Question:
If you have a high body fat, lose the fat before gaining mass!
I really want to gain more muscle, but I’m afraid I will gain fat. I’m not your typical skinny guy. I’m thin, but I also have a large stomach and some love handles. I recently got my body fat measured and it’s 28% Is it possible to be skinny and fat? What should I do?
Answer:
Yes, it is possible to be thin and still have high body fat levels. Being “slim” doesn’t necessarily mean you have low body fat levels.
I have seen many results from many different types of people on high calorie diets. From my experience, individuals starting a high calorie diet with a high body fat level will tend to gain more fat than muscle. This could quite possibly be due to a sluggish “fat storer” metabolism. On the flipside, individuals starting a high calorie diet with already low body fat levels tend to gain more muscle than fat.
Since you have a fairly high body fat level, you should first go on a fat loss diet to lower your body fat. This will increase your chances of gaining more muscle than fat when you do start a higher calorie diet. It will also help you to keep your body fat levels in check. It is very easy to let your body fat levels get out of hand when trying to “bulk up”. This is a mistake. The more body fat you have, the more difficult it becomes to remove later on.
Question:
I do crunches, but I can’t see my six-pack!
I’m on a weight gain program, but I’m not seeing my six pack. I do crunches every day, but my abs are hardly visible at all. What am I doing wrong?
Answer:
Everyone has the potential for great abs, but to see them you must remove the layer of fat covering them. I have always said that you CANNOT SPOT REDUCE. This means that you can’t expect to burn abdominal fat by doing abdominal exercises. Your body does not work that way despite what you may hear on the latest ab gadget infomercial! Doesn’t matter how many crunches or special hanging, super-duper ab exercises you do… you will NOT see your abs until you lower your body fat levels.
To do this you should follow a lower calorie diet that focus on reducing your body fat levels. This is just the opposite of what is required to build large amounts of mass. To build mass requires higher calorie dieting, which will cause you to gain some additional body fat as well as muscle. Sorry, but that’s the truth!
During my 12 week transformation detailed at musclegaintips.com, I first focused on gaining mass, and then later I focused on lowering my body fat levels to reveal my abs. I did not try to do both at the same time. If I had, I would have never made much progress either way.
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