 In the fitness community there is always a debate whether or not this this can be achieved. I often get active and fit people asking me the question, “I want to lose 20lbs of fat and gain 15lbs of muscle. How can I do this at the same time? Typically it’s men asking this question who are somewhat lean to average body fat (13-19%), they are muscular, and they have hit a plateau. They also tend to be stuck in between wanting to be leaner and wanting to be more muscular. Hence them wanting to do both at the same time. They don’t want to gain fat while building muscle which typically happens a little even with the best programs. Or they are afraid of losing muscle while getting leaner. A little muscle loss is common while losing body fat. Also, dehydration and lack of fuel can make you look and feel like you are losing muscle when you are not. This can change immediately if you were to have a healthy cheat day in which you will see your muscles fill out and strength increase. I write this for the athletic person seeking the secret “Gain 10lbs of muscle and loose 20lbs of fat in 2 months!” program that the magazines are always trying to sell.
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Many people already know the basics of this exercise, but they often lack a few key points in their set up before and during the first rep. Also, proper loading of the dumbbells is very important especially as you start to lift heavier. For some, this information will make all the difference in their chest workouts. This blog is for those:
 “If you don’t touch the bar to your chest your reps don’t count!” Or “You are not doing a REAL bench press”
These are the old high school weight room rules and does not apply any more. Sure, if you are a powerlifter you must touch the bar to your chest to make the lift in competition. Most of us working out in the gym are not powerlifters and have much different goals. Touching the bar to your chest can be very rough on the shoulders especially if you lack the range of motion. Many people can’t even use the bench press because it bothers their shoulders let alone bring it all the way to their end range of motion with heavy weight.  For those of us who like to “bulk” and “cut”, it is now time to bulk or as I rather call it, do a muscle building phase. There has been some backlash on this method lately for good reason. A “bulking” phase does not mean eat and drink everything in sight. That is not the right way to build muscle and it actually makes it harder to lose fat come time for the “cutting” phase. I’m also convinced it makes problem areas more problematic. Believe me, I know too well.
 Periodization in a Nutshell
Periodization is an essential part of your program design. Without it, you will quickly plateau in your ability to build muscle and strength. Periodization is a strategically designed workout plan for a number of weeks and/or months that includes specific acute variables. These variables consist of reps, sets, tempo, rest, intensity, overall training volume, and structure of your workouts. They may also include changes in exercises throughout the weeks and months. A Simple Plan to Build Muscle With undulating periodization for the purpose of hypertrophy you alternate between volume and intensity throughout a specific time frame. Here we will alternate every 2 weeks. This differs from linear periodization where volume decreases and intensity increases over time. This is not to say undulating is better than linear periodization in all instances.  Simple and Intense
I have always been a huge fan of using “simple” exercises and modifying the acute variables to achieve a client’s goals. These are your “basic” squats, rows, deadlifts, presses, pullups, curls, and tricep extensions. They are demanding exercises that burn calories, build muscle, stimulate a favorable hormonal response, and many are complex exercises to master. Exercises like the squat and deadlift can take years for many people to get comfortable with, so they are not as “simple” as many think. They may not look as fancy and “complex” as say a Turkish Get Up, but I guarantee you will be much more exhausted after a hard leg day that includes big lifts like squats than a kettle bell workout. This is not to say I don’t use kettlebells or “functional” exercises in my programs. I quite frequently include them, but 50-90% of the exercises I choose for my clients are the basic tried and true ones. Most people have the same needs when it comes to strengthening back muscles. These muscles are typically weak compared to the muscles on the front side of our upper body. This is caused by daily activities that involve a hunched forward position (classic computer posture and almost any seated posture). In addition to consistent poor posture, most of us rarely do a considerable amount of pulling on a regular basis. This calls for the need to implement a back intensive program to your normal workout. The commonly weak back muscles include the rhomboids, as well as the middle and lower trapezius. In general these muscles are responsible for keeping your shoulders back, down, and/or shoulder blades in proper position. This workout is focused around these muscles to help you become more proportional, symmetric, and have a confident posture. Exercises and Rationale Pullups Pullups are one of the best exercises because they are very demanding and make for a great general upper body exercise. The latissimus dorsi or “lats“ is the main muscle being worked here. Having strong lats is important, but many people tend to be tight in this muscle. One exercise targeting the lats is enough for most people to keep them strong, while not over working them to where they can become tight. Be sure to stretch your lats as most people are unaware how overly tight they are in this muscle. Muscle gain does not always come automatically with simply lifting weights. If you are a novice, any lifting will result in muscle gain, but after weeks of training your body will adapt and muscle gain will cease. Over the last 10 years of training various physiques for gaining muscle, I have decided these are the top 5 points you must cover.  #1 Hypertrophy workouts
Hypertrophy means growth in size. In our case, we are interested in muscle hypertrophy which specifically means growth in muscle cell size. The easiest way to define hypertrophy workouts is to lift from a 6 to 12 rep range or with sets that last 20 to 70 seconds. The latter is actually more important because it is time under tension that dictates which muscle fibers are predominantly worked. The muscle fibers we are primarily interested in are type IIa fibers. They are fast twitch muscle fibers that grow in size after a hard workout. Other fibers will not grow in size as much and since gaining muscle is our goal, you should stick to the 6 to 12 rep range. #2 Choose lifts that are neurologically demanding Simply put, the harder the lift, the more muscle you will gain. Your workouts should be centered around deadlifts, squats, bench presses, pull-ups, and rows. These are all very neurologically demanding exercises and take a considerable amount of effort. The intense nature of these exercises will cause a greater increase in growth hormone and testosterone, both powerful hormones that increase muscle mass. Periodization - An organized approach to training that involves progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period of time. (1)
While looking up references on this subject, I found many articles and research pertaining to athletes and their periodized training programs. It is absolutely crucial for an athlete to have, but a periodized weight training program is very beneficial to the common gym goer as well. Most of us are not athletes. We are simply trying to lose body fat, gain strength, endurance, and muscle so we feel healthier in our daily lives. This blog is meant for us, the common exercisers at the gym. As stated in part 1 and part 2 of this blog series, there is a systematic process when implementing training phases. There is a common outline for the progression of phases, but this may be modified based upon the client: Basic Strength, Movement, and Stability -->Muscular Endurance -->Hypertrophy -->Maximal Strength -->Power A progressive weight training routine with multiple phases is necessary to achieve continuous results. As stated in Part 1, the acute training variables determine a training phase. Here are the basic phases that make up a periodized weight training program, starting from the least to most advanced phases:  Stability · Exercises are chosen to challenge joint stability, balance, and/or core. · Rep range: 12-15 · Sets per exercise: 2-3 · Tempo: Slow with pauses (ex. 3/2/1) · Exercises per muscle group: 1-2 · Rest time: 30-60 sec. · Usually done in Whole body or Upper/Lower body workouts  Muscular Endurance
· Choice of exercises can vary from whole body to isolated lifts · Rep range: 12-15, sometimes up to 20 · Sets per exercise: 2-3 · Tempo: Slow with pauses (ex. 3/2/1) · Exercises per muscle group: 1-2 · Rest time: 30-60 sec. · Usually done in Whole body or Upper/Lower body workouts |