Gaining while losing
Gaining muscle while losing weight: Not sure how it works. I mean, how do you gain muscle while being in a negative energy balance?
Although I’m confused about this, I’m convinced that it can happen. I mean my body has transformed over the last several years all the while weighing about 195. So a person must be able to gain muscle AND lose weight at the same time. (If anyone can direct me to a good reference on how this happens I’d be very thankful.)
So, at the beginning of my slow cut I want to maximize my chances of gaining while losing. And I’ve been reading about the importance of BCAAs to a person trying to do this.
I’m excited that this supplement might be a revolutionary addition to my diet. And at the same time, I’m a bit scared that it will be a revolutionary addition to my diet.
What I mean is that if these BCAAs work, help me add muscle faster than I have in the past, I will always sort of wonder "what if" I would have started taking these things sooner.
We’ll see.
August 9, 2008 at 6:15 am
I’ve tried megadosing BCAAs before and there are a couple snags. For one, in capsule form to get a truly effective anabolic dose you’ll burn through a bottle very fast (talking 30-50g here). Less can be used for maintaining muscle, but the key is getting enough leucine to trigger the anabolic pathway. I tried the cheaper route of bulk BCAA powder and forgot how bad leucine tastes. Plus, that much just really made my stomach upset. I think they’re great to take and the more you can get the better. Just hard to get that truly effective dose for the types of gains most people want from it.
As for gaining while losing, obviously it works when people who start out overweight build lean mass while shedding. It just gets more difficult when leaned out since the body thinks it won’t have enough fuel in reserve to support the new growth. Personally, I can’t gain weight quickly if I drop under 11% bodyfat. Its doable, but you have to have a perfect balance and macros to your diet and everyone’s a little different with what works best.