Hi there, I’m looking to start the gym again to increase my muscle and reduce body fat particularly around my stomach where I store this the most. I feel I have lost a lot of muscle growing up from restricting my intake poorly and my body just ends up holding onto the fat because it’s starving. So I really want to do this properly now!
Firstly, does anyone have any tips on how I can ensure I’m specifically reducing my body fat and NOT my muscle (I am aware you can’t spot target fat like doing crunches but I want to know if there is anything I can do to make sure I’m losing body fat when working out and through my diet).
My second question is around calorie deficit. How can I calculate a safe calorie deficit that is not overly restrictive and will ensure I don’t lose muscle? I did one of those body recomposition things at the gym and I’m wondering whether I can calculate my calorie deficit based off this? Do I need to eat my BMR and then go to the gym to be in a calorie deficit? I usually burn about 400 - 450 calories at the gym.
My results in case anyone wanted to know:
Weight: 55.3kg
Total Muscle Mass: 36.2kg (core 20.9kg, left arm and right arm 1.7kg, left leg 5.9kg, right leg 6kg)
Fat mass: 17.1kg (core 7.9kg, left and right arm 0.8kg, left and right leg 3.8kg)
In percentages this is 30.9% (core 46.2%, left and right arm 4.7%, left and right leg 22.2%)
38.2kg fat free
Visceral fat 2
Metabolic age 25 (I’m 23)
BMR: 1217 calories
BMI: 21.6
Any help would be much appreciated, I’ve googled this to death and still don’t get it so want real people with experience to help me out haha. Sorry if these questions are really dumb.
Firstly, does anyone have any tips on how I can ensure I’m specifically reducing my body fat and NOT my muscle (I am aware you can’t spot target fat like doing crunches but I want to know if there is anything I can do to make sure I’m losing body fat when working out and through my diet).
My second question is around calorie deficit. How can I calculate a safe calorie deficit that is not overly restrictive and will ensure I don’t lose muscle? I did one of those body recomposition things at the gym and I’m wondering whether I can calculate my calorie deficit based off this? Do I need to eat my BMR and then go to the gym to be in a calorie deficit? I usually burn about 400 - 450 calories at the gym.
My results in case anyone wanted to know:
Weight: 55.3kg
Total Muscle Mass: 36.2kg (core 20.9kg, left arm and right arm 1.7kg, left leg 5.9kg, right leg 6kg)
Fat mass: 17.1kg (core 7.9kg, left and right arm 0.8kg, left and right leg 3.8kg)
In percentages this is 30.9% (core 46.2%, left and right arm 4.7%, left and right leg 22.2%)
38.2kg fat free
Visceral fat 2
Metabolic age 25 (I’m 23)
BMR: 1217 calories
BMI: 21.6
Any help would be much appreciated, I’ve googled this to death and still don’t get it so want real people with experience to help me out haha. Sorry if these questions are really dumb.