Ep 13: Losing Weight Without Losing Muscle

The last episode covered why gaining weight while training hard is an effective way to get lean by packing on muscle, increasing metabolism, and making it easier to lose fat later. Today we’re tackling the “losing fat” part of getting lean. If you haven’t listened to episode 12, go back and do that first. If you’re a newer lifter who is not extremely overweight, your best gains will come through hard strength training and eating at maintenance or in a slight surplus to improve your body composition. I recommend focusing on building muscle before you worry about losing fat. However, if you’re a late novice or intermediate lifter who has spent time in a building phase and is ready to “lean out” through a fat-loss phase, this episode is for you. After all, most of us want to maintain a healthy weight, and we can’t keep packing on muscle (along with some fat) forever. The body adapts, muscle-building slows down, and sometimes we need to “rev the engine” by taking a break, cutting some weight, and resetting ourselves for the next building phase. The challenge is losing weight at a reasonable pace while retaining as much of that hard-won muscle as possible through appropriate training and nutrition choices. Just as we want to maximize muscle size and growth while gaining weight, we want to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss while losing weight. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 02:39 - When to enter a weight-loss phase 03:57 - How fast you should lose weight 11:42 - Training and diet strategies to retain muscle 17:29 - Metabolic adaptation and "diet breaks" 21:58 - Biofeedback, especially as you get really lean 23:35 - Recent and current fat-loss phases RELATED LINKS: MacroFactor app for food logging and calculating expenditure (use discount code "WITSANDWEIGHTS") Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram