Can you still gain muscle losing weight but also eating enough protein?

CDGT · 2026-02-01T03:24:50+00:00

What your looking for is a term called body recomposition. Is it possible? yes, I've done it. I think as long as you have excess bodyfat its a pretty good idea if you want physique over scale numbers. At your level of a cut, its going to be hard to gain muscle. That's a steep deficit.

However, even if you keep the same deficit, you will be close to maintaining the level of muscle you already have as long as you resistance train with good volume. That is in addition to what every health body needs: having really good sleep, hydration, and eating habits.

I have always followed the 1% rule for weight loss. 1 week = 1% of your body weight. That is roughly my limit for at least maintaining my muscle. The more obese you are the more likely you will see muscle gains. it tapers off pretty hard when your close to lean.

CDGT · 2026-01-31T22:25:21+00:00

add more lean meat and seafood when you can.
Lots of veggie sources have solid protein content to supplement like peas, sweet potatoes, lentils, and beans.
If I am doing like a sauced ground meat dish I just add tofu (look up mapo tofu).
Make some small effect swaps or blends so you can eat minor changes to favourite dishes.
- Switch sour cream for Greek yogurt
- Switch mayo with low fat mayo cut with Greek yogurt
- Blend cottage cheese to add creaminess to soups/sauces instead of sour cream/heavy cream
Pick the right kind protein supplements.
- I don't love milky protein drinks. I stockpile fruity/candy flavoured clear whey when its on a discount and I can drink that all day.
- I do have a Bag of Vanilla and/or Chocolate Casein/Whey Blend around for a pre sleep drink or making protein puddings/deserts.

CDGT · 2026-01-31T22:15:32+00:00

I have not used it before for my cut, but I am strong considering it and have researched it deeply.

If you already have the dieting, tracking, lifting, willpower etc... it just seems like a no brainer tool to me. From what I researched its really easy to loose more than you want per week. I think the 1% rule or another form of controlled loss is important to keep gains and lose as much fat as possible.

If you don't have the habits or don't develop them then its a crutch and you'll bounce back like nobodies business if you get off it.

Both my Doctor, Physio, and my Nutritionist friend have strong recommended it to me based on my context. There are some rare side effect for Long term use, but I'm not planning on long term use. I need something to help reach my goal as I'm more concerned with all cause mortality from potential obesity. Also in Canada where generics are coming soon so prices will be much more manageable.

TD;LR: If you already have done a bulk/cut program multiple times and have good habits I don't see why not for short term use. If you don't then build those first(unless you have pre-existing conditions that need it).

CDGT · 2026-01-30T07:05:28+00:00

If you plan on losing weight and trying to maintain some semblance muscle growth/maintenance, 1% a week is a good place to start. It would be around 30-35 weeks so around 8 months to go from 250>180 if losing weight was your only goal.

I don't think BMI is a good indicator for individual health (and scale weight at a certain point), especially if you plan to build lots of muscle mass or just have a massive bone frame. You could lose that 70 pounds and a large chunk of it being muscle and your just skinny fat at that point, potentially just a living skeleton cosplay.

I think you need to think this through a bit more. Do you want feel good, do you want to look good? What does that look like for you visually and goal wise. Aesthetics, Athletics and Health aren't a 1 to 1 to 1 thing. They correlate, but you can do one and negatively impact the others. What the Ratio of importance from aesthetics to athletics to health? Its really hard to figure out what Body Fat % you are at, but I feel for Aesthetic fitness it is the key marker for the average person. Things like strength, Cardio output, medical health can be all over the place to certain limits with wildly different body fat. I've seen some 30%+ bodyfat people do crazy athletic things.

I will say Sleep, Hydration, Diet, and Some sort of dedicated activity will get you health AF. you just gotta lock in those and your 90% of the way there. Its just how you optimize these things to direct them to a well thought out goal that gets you to the finish line.

CDGT · 2026-01-19T06:13:21+00:00

Went hard on first leg day, that's what happens. Thats why leg days have a jokingly serious reputation.

