Need to Lose Fat without Losing Weight. Advice?

I know it’s a lot harder to gain muscle than it is to lose fat, so I really don’t wanna lose a single pound of weight if I can help it.

But at the same time, I am developing a super-noticeable ‘bulking belly’ and it is driving me crazy.

My lifts are going up, and my strength must be increasing faster than my fat percentage because my relative strength is increasing; my weighted chins numbers are going up to the point of being able to do 4 sets of 7 with 39kg attached to me - or a single set of 12 reps with 40kg attached to me.

I know it is possible for lifters (even experienced lifters) to lose fat and stay the same weight. It was recently done by Bret Contreras as seen here;

But I don’t know what approach I should take. I’m guessing calories can’t decrease otherwise weight would decrease?

Should I just eat a crazily high protein diet to the point of 50% of macros coming from protein?

Add in HIIT?

How to manipulate volume/intensity/frequency?

Has anyone managed to do this exercise in recomp at the same weight?

Personally, I wouldn’t purposefully manipulate my diet for a short burst unless I was going into a bodybuilding comp. If there are currently issues with your diet (that you’re not eating 50% of your calories from protein is not an issue) fix those. Small changes can have big impacts.

I also wouldn’t change a training scheme which is working for you outside some light conditioning.

So basically fix your diet, move a bit more or eat a bit less. If you value your strength, be patient.

1 Like

Firstly cut out all sugar and eat a ton of greens.

Yeah add in one HIIT session a week. The Wednesday session here will do the trick…
Athlete Lean, Athlete Strong

Don’t decrease calories, just don’t add any more damn calories. Keep calories the same, if you’re not controlling what you eat then get control over the types of food you eat to hit your macros.

Second, while keeping calories the same, time things to move the bulk of your carb intake to just before/after training times–including both weights and cardio/conditioning times as “training” times. Depending on how many carbs you’re eating it probably does not mean moving ALL of your carbs to those times, just the bulk. You can also use a decent amount of carbs in breakfast.

Add in conditioning. IT will help keep you leaner at a higher calorie level than without it, and it will also help strength if you program it properly. Use conditioning along the lines of strongman stuff: tire flips, heavy farmer carries, sled/prowler/car pushes or pulls. Only do 1 day of that to start, and add in a 40 minute walk some other time during the week.

The bottom line is you need more volume of training to stay leaner at a given calorie intake–but it should be done gradually if we are talking about weight training (not added in all at once) and it should ALSO move you towards your goals.

If you want to be strong there’s no fucking reason to do cardio shit that makes you weaker like distance running. Walking or hiking really does not have any effect on strength levels because it is lower intensity, and it also burns calories and helps recovery. Strongman style conditioning trains your strength levels along with cardio so it is a good thing. Just don’t go nuts all at once and build gradually.

1 Like