and I wanna continue gaining weight. However, if I gain anymore I will become fat. I also need to maintain my fitness over the break (October to January)

Some of guys in the higher grade Rugby League teams here gaining around 6 kg whilst decreasing skin fold and bodyfat. All within a time of 3 months. Their gym programs revolve around strength and conditioning programs, not bodybuilding programs. Not only that they perform Cardio multiple times a week.

This probably might not seem like a big deal compared to some of you, but I need help on this.[/quote]

1- stop training like a bodybuilder. You are an athlete, so train like one.

2- get on a proven strength program that will allow you plenty of time to train your conditioning and rugby skills. 5/3/1 is a great choice for this.

3- check out the training logs of rugby players. There are several of us on this site. You can check out my log if you like. If you go look in there, you can see my training, but also several other rugby players have commented in my log, so you can find other guys in there as well.

4

[quote]Chris87 wrote:

1- stop training like a bodybuilder. You are an athlete, so train like one.

2- get on a proven strength program that will allow you plenty of time to train your conditioning and rugby skills. 5/3/1 is a great choice for this.

3- check out the training logs of rugby players. There are several of us on this site. You can check out my log if you like. If you go look in there, you can see my training, but also several other rugby players have commented in my log, so you can find other guys in there as well.[/quote]

Thanks for the replies everyone

Lol, I do not train like a bodybuilder. My program is purely strength based. With a few a bit of power. However, I was thinking of changing my program a little to work on hypertrophy, just for a few weeks. I know some of the guys follow a periodisation program, so I was thinking of giving that a go.

Also is it true that Aerobic exercise has a higher chance of putting your body in a catabolic state compared to High intensity exercise? I read somewhere that High intensity cardio puts your body in an anabolic state (depending on the exercise) rather than catabolic, so instead of burning muscle for energy, you will burn fat.

5

[quote]clean and squat wrote:

[quote]Chris87 wrote:

1- stop training like a bodybuilder. You are an athlete, so train like one.

2- get on a proven strength program that will allow you plenty of time to train your conditioning and rugby skills. 5/3/1 is a great choice for this.

3- check out the training logs of rugby players. There are several of us on this site. You can check out my log if you like. If you go look in there, you can see my training, but also several other rugby players have commented in my log, so you can find other guys in there as well.[/quote]

Thanks for the replies everyone

Lol, I do not train like a bodybuilder. My program is purely strength based. With a few a bit of power. However, I was thinking of changing my program a little to work on hypertrophy, just for a few weeks. I know some of the guys follow a periodisation program, so I was thinking of giving that a go.

Also is it true that Aerobic exercise has a higher chance of putting your body in a catabolic state compared to High intensity exercise? I read somewhere that High intensity cardio puts your body in an anabolic state (depending on the exercise) rather than catabolic, so instead of burning muscle for energy, you will burn fat.
[/quote]

My mistake. The way you said that other guys were getting gains with non-bodybuilding routines gave me the impression that you were using a bodybuilding routine.

Any program should always include hypertrophy work. That’s what assistance work is for. When structuring your training, you should have these 3 things in this order:

1- strength work (big lifts with a focus on improving numbers)
2- assistance/hypertrophy work (smaller lifts, provide balance and muscle growth)
3- conditioning (obviously important)

Don’t worry about all that stuff. Your body isn’t burning up muscle just because you go run. You do eat a few times a day correct? If so, your body has plenty of energy to use before it even thinks of burning up muscle. That is the body’s last resort. Again, do not worry with this. Forget you read that article.

You need to have aerobic and anaerobic conditioning as a part of your program. Meaning, you should do sprint or interval work, but don’t neglect some longer (1-3 miles) stuff from time to time.