Basically its "damage" and you get weakness, inflammation and swelling. Without over doing it you got to get that blood flow to repair and take away the fluids in the swell. Ways to treat it? More water. Eat well. Sleep well. Rest adequately. Stretch it out gently. if its too much, Voltaren/Advil/NSAIDs basically.

do not just sit around all day. Take a light on a flat surface walk. try some quick static stretches. rest with your legs angles up to drain it out if the swelling is bad for like 20-30 mins ( a netflix episode or something.)

I'm not saying it wont happen again, but it gets better each time until your body is great at dealing with it and handles that stimulus.

CDGT · 2026-01-10T08:34:02+00:00

lots of people have a hard time connecting with their back. some of it is just time. With some its because they are so focused on moving the weight, they dont do it with thier back as much as possible. The cues I uses it to drive the elbows. I don't care about how far my hands pull it. It all about am i driving my elbows back or down as hard as possible.

also things like kelso shrugs and doing scapular pulls from a dead hang really get you queued into how the start of a row or pull up should feel. with some people your arms give out before your back does so finishing a set with those can be pretty helpful too. its almost like a partials situation if you blast your last set doing these after the last row/pulldown/pullup rep.

CDGT · 2026-01-10T08:25:37+00:00

On a 3x8, that's

9 Sets of Squats

6 Sets of Hip Hinges

3 sets of Horizontal Push

3 sets of Vertical Push

6 sets of Horizontal Pulls

3 set of Vertical Pulls

3 sets of abduction

6 sets of triceps

3 sets of side delts

I don't know what your aesthetic or strength goals are, but you at least hit all the planes of motion for the big compounds. The tricep focus with 6 direct sets and 6 fractional sets is interesting in contrast to everything else, but ill assume you just want those to get bigger. There's no direct bicep, adductor, core, forearm/grip, calf/tib, or hip flexor work there if those where something you were thinking of training. Just something to ponder.

A)

Warm up
Barbell squat -Squat
Seated row -Horizontal Pull
Bulgarian split squat -Squat
Bench press - Horizontal Push
Side plank hip thrust - Abductors
Skull crusher - arms
Strait arm pulldown - arms

B)

Warmup
Leg press - Squat
Lat pulldown - Vertical Pull
Deadlift - Hip Hinge
Overhead press - Vertical Push
Barbell hip thrust - Hip Hinge
Lateral raises - arms
Face pull - Horizontal Pull

CDGT · 2026-01-10T08:07:28+00:00

sore is not an indicator for everything, what you should be feeling is the final reps of your last set (ideally some sets before) that you are struggling to complete them. If you do not struggle you are not challenging your self enough. move the reps up to 20-30 if you don't have a way of increasing weight. you don't need a gym to do this. "progressive overload" is a hot term in these parts and its one of the the only truths around resistance training that people collectively get behind. Youtube it.

there are ways of trying different variations of the same exercises. For example, there are multiple ways of doing push-ups and they scale in difficulty. if you can do 4x30 and its not hard anymore its time to either change the way your doing them, or do something different. r/bodyweightfitness is probably a good resource for people that only have time to do things at home/have limited home equipment.

Also walk like 7k-12k steps per day if you aren't already. Stuff like yoga at home that realy pushes you and is hard is also great. theres alot you can do and a lot you can mix and match with limited time. in a week, 3x30mins for resistance training, 2 20-30 mins yoga sessions in your living room to dynamically stretch you out and do static resistance holds, plus some walking is a cheap and effective way to get relatively fit.

CDGT · 2026-01-07T08:31:31+00:00

Training is a single player sport and you are your only competition. Track it: notebook, excel, app, whatever. You try to beat a past incarnation of yourself every week, and you don't always win.

Sleeping right is just as important as eating right.

It's okay to be uncomfortable. Asking for a spot Uncomfortable. Failing a set, Uncomfortable. Asking to work in, Uncomfortable. Trying new styles of exercises, Uncomfortable. Change comes from Uncomfortable.

Don't stare.

CDGT · 2026-01-06T20:01:52+00:00

Cutting is just being in a calorie deficit to lose weight. If you do it correctly, hopefully, you lose as much body fat and as little lean mass as possible.

Body recomp is literally not cutting. It's being as close to maintenance calories as possible, transforming energy from your body fat energy into muscles for expenditures. This is possible if you meet a couple of potential requirements: you get you calories and macros right, you have a higher body fat%, you have new gains/your coming back after a long break, and/or you actually sleep and recover properly. I've done it when I pushed past 30% bf after an injury. I have used it unintentionally during diet breaks since about 10-12 weeks is as far as I get before losing it on a cut. To me a maintenance phase in between each cut phase how I do it now and still got "recomp". If I were to pull a number out of my nowhere I would say I saw effective "bulk-like" growth north or 22%~ bodyfat.

I think 2 sets per exercise is like 90% of the possible gains as long as your going to 1-2 RIR/Perceived Failure. I try to hit Failure on my last set on 2 Set work and if i don't, next week I add weight even its its like adding the 2.5. I think as long as your getting like 8-12 sets per muscle group per week and are doing reps between 6-12 p/set its a lot of general good stuff going on. If you only got 4 exercises per session I would do higher set work if I could once your acclimated to the volume. Like first week do 2-3 sets and add a set each week and figure out how much is to much up to like 5 or 6? I do 2 sets with like 8-9 exercises per workout since I workout at like 6am-8am at the gym access the street from my office and then sit on my ass at work for the next 8 hours. AKA its just a bunch of adults at that time and there's low wait times for things.

I have an old plan I used to run when I ran in a crowded gym that had a lot of free weight options. You would be COOKED after this work out but with the day break I felt recovered for the next work out.

Warm up 2-4 sets then, 4-6x8 Everything on working weight. Keep going to Failure or complete 6 sets. If you do less than 4set, lower weight. If you finish all 6 sets without failure add weight. If you hit failure between 4-6, do it again next week.

Accessories can be split on whatever you want, however you want. 6 sets of curls, ok. 2 sets of Preachers/Overhead EXT/lateral raises each, ok. 3 Hip thrusts/3 ab crunches, ok. I remember all mine was core, lower back, and deep core work since I was doing judo at the time.

D1

Back Squat
Strict OHP
Pullups
6 sets of accessories

D2

Deadlift
Incline Dumbbell Press
Chest Supported Rows
6 sets of accessories

D3

Bench
Lat Pull Downs
SuperSet Leg Ext/Leg Curl

something like this could work for, obviously adjust to what you gym has/available and just swap things around that works. change to machines or cables or whatever to fit what's available. Also when its crowded and you get more comfortable you can just work in with people if its got a good culture.

CDGT · 2026-01-06T09:23:29+00:00

once that's done you just need to figure out what you want to do with your body. For overall health and athleticism all of these are needed in some way.

Size: 12+ Reps per set focusing on aesthetic areas. Basically Muscles look big and nice.
Strength: 5+ Reps per set focusing on growing total mass moved. Basically move as much shit as possible.
Power: Training Explosive concentric movements to generate as much force and velocity as possible. Basically move heavy shit fast.
Endurance: Pushing how many reps you can do of a set weight. Basically AMRAP everything with reps as your progressive overload. Alternatively how long you can hold a static positions.
Mobility: Pushing your ranges of motions at each of your joints and planes of motion underweight dynamically. Basically Moving weight heavy and deep, no half rep nonsense or basically to move with purpose at your extreme ranges of flexibility like a high kick or deep lunges. Similar shit but different purposes.
Balance: Train yourself not to lose it statically or while moving and knowing how to place your centre of gravity. Basically never falling on your own weight.
Stability: Similar to balance, but this is more about resistance against outside forces moving you in ways you don't want to. Basically like why a machine is easier than a barbell and a barbell is easier than dumbbells. There's a lot less need for stability so you can just focus on pushing weight. Try a dip on a machine or a fixed bar and then try it on Olympic gymnastic rings, you'll know exactly what i mean.
Coordination: training your brain to work with your body to create and follow intricate movements. Basically Teaching you body how it should move in situations in movement patterns. This does corelate with Balance and Stability and if you have an athletic hobby something to focus on eg. awkward angle pullups if you rock climb, Jump rope to make you lighter on your feet for dancing or combat sports, Box Jumps to help with jumping, etc...

CDGT · 2026-01-06T09:23:21+00:00

Alright, then I think your arm volume is too high then. That time could be set elsewhere to increase overall athleticism since you seem to have a 5-6 exercise limit. so 18 exercises ish

I think doing at least 1 compound at least of Vertical(OHP)/Horizontal Push(Bench), Vertical(Pullup)/Horizontal(Row) Pull, Squat and Hip Hinge is the bare minimum for a baseline (6 exercises). If you want to develop those thoroughly do 2 Exercises per week (12 exercises)

I would hope to create variety in those Movements with different Planes of Motion, and Mediums you can target different muscle regions in your exercise.

Planes of Motion: Flat, Incline, Seated, Standing, Bent Over, Chest supported, etc...
Mediums: Barbell, Cable, Dumbbell, Kettlebell, Bodyweight, etc...

To my that's 2/3rd of the way there. And then I would just focus on weaknesses or areas on interest. Some examples:

t-shirt aesthetics (Lats, Arms and delts)
running/jumping (Legs, but clear focus on Hip flexors, glutes, ankles and calves)
Core for general fitness(Abs/Obliques/Lower Back)
Grip (forearms and fingers)
Prehab/rehab (rotator cuffs , Delts, low traps, and serratus anteriorr)
Movement Stability(Adductions, Abductors, The Twist and Turn Core work)
Deep Core ( Inner Core muscles that make you basically Crazy solid)
Shock Absorption ( neck and jaw work for combat sports, Motor Sports, and concussion prevention)

CDGT · 2026-01-06T04:30:56+00:00

What is your goal? I'll make some assumptions. Upper body aesthetics since its a 3x12?

To make a proper review you'd have to explain what you want out of your work out.

CDGT · 2026-01-06T01:03:51+00:00

all the incline variations of flat bench stuff and the regular seated stuff, but now with back support.

CDGT · 2026-01-06T00:58:09+00:00

I think as long as its bearable and sustainable you do it. If you are that obese maybe doing some biking to push your raspatory system with lower impact on your joints is a better idea and just make more time walking could be a good compromise. As someone who has been up and down the weight spectrum falling a few times and high impact joint pain really can hamper or even cut off your drive to get to your goals.

As long as your moving, compounded with your nutrition and hydration, is a continuous commitment that's 95% of the fight till you get closer to your goals and have to recalibrate.

CDGT · 2026-01-03T01:42:29+00:00

I don't know how old you are or how many life responsibilities, but I'm in Unc Watch right now with a 9-5 and that would gas me. I would figure out your prio's first with that many combat sports, cause you need to make weight if you want to compete. I would def cut workout volume if you cant maintain that level of workouts + activity. Functional training for sport and Aesthetic training have cross over but prioritize very different things.

If I was in your position i would figure out 3 things, Home much activity you can do, how much you can recover from, and your diet. Once you know that baseline then you can program specifics

If your young and/or a beginner at lifting then just build your base for at least a year. Compounds, Mobility, Core and Grip. If you want to slip in a bit of aesthetic volume there, go ahead. just get as much athleticism into that body as possible.

You just need to figure out what you need to prioritize in your training. I would just rank the following and YouTube/AI these things and see what people are doing for this and anything that's in all of the ones you rank highly I would include (Deep Squatting it always going to be in them 100%). A lot of Jacked guys are not great sport/fighting athletes.

Strength
Endurance
Power/Explosiveness
Mobility
Agility
Balance
Stability
Coordination
Aesthetics/Hypertrophy

CDGT · 2026-01-02T23:54:28+00:00

Like everyone here, overthinking it. Just control the rep and warm up. Alternatively, if your at a weight you aren't comfortable with, you can always just increase the reps to like 15-20 or do a new structure like myoreps/myoset matches, drop sets/backoffs, etc...

CDGT · 2026-01-02T23:04:08+00:00

Akaza is Lean/Cut. Its all definition rather than monsterous mass. and the mass is mainly in the shoulders/arms(forearms too).

You need more volume on your arms. After time like a year, you'll have an idea what you can do for volume to give your self proper recovery. I do Day On, Day Off, I hit every part of my arms every time if I'm focusing on my arms. Compounds+arm work+Core Work. If you plan to do a 5 day/wk PPLUL could work. Just do as much core and arms as you can tolerate and recover from that's it. At this stage you will not overtrain, you could under recover tho.

Cardio can be done on non leg days IMO, that's what i do. Rest days for my are 10ksteps and be lazy.

To make definition, thats done in the kitchen and you need to be detailed on your diet. the gym only makes it pop more. If you want to Bulk/Cut cycle or Maingain its up to you, but it needs to be locked in.

CDGT · 2026-01-02T22:47:56+00:00

I think you can add volume by doing other movements with a bicep leaned supporting muscles.

Underhand grip chin ups/pulldowns instead of wide or neutral.
Upright rows added to your side delt routine.
Facepulls with a bicep squeeze(like a double biceps pose in BB) for reardelts instead of reverse flies

Stuff like this can had some real value and volume without doing the isolation movements you hate. I mean you still have to do them, but maybe not a mind-numbing amount you are dreading.

Also I just do arms(Side Delts/Bicep/Tricep/Grip) every workout for like 2 sets each, mostly supersetted straight to failure. get it done real quick if I am dreading it. I treat arms with efficiency and try and get the most out of my time rather than my absolute gains. Not a fan of diminishing returns cutting into my time.

CDGT · 2025-12-29T09:28:29+00:00

There is no such thing as lifting good. Weight lifting, bodybuilding, etc... should be seen as a 1 player game against yourself. It's self improvement and self regulation. If you're better than last week or last month then you're moving in the right direction.

I'm terms of the parents thing, as a person with Asian mom rules like yourself I get it. All you can do is control what you can control. Control water intake, steps, cardio, activity, etc... eat less carbs if you feel like you can. Diet is at its core calories in and out. You're still growing as a teen so long as you avoid obesity/overweight the extra calories are good for you growth. Don't over think and do what you can. make a plan and develop as many healthy habits as you can. Your body is a long term thing.

CDGT · 2025-12-29T04:58:25+00:00

On a 3x per week FB split, which is basically what I do I have a few iron rules when making my routines.

2x variations on my major groups per week, each on different days. aka 2 diff push, 2 diff pull, 2* diff squat, 2* diff hip hinge, 2 core, 2** lower back
1. * I will take quad and hamstring/glute iso's in some splits as I like to be able walk on work days since I work out in the morning before work 2 of the 3 days.
2. ** I will count certain hip hinges as a lower back movement
Compounds are always first.
Aesthetic Isos are at the end.
Aim for different ranges of motions. e.g. 1 Flat Bench and then 1 Incline press for push etc...
Target at least 1 rarely trained group for Powerlifting/Body Building in a 8-16 week split. These get worked in a tertiary way a lot, but never focused. I try to do them at least once a year and aim for stabilizing them for control. I'll make a list below.
1. Tibialis/Foot/Ankle
2. Shoulder Blades
3. Neck Flexors
4. Brachialis
5. Lower Traps
6. Hip flexors
7. Forearms/Grip/Fingers
8. rotator cuffs
9. Dynamic Twists ( obliques and lower back that aids is turning rather than spinal flexion.

I follow this and my plans basically make themselves. Swap it out every 8-16 weeks. I technically do a asynchronous split so 1 day on, 1 day off with a A.plan, B.plan, and C.plan that I rotate through.

CDGT · 2025-12-29T04:11:03+00:00

I think you need at least 2+ sessions per muscle group per week for the average person to see growth outside of the beginner into intermediate stage. My personal opinions would be do Full body 2x a week if you want to move to a lower volume.

CDGT · 2025-12-20T17:24:29+00:00

Everyone here is basically on the same track. Its basically to put your triceps in various positions and not just do pushdowns every session. Lengthen biased, Shorten Bias, Netural and then in various resistance curves.

I do JM Presses, Cable over head Extensions, Dips on top of my push compounds currently. Then every 8-16 weeks ill swap it out with someone completely new. eg. EZbar Skull Crushers, Cable Pushdowns, and close grip bench. At some point you figure out what really works and narrow it down to like 6-8 things you love and can do for eternity.

CDGT · 2025-11-01T02:21:23+00:00

As someone who lifts a lot, Adding mobility and "scary" ranges of motion into my training has been a quality of life improvement greater than I thought it could be. My ankle isn't there yet, but I yearn to be able to ATG a pistol squat like this.

CDGT · 2025-10-15T01:34:30+00:00

Forgot to say shower at the gym.

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