Is it possible to build muscle and strip fat in the same workout?

Hi Elly.

Looking at what they are doing I'd say physiologically it's too much volume for growth - it appears there would be interference and likely over-training in effect here.  That said, the principles of individuality and trainability would need to be considered - so things like training history, previous success with this type of training volume and individual strengths and weaknesses would need to be taken into account. 

Fundamentally though, without knowing the details of the individuals specifically, it would seem too much.  You could also "test and measure" looking at lean weight gain against fat loss for them.  To be accurate that would involve under-water weighing etc etc.  A less direct but likely reasonable method would be to consider whether they have recovered each time they lift and generally are they fatigued / moody / jaded a lot - are their weights going up.  This was the most tell-tale sign I saw with resistance training is that the loads lifted flattened off and the effort levels to complete the same volume of work (loads x sets within a timeframe) was higher.  The recovery time for hypertrophy is 72 hours minimum if you are going to failure / voluntary cessation (as the white coats call it).  So, periodising training as they have (cycling muscle groups within the week) will help but now with the short sharp full body sprint work you'll logically get interference from that fatigue.  Smart training is tweaking things to the get the most from the least - it seems they may be doing more than they need to to 'grow muscle' and 'trim fat'.  Maybe they should set goals, take a systematic approach / view, and look closely at what goes in the top end of the funnel.  Afterall, no need to sprint regularly if you haven't eaten the fat calories - and most nutritionists will sing the praises of avoiding 9 cals per gram of fat as much as possible when trying to lean and mean up.

Final note, growth response through hormonal channels tends to flatten off then crash after 35-45 mins so hypertrophy training in one sitting beyond that timeframe can prove counter-productive particularly for the moderately trained (ie those with less than 5 years of regular strength/hypertrophy training under their belt.  Over-reaching is likely in their current workouts given they go for 1hr plus and only target a couple of muscle groups at a time.  This multiple split training I've used with a number of clients and also athletes (who have a lot of training history) and it can work but generally I wouldn't prescribe more than 25-30mins of lifting in any case.  An example; bench press 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps (TUT of 40-60secs on a set) with 1:3 work rest ratio (so about 2-3mins between) 2:1:2 tempo = a block of work of 12-15mins.  Add 2 more sets of a shoulder exercise (remembering delts are a lot less mass than pecs), and a tricep exercