I was wondering if it is possible to gain muscle while also slowly dropping my body fat %. I know this sounds stupid and it doesn't make sense since you have to have a surplus to gain muscle and a deficit to lean down but I don't know who or where I heard this from but I guess it's possible to do both??? thoughts on things like intermittent fasting and other such things? is it possible and if so how
Honestly, everyone has some sort of freaking opinion in this. People say it's possible, other say it's broscience. The most credible source for fitness you're gonna get is from Athlean-X (Jeff Cavaliere). He said it is true that to lose fat you need a deficit, however to gain muscle you need to be in a positive nitrogen balance by not overtraining, getting enough sleep and eating enough protein.. It's just a lot slower - hence it's longterm, and not something like cut for summer, bulk for winter and half year they are fat half year lean or in some case shredded. With intermittent fasting, once again, people say one opinion and others have other opinions. I have done it personally and I think for body composition, it's just easier to be in a calorie deficit - lose fat, and it might have MINOR hormonal boosts, not the 3000% HGH boost, it just doesn't make sense. However for health benefits, I'd say it's good. Also people say that if you are advanced (reached your genetic potential or are close to it, and you've been working out for like 10 years), then it's hard/impossible to do both at the same time, and people say if you are beginner - intermediate (first year to a few years) then it's definitely possible but it's a slow thing, hence why people do bulk/cuts for sort of faster results.