Here’s A 30 Day Lose Fat & Gain Muscle Workout And Diet Plan That Actually Makes Sense
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a different lose fat gain muscle workout plan being promoted. Unfortunately, it’s quite rare that I come across one actually works for me. It can be extremely difficult to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time because these are basically complete opposites.
In order to lose fat you need to focus on a calorie deficit. In order to gain muscle you need to make sure you’re taking in a surplus of calories. Do you see where this is going? Guess what happens if you try to do both at the same time — you stay right where you are!
In the past I have had some good success in doing a bulking up workout and diet plan for 3 weeks. For the first week I would concentrate on a low calorie diet while performing 3-4 strength training and HIIT sessions. After that first week I would move straight into the bulking phase while eating a surplus of calories and training hard for 2 weeks. This can work well for gaining mass. In fact, this 30 day, lose fat gain muscle workout is based off of a similar idea but I like it even better!
An Approach To Lose Fat & Gain Muscle
Before we get too far I think I better put up a disclaimer. I’m going to use the term “at the same time” a little loosely here. The truth is yes, you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time but your “gains” and/or “loses” are not going to be nearly as significant as if you were focusing all of your effort on just one goal. The problem with that is there are many out there who need to do both.
By committing to this 30 day “lose fat gain muscle” workout plan you can get the best of both worlds in only one month. Of course, you can follow this approach for longer if you need, but it’s a bit chaotic.
How You Can Lose Fat And Gain Muscle
A big problem with the traditional bulk/cut phase is that you pack on too much body fat and you don’t look all that great as you go through the stages. Your skin is either lagging behind during the cutting phases or your fat levels are too high during the bulking phases.
You never really look good until you are completely done and at your goal weight for some time.
Since you will most-likely be spinning your wheels if you try to lose fat while at the same time gain muscle, here is a workout and diet plan to get the best results in 30 days.
What makes this plan work is that you are not going to dilute your efforts in an attempt to accomplish both goals in the same workout, same day or even in the same week. To make the quickest gains (and losses) in the least amount of time, you’ll be 100% focused on one aspect at a time.
The workout and diet plan will consist of 5 days of losing fat alternated with 5 days of gaining muscle.
- Days 1-5 = Lose Fat
- Days 6-10 = Gain Muscle
- Days 11-15 = Lose Fat
- Days 16-20= Gain Muscle
- Days 21-25 = Lose Fat
- Days 26-30 = Gain Muscle
This may seem like a hectic schedule but that is actually one of the factors that makes this so effective.
Have you ever noticed that after not working out or watching your diet for a long period of time and then moving straight into a hardcore & focused program you get great results fast? That is because your body is in shock. By continually alternating your focus every 5 days you eliminate the body’s ability to adapt to one program. This is what makes both the gains and the losses as great as possible.
Yes, you could focus on a muscle gain phase for 2 weeks and then switch it up to a fat loss phase for the next 2 weeks and get good results. But, you’ll get even better results in the same amount of time by changing it up even more.
The Diet & Workout To Lose Fat
During the fat loss stage, diet is very important. In the end, you want to create a calorie deficit with your diet and compliment that with your exercise. I have found a few diets that work for me, but as long as you focus on eating quality foods and watch your proportions you should be fine.
Second to making sure that your diet is in check is the actual workout you’ll be doing. I recommend the following strength training routine during this phase. Generally, these are the types of workouts that create the greatest muscle definition.
The “lose fat phase” workout
- Day 1 – Chest / Back / Cardio
- Day 2 – Arms / Shoulders / Abs / Cardio
- Day 3 – Cardio
- Day 4 – Chest / Back / Arms / Shoulders / Cardio
- Day 5 – Rest
Each of these workouts should contain 2 different exercises for each muscle group. You should do 4-5 sets of 4-5 reps for each exercise and rest for 1-2 minutes between each set.
These are going to be fairly brief workouts in which you will follow the resistance training above with an HIIT cardio session like I describe in another article about high intensity interval training. You should also do HIIT for day 3.
The Diet & Workout To Gain Muscle
As with the fat loss stage, during the muscle gain stage, diet is very important. On the opposite end of the spectrum though, these 5 days you need to eat quite a bit of food. Really!
This is not a green light to stuff your face with anything and everything you see, but you do not need to be overly concerned about what you are eating. Obviously, candy, potato chips, french fries and so on should not make up a large (or even medium or small) percentage of your diet, but you can get away with enjoying them sporadically. Focus on lean meats, quality carbs, fruits and a lot of vegetables.
Perhaps even more important than diet in this phase is the workout. In order to transfer your lose fat gain muscle plan from the lose fat stage to the gain muscle stage you need to eat and lift differently. Here is a solid approach to pack on quality muscle mass during this phase.
The “gain muscle phase” workout
- Day 1 – Chest / Triceps / Shoulders
- Day 2 – Back / Biceps / Abs
- Day 3 – Cardio (HIIT)
- Day 4 – Chest / Triceps / Back / Biceps / Legs
- Day 5 – Rest
Each of these workouts should also contain 2 exercises for each muscle group. To gain muscle, you need to do a higher volume of reps than when training for definition. I like to do 4-5 sets of 12-15 reps and rest only 30-45 seconds between each set.
I would categorize “legs” as an optional muscle group to work. Since you’re doing quite a bit of HIIT you want to be careful to avoid over-training them. Normally I wouldn’t even suggest doing direct leg work if you’re incorporating HIIT into your routine but when it comes to gaining muscle weight, legs are a great place to pack on the pounds.
Wrapping This Up
In the end I feel that this is one of the better lose fat gain muscle workout plans out there. I’m not going to say that I think you’ll gain more muscle or lose more fat than by focusing on just one aspect, but when it comes to a 30 day period, you should see some great results.
Generally, I recommend separating out your training into different phases like this Visual Impact Muscle Building review outlines. This program does a great job at focusing on building muscle mass (phase 1), still adding size but also density to the muscle (phase 2), and then really sharpening the muscle (phase 3). Overall, that’s going to bring you better results but it does take a while longer to achieve.
I’m all about giving credit where credit is due, so I’d just like to say that I did get the “5 day” concept from one of Nick Nilsson’s eBooks … I did, however, make some modifications as I saw fit. He’s got quite a few good books out and he really thinks out-of-the-box.
This lose fat gain muscle approach is a bit of an overview on a concept, but the main idea and basis for this plan is what really stands out to me. By alternating every 5 days for 30 days straight, you can ultimately lose fat and build muscle at the same time.
For a good workout routine to build muscle, checkout my bulking up workout routine that you can integrate into this 5 days on / 5 days off workout. In the bulking up routine I recommended 8 sets of 5 reps but you can use those exercises and apply the 5 sets of 12 reps as I outlined here. Either way you’ll be able to build muscle. The 8 sets of 5 reps is more geared towards building a little more solid muscle but not quite as large of muscles.
Troy - Cube.Dweller.Fitness
June 30, 2011 @ 7:55 am
Kevin,
Nice write-up. The plan, while a bit hectic, adds variety and focused cycling of both exercise and fuel. PERFECT!
Too often my schedule gets in my way and my workout … adapts. I still make sure to fit exercise in despite hectic schedules, but often they aren’t as planned out as they could be.
You mentioned two different types of phasing: 2 phases – lean/gain, or 3 phase – build/dense/sharpen.
Which do you prefer?
-Troy
Kevin
June 30, 2011 @ 8:05 am
Hey Troy,
Personally I really like phase 2 of Visual Impact because it is focused on gaining muscle & density (definition). Building pure muscle density is fun too though because you get to really focus on heavier weights and you feel stronger — which you usually are after the workout.
Aviral
July 2, 2011 @ 12:03 am
Hi Kevin,i also am a big fan of nick..love his ideas..
But as i read in your post, u have done opposite workouts for what he mentioned…
I mean during fat loss, u have gone with heavy lifting and resting for 1-2 min while he prefers high volume training…and the similar case for bulking phase..
Also,how many calories do u consume during the low cal and high cal phase,1300 and 2500 respectively or something else according to your weight..like 500 less calories than maintenance and 500 cal more than maintenance..
thanks a lot for your answers 😉
Kevin
July 22, 2011 @ 1:40 pm
I’m not saying my way works and his doesn’t … I just prefer more of a strength training / muscle definition approach during the weight loss phase. For me, the high volume training packs on size and not so much definition.
I think that 500 calories +/- is a good place to start but you should definitely play with those numbers a bit. I usually find that I can drop weight a lot quicker than I can gain weight so I eat quite a bit more than 500+ for my bulking phases and I usually eat close to 500- for cutting. Sometimes even more of a deficit I think.
I really don’t count calories so it’s hard to say for sure. I generally follow some of the Eat Stop Eat methods along with The Diet Solution as my favorite diets and just make sure to eat high quality food if I’m really trying to tone up.
Sati
August 10, 2011 @ 1:32 pm
When you say, “You should do 4-5 sets of 4-5 reps for each exercise and rest for 1-2 minutes between each rep.”
Do you mean rest between sets, not reps?
Kevin
August 10, 2011 @ 2:34 pm
YES! Thanks for catching that. I fixed it on the page … that’d be one long workout, huh. Thanks!
Sati
August 12, 2011 @ 3:47 pm
Thanks! One more question, I know you say 2 exercises per muscle group, but how much variety between days?
For instance, if I chose Bench Press and Dips for Chest, should I do that for Day 1 and 4 for both lose/gain weeks?
