Is it possible to increase muscle mass on a calorific deficit?

Lazyitis

The question's in the title. My training goals are to increase muscle mass while reducing body fat percentage.
I'm pretty sure that I've been running a calorific deficit over the last 6 weeks or so. I've also been doing some weights at home along with some cardio.
Getting pretty decent results already (by eye anyway), but I'm not sure if I am increasing my muscle mass.
While it looks as though I'm slightly more muscular, this could just be because I've lost some body fat and the existing muscles are showing through more.
Anyone any ideas?

Transform

its possible to get much stronger but a little harder to add significant amounts of muscle.

All of which is tied up in the diet so post up if you want

Lazyitis

Very limited diet, but this is all that was left after I cut out all the junk.
Typical day:
Breakfast: Shredded wheat bitesize in low fat milk with a yop
Or Scrambled egg on a slice of wholemeal toast with a yop

Lunch(at work): Ham and cheese sandwich using 4 slices of wholemeal bread and an apple (basically every day)

Dinner: Chicken with linguini (white pasta) in a homemade tomato and chilli sauce with mozzarella, bit of onion in there
Or Steak with penne (white pasta) in a homemade tomato sauce
Or Salmon with broccoli with a small amount of mashed potatoes

Post workout I would just have a glass of milk. Should I load up on some carbs here?
Try to drink enough water throughout the day
Might snack on an apple or a couple of Gouda cheese slices (love cheese) , sometimes have another yop.
Drink alcohol (Guinness, bulmers) most weekends. Don’t go overboard, but this is something that I don’t foresee cutting out.
Odd treat here and there at weekend, fizzy drink, a packet of crisps occasionally.
Looking to incorporate some nuts/seeds into the diet to eat while at my desk in work.

You need to cut out the white pasta, ditch ham and cheese sandwich for some lean meat, fruit and veg at lunch etc.

I'd also cut out the yops. If I remember correctly, there is more sugar in Yops than should be i.e. in a normal glenisk low fat organic strawberry yoghurt.

I'd limit your carb intake also and replace the mash at dinner with some broccoli and carrots for example.

From listening to what Transform says, I'd try not to go over 40% carbs within any given day as this is what works for me also.

If you're looking for a snack suggestion, why not get some wholemeal rhyvita and some low fat cottage cheese or some hummus etc ?

Transform

Deleted User wrote: »

You need to cut out the white pasta, ditch ham and cheese sandwich for some lean meat, fruit and veg at lunch etc.

I'd also cut out the yops. If I remember correctly, there is more sugar in Yops than should be i.e. in a normal glenisk low fat organic strawberry yoghurt.

I'd limit your carb intake also and replace the mash at dinner with some broccoli and carrots for example.

From listening to what Transform says, I'd try not to go over 40% carbs within any given day as this is what works for me also.

If you're looking for a snack suggestion, why not get some wholemeal rhyvita and some low fat cottage cheese or some hummus etc ?

what he said

O.P.H

What about incorporating some protien shakes into your day. Those times when you go a couple of hours between meals due to work etc you could take a quick whey protein shake. I'm in college and if I know I can't eat anything for like 3 to 4 hours due to lectures, I have one of those sports bottles in my bag with 2 scoops of whey, just add some water, shake and thats it, very handy.

Lots a good stuff in the stickies bout mass gaining diets.

Magic Eight Ball

Is it not a bad idea to drink milk post workout as it's slow releasing protein?

Khannie

I wouldn't worry too much about it personally. That you're getting some carbs and protein the important thing IMO. I've had a half litre of skimmed milk after training a good few times and it hasn't done me any harm.

Lazyitis

O.P.H wrote: »

What about incorporating some protien shakes into your day. Those times when you go a couple of hours between meals due to work etc you could take a quick whey protein shake. I'm in college and if I know I can't eat anything for like 3 to 4 hours due to lectures, I have one of those sports bottles in my bag with 2 scoops of whey, just add some water, shake and thats it, very handy.

Lots a good stuff in the stickies bout mass gaining diets.

Thanks for the replies.

I do go about six hours in between lunch and dinner without eating anything, so am looking for something to fill this gap. Regarding protein shakes, I'd still regard myself a novice in terms of training, diet etc, so would it still be suitable, or is it something you'd take once you reach a certain level to refine your training?

My ultimate goal would be to put on a fair bit of muscle mass, however I have something coming up around new year's which I want to be in as good condition as is possible for, so I'm wondering if my initial goal should be to slim down and increase my strength for this?

If you're going 6 hours without eating, your metabolism must literally be like a snail and this is not good for fat loss or indeed healthy in any shape or form.

My outlook on it is if you really can't eat some lean meat, fruit and veg or even a couple of hard boiled eggs and some raisins and a handful of cashew nuts, then either get some rhyvita and cottage cheese or even just a bloody protein shake would be better than eating nothing for 6 hours straight. That's a disaster.

rubadub

You can vary your intake around your training times, eating a daily surplus of calories when recovering, and eating less other days, so you can have an overall weekly deficit but a surplus at certain times. Just like very short bulk & cut periods.

Have a read here http://www.teamtestforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=761

corkcomp

rubadub wrote: »

You can vary your intake around your training times, eating a daily surplus of calories when recovering, and eating less other days, so you can have an overall weekly deficit but a surplus at certain times. Just like very short bulk & cut periods.

Have a read here http://www.teamtestforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=761

+1 a couple of hard workouts a week, incorporatin compound lifts will maintain muscle and add a little .. on the non training days you can drop cals .. if saves eating everything in sight, getting fat and then having to "cut"

corkcomp

Deleted User wrote: »

If you're going 6 hours without eating, your metabolism must literally be like a snail and this is not good for fat loss or indeed healthy in any shape or form.

My outlook on it is if you really can't eat some lean meat, fruit and veg or even a couple of hard boiled eggs and some raisins and a handful of cashew nuts, then either get some rhyvita and cottage cheese or even just a bloody protein shake would be better than eating nothing for 6 hours straight. That's a disaster.

yeah, going VERY long periods without food, and skipping breakfast MAY slow metabolism slightly but its over thought by most people .. I eat four meals per day but I dont normally eat anything between about 1 30 and 7 pm and its never stopped me reaching my goals, and as far as I can tell my metabolism is fine ...

kevpants

Lazyitis wrote: »

The question's in the title. My training goals are to increase muscle mass while reducing body fat percentage.
I'm pretty sure that I've been running a calorific deficit over the last 6 weeks or so. I've also been doing some weights at home along with some cardio.
Getting pretty decent results already (by eye anyway), but I'm not sure if I am increasing my muscle mass.
While it looks as though I'm slightly more muscular, this could just be because I've lost some body fat and the existing muscles are showing through more.
Anyone any ideas?

Was gonna say this when I read your log.

You can't do it. Sorry.

Your end goal seems to be to be big and lean. You can arrive at that conclusion but not linearly. What I mean is your bodyfat must increase if you want to gain muscle mass. Dieting may be on your agenda later.

Any suggestions at avoiding this process are fanciful. You can believe them if you like but in 6 months you'll wish you didn't.

corkcomp

kevpants wrote: »

Was gonna say this when I read your log.

You can't do it. Sorry.

Your end goal seems to be to be big and lean. You can arrive at that conclusion but not linearly. What I mean is your bodyfat must increase if you want to gain muscle mass. Dieting may be on your agenda later.

Any suggestions at avoiding this process are fanciful. You can believe them if you like but in 6 months you'll wish you didn't.

I have to disagree there mate .. I went from 68kg to 84kg over about 11 months and I did not gain any body fat .. I lifted heavy, full body workouts three times per week .. I did cardio every day and eat as much as I could on the workout days, Maybe it was all the cardio that prevented fat gain, but if i had listened to the classic advice I would have cut cardio way down for fear it would hinder muscle growth, but it didnt! ... people are always saying you need to eat a surplus of calories to gain muscle, but you dont need to pig out on non lifting days unless you want to get fat .. im basing this on personal experience, but I am in no way unique, if it is possible for me I dont see why it is not possible for the OP?

64kg to 84kg at what body fat % ? It's important because I want to know what your goals were.

How much cardio were you doing ?

g'em

All OT posts moved to another thread.

J.S. Pill

rubadub wrote: »

You can vary your intake around your training times, eating a daily surplus of calories when recovering, and eating less other days, so you can have an overall weekly deficit but a surplus at certain times. Just like very short bulk & cut periods.

Have a read here http://www.teamtestforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=761

I did something similar to this over the summer when I was loosing a bit of flab

It seems to me that success in this approach would hinge very much on when the correct time to 'switch' from surplus to deficit eating actually is. Surely this is going to depend a lot on things like how intensive the previous workout was, individual recovery times, stress level etc. (I know the author didn't give a definite fixed time to switch and mentioned that the benefits derived from stuffing one's face are subject to diminishing returns as time elapses)

One article I read a while back cited 36 hours post work out as the time where benifits diminish rapidly (Can't remember where I read this now). Seemed a bit arbitrary to me at the time.

Any thoughts one how you might determine your own best time to switch??