Alright pick one. Would you rather build muscle or burn fat? Well, today we get to blow up
the Bulk and Cutting Myth once and for all and do both at the same time.
What's up guys? Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.COM
Build muscle or burn fat. It's that word in the middle that's the problem. OR. Because
some people would make you think that you have to choose.
Because you either have to be focused on building muscle or focused on burning fat.
Matter of fact some guys have even commented on our channel that you can't do both at the
same time because they require two completely opposite states.
Two completely opposite goals inside of our body. Right, chemically.
One, in order to build muscle you have to be in some state of caloric surplus. And in
order to burn fat you have to be in a state of caloric deficit.
That's wrong, Ok, If you do want to burn fat you're going to have to be in a state of caloric
deficit. But if you want to build muscle you do not have to be in a state of caloric surplus.
What you need to do, is you need to be in, right here, Positive Nitrogen Balance. One
of the biggest ways we can do this, fastest ways we can do this, is by increasing our
protein intake.
Protein is going to be the only macronutrient that we take in that has nitrogen as a constituent
inside of this chemical makeup.
So this is where we get, now it comes guys, without getting too much into the chemistry,
really broken down into the amino acids.
The constituents of the protein itself. This is where we get the benefits of protein because
it's what's broken down into the usable form.
That being said, a Positive Nitrogen Balance can be negatively affected, negatively affected
by overtraining, because, I'll show you in a second,
as we break down muscle tissue we're going to be losing, obviously the protein is actually
breaking down, we're losing nitrogen.
Next, poor sleep. We become anabolic when we sleep. Ok, this is when protein synthesis
occurs mostly throughout the day.
Finally, we can get this from, again, inadequate protein in our diet. So how do we go to a
state of burning fat but still being in positive nitrogen balance?
Well, as I say guys, it's going to depend mostly on these three things. So quickly overtraining,
guys, I stress it all the time. If you're working out for an hour or more, you're working
out too long.
Ok, it's not necessary. You want to stimulate without annihilating. And I think a lot of
guys, especially certain types of workouts these days that are popular, think that annihilation
is the way to go.
So much so that they can lead to even bad things like rhabdomyolysis and things in your
muscles. Really bad stuff. Totally unnecessary to stimulate muscle growth.
So you want to get away from that. Workout should be no longer than 40 minutes guys.
That's what we preach here at ATHLEANX. You want to again, stimulate not annihilate
Next thing, poor sleep. It's huge. Ok, you've got to get your sleep at night guys. This
is again, where you get your growth.
What we do here in the gym is great for sparking the process, getting it ignited. But what
you do here is actually where the process occurs. And you've got to try to aim for good
quality sleep.
Thirdly, inadequate protein. If you think that you're going to get all the protein you
need through your diet, that's fine. I agree that some people can do that.
For me, it's never been a possibility for me. I'm on the run quite often, I have a busy
schedule.
Conveniently being able to find high quality protein, not crappy protein guys, but high
quality protein, can become a challenge. So supplementation has always been key for me.
Now there's other benefits to supplementation as well as you know. You can't say that you're
going to get all the protein that you need,
I mean if you're going to take creatine monohydrate, you're going to get it all through your diet.
It's not going to happen guys. Especially not to stay in a hypocaloric state to be able
to burn fat too.
Because if you think your going to eat enough steak to get all the creatine you need, I
can guarantee you you ain't going to stay in a hypocaloric state for that long.
Especially because most guys can't separate just eating the steak from usually eating
the steak and potatoes that go with it. Ok, it's a meal. So,that's not usually going to
happen.
So if you want to have the benefit of high protein but you don't want to have all the
other stuff that goes with it, supplementation becomes key.
So, we have a three pronged approach. Stop overtraining, get your sleep and take in more
protein.
Now I'll share with you a quick study. There were three groups of guys, all at 27% body
fat. One of them did no training at all, they just had a hypocaloric diet,
80% of what they normally would take in. So 20% less of what they normally would take.
The second group, took in the same amount, 80% but they worked out and they had 1.5 grams
per kilogram of body weight of whey protein.
And the third group did the same exact thing but they did it with casein.
The interesting thing, body fat dropped in all three groups. Right, they should, they're
on a hypocaloric diet.
The group that was taking whey protein, they dropped by about 4% body fat. The group that
was taking the casein protein, this is a 12 week period guys, they dropped by about 6
to 8% body fat.
So, much more significantly than the control group, diet alone, 2% body fat drop. Now lean
muscle mass gains again, nothing in the control group, they didn't do anything, they didn't
work out.
The guys that were working out, supplementing with casein, those guys put on around 6 to
7 pounds of lean muscle mass.
And the guys that were doing it with whey, they put on a little bit less than that. But
right around 4 pounds.
So what's the moral of all this? The moral is guys that, forget the guys that tell you,
you have to bulk and then cut. It's straight nonsense.
It's the one thing that I have been preaching here on this channel for now four years, is
that you can absolutely build muscle and burn fat at the same time.
Matter of fact, guys that have been watching me lately, have come up and said that, Jeff,
you seem to have added muscle, you seem to have gotten leaner. It's true, I've done that.
I said I started to do it when I was training for XERO. And it's continuing here. Guys it's
an ongoing process. Now does it happen overnight? No, it's a slower process.
It's a slower process. But you don't have to look bad half of the year either.
Alright, the guys that talk about bulking and cutting, half the year they look like
shit and the other half of the year they look like they are in good shape.
If you train ATHLEANX, right with us, in this way. you're going to look great year round.
And that's what we're really after and that's the most important thing, so.
Again, start focusing on getting into Positive Nitrogen Balance. Getting into a caloric deficit,
if you need to lose body fat. If you don't, you don't have to follow this part guys.
Ok, if you're a hardgainer, you stay here, you're going to build muscle.
I hope guys, that helped to dispel this myth and you know, sort of take this all and put
it in perspective.
It sort of formed the whole foundation of what the ATHLEAN-RX supplement line has been
about. We have casein protein, it's a valuable constituent. It's a slow acting protein, we
put it into our night time recovery.
We have whey protein, it's actually in both, a fast acting 1-2 punch with the casein, in
the night time muscle recovery and also right away in our post workout.
High quality protein guys, stripping away all the other stuff. Low calories, if you
look at any of our formulas, it's not about packing them full of 300-400 calories. But
just giving you the stuff that you need.
This is sort of my secret, again whatever works for you is good but this is where you
need to be. Positive Nitrogen Balance.
Guys, I'll be back again next week. If you find this helpful, make sure you leave your
comment below and a thumbs up.
And we'll be back in the gym for more workouts the next time I see you.