Kevin
August 17, 2011 @ 2:57 pm
I personally would probably stick to the same two exercises for about a month and then depending on how my muscles felt and developed I would change maybe one or both after that.
Also, I realize that you were just giving an example, but I would probably do incline dumbbell press or flys along with flat bench … save the dips for your triceps since dips target your lower pec and tricep.
Checkout this post on how to get pecs … I really recommend concentrating more so on your upper pecs than your lower pecs.
Chris
August 13, 2011 @ 12:00 pm
Can this workout routine be kept up for more than 30 days by just staying consistent with the pattern you described? I’m looking to lose weight and get leaner while building muscle to just look better overall. Just wondering if this program would still be recommended? Thanks!
Kevin
August 17, 2011 @ 3:01 pm
I don’t really see any reason that you couldn’t do this for more than one cycle …
If you’re planning on working out consistently and for more than 30 days to meet your goals (which I obviously endorse) I would definitely recommend the Visual Impact workout.
It’s designed to help you add muscle size and then takes you though the steps to lose fat and get defined. You can tailor it to your needs to start at any of the phases you’d like and overall your results will be better going through this whole program than by doing this lose fat gain muscle program continuously.
Tim @ Behind The Workout
October 13, 2011 @ 7:29 pm
Hey Kevin,
What do you think of carb cycling? Low carbs on rest days, high carbs on your most intensive workout sessions (eg back day and leg day), med carbs on other workout sessions
Michael @ somebodylied.com
January 4, 2012 @ 5:10 pm
Excellent post, I know a lot of people search for this, and it is a great way to achieve the objective of losing fat & gaining muscle. I am going to be releasing this post soon on my site, using your 30 day plan, with a few modifications. I will of course mention that you pioneered this idea as other sites I looked at with this goal plain sucked. Great site btw.
Kevin
January 5, 2012 @ 8:33 am
Thanks Michael … looking forward to reading your tweaks. To be fair, I didn’t pioneer this method either. I got it from one of Nick Nilsson’s ebooks and then did my tweaking to it 😀
Michael @ somebodylied.com
January 7, 2012 @ 3:26 am
oh ok, yeah I usually like to test things out to see their legitimacy before I release posts. So im gonna take some measurements today, and start it on monday, so will be releasing it sometime in february, seriously your site has some good content man, keep working hard.
Jen
July 27, 2012 @ 9:15 pm
Kevin,
I am overweight and out of shape, and in case my name didn’t tip you off, a girl. This program sounds great because, while weight loss is a goal for me, I don’t want to wait until after I lose the fat to build some muscle. Is this an appropriate system for me or does gender make a difference?
Dewayne
July 30, 2012 @ 9:39 am
Just looking for tips on how to combine this 30 day program with the visual impact cardio
Daniel
August 16, 2012 @ 1:00 pm
Kevin,
Whats the recommended rest period time after each rep? Also, for the chest worksouts, im really trying to lose my “man boobs” the are not as bad as you would think lol…But should the cardio help me loose them if i also do lower pec work outs? thanks!
Matthew Freer
September 11, 2012 @ 4:56 pm
i may not of read the part where it said to rest but its 1-5, 6-10 does that mean i do not take rest? and also if you have a workout schedule for what 2 exercises i am doing say on the fat loss day chest and others that would be great. Because i notice if i am doing 2 exercises i am not hitting incline, flat, decline and also chest fly’s, am i focusing on flat?
Mike
October 17, 2012 @ 9:59 am
Kevin,
I really like your post. It’s a simple idea, I’ve been lifting for a while, but I have some love handles that I can’t seem to get rid of. I will be trying your “Lose Fat Gain Muscle” workout schedule for the next 30 days. I’m curious if you recommend any supplements during this workout, or do you recommend dieting only?
Thomas
January 7, 2013 @ 1:04 pm
I find your routine very effective, and easy to slip into my work schedule. However, I find weights pull my muscles, causing them to sore throughout the next day. Instead, I use heavy cartons of milk/juice and tins as a substitute. Recently, I have tried to find ways to loose weight on my thighs and stomach and build some muscle, but I have either lost track of my progress, not stick to the diet or simply failed to loose any weight. After work, I have a couple of hours spare, in which I use to workout. I look forward in trying your ‘Lose fat Gain Muscle’ workout regime! If you have any ideas, on how to lose weight with fat burning foods (that aren’t too crunchy… because of my teeth!) and easy, yet effective exercises that I could use to lose some weight.
Thank You,
Yours, Thomas 🙂
Brad
April 15, 2013 @ 11:26 am
Kevin,
On the lose fat days with less sets and reps, what size weights to you use for the lose fat versus gain muscle. for example do you use a lighter weight during the lose fat phase?
Marcin
April 16, 2013 @ 7:35 am
Kevin,
In the gain muscle phase, can I use the same routine as in lose fat phase but with more raps?
Thanks,
Marcin.