The 6 keys to burning fat without losing muscle

Do you want to transform your physique now that summer is approaching?

Many people want to have a more defined physique or a lower percentage of subcutaneous fat. 

Among the strategies that can be used to carry out this process, there are many ways to burn fat without losing muscle that are not as risky to your health and can also help you follow a more adherent and sustainable process in the long term.

In this article, I will explain the key steps you should follow if you want to achieve that physique and, above all, most importantly, make it sustainable over time without causing physical or psychological health problems that could lead you to give up and fail in your attempt.

1. Prioritize strength training

Without a doubt, this is a fundamental pillar that everyone who wants to undertake a muscle-definition phase should include in their daily routine. 

Numerous scientific studies highlight the benefits of strength training, not only for preserving muscle mass, but also for bone and hormonal health and injury prevention.

This should be adapted to each of you and your fitness level so that it provides the appropriate stimulus needed to preserve this muscle mass during a calorie deficit—in other words, consuming slightly fewer calories than your body needs so that you lose fat. With strength training, you can burn fat without losing muscle.

2. Stay active 

We often underestimate how many calories we burn by taking several steps a day or going for one long walk. In fact, this has a name: NEAT. 

This refers to any activity you do outside the scheduled training itself, such as going for a walk, playing padel with friends, hiking in the mountains, cleaning the house… and many people may even have high daily NEAT demands because of their work, as is the case in the hospitality industry.

This leads us to burn many calories and more easily create a calorie deficit, which we will discuss later, allowing you to gradually reduce your body fat.

3. Consume enough protein

We know that nowadays you do not need an excessive amount of protein to maintain muscle mass, or even to increase it. But this does not mean you should not pay attention to it.

In reality, the foundation of your diet should be a Mediterranean eating pattern, with sufficient fiber and vitamins and minerals from fruit, legumes, vegetables, whole grains… but within this selection of foods, it is important to meet your daily protein minimums through meat, fish, plant-based proteins, dairy, or even protein supplements such as those available on our website. 

4. Do not eliminate carbohydrates or fats

Indeed, as you read, this is a very common practice among people who want to reduce their body fat percentage. The first thing they do is think about how much less they need to eat to reach their goals.

And that is great, but it is not everything. In addition to maintaining a calorie deficit of 10–20% of your maintenance calories and consuming an adequate amount of protein, you must bear in mind that carbohydrates are your main fuel for having energy during the activities you perform.

They play a fundamental role in certain hormones, such as thyroid hormones, which, among many other factors, regulate your metabolism. 

Therefore, you must make sure not to cut these out, as doing so can considerably increase the risk of losing muscle mass, no matter how much protein you consume.

5. Make sure you get enough good-quality sleep

This is something we all know, but we do not give it enough importance until the time comes when you feel that your fat loss has stalled.

It is very common to see people who, no matter how much of a calorie deficit they create or how much cardio they do, cannot reduce their body fat enough. When your body is exhausted, certain hormones such as cortisol will be highly present, making fat accumulation easier and fat loss more difficult.

On the other hand, it has been observed that people who get lower-quality and insufficient sleep tend to have higher levels of visceral fat, which is harmful to health.

Give it the importance it deserves, try to adopt good sleep hygiene habits, and if that doesn’t help, try a melatonin supplement.

6. Don’t do endless cardio sessions

This is a very common issue: seeing people in the gym doing endless hours of cardio.

Doing cardio is great, and the reality is that it is very healthy and advisable for your cardiovascular health. But if your goal, in addition to this, is to preserve or increase your muscle mass during a body recomposition phase, you must dedicate time to strength training.

You can include small amounts of cardio each week, spaced apart from strength training so that it does not cause interference. Try to always do it after strength training, keeping the intensity relatively low and avoiding long durations so as not to compromise your neuromuscular recovery. Excessive cardio will not help you burn fat without losing muscle.

Conclusions

Carrying out a fat-loss process may seem as simple as cutting carbohydrates and adding endless hours of cardio, but that is not the reality. You have to pay close attention to other factors and be patient over time if you want to optimize this stage, which, when it ends, will ensure a sustainable result over time without rebound effects. You need to consider all the aspects and recommendations we propose so that you can burn fat without losing muscle.

References:

1. Schoenfeld, B. J., & Aragon, A. A. (2018). How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Burn fat without losing muscle
   
2. Hall, K. D., & Guo, J. (2017). Obesity energetics: body weight regulation and the effects of diet composition. Gastroenterology
3. Thompson, W. R., Gordon, N. F., & Pescatello, L. S. (2010). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (8th ed.). American College of Sports Medicine
4. Knutson, K. L. (2007). Impact of sleep and sleep loss on glucose homeostasis and appetite regulation. Sleep Medicine Clinics, 2(2), 187–197.6.
5. Levine, J. A. (2007). Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): environment and biology. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 292(2), E396–E399.
6. Katsanos, C. S., & Churchward-Venne, T. A. (2021). Optimizing dietary protein for healthy aging and weight management. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8, 738505. Burn fat without losing muscle
7. Wolfe, R. R. (2022). The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 116(6), 1248–1255. Burn fat without losing muscle
8. Cespedes Feliciano, E. M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Quante, M., Redline, S., Oken, E., & Taveras, E. M. (2021). Sleep duration and quality and body composition changes in adults: A prospective cohort study. Obesity, 29(1), 127–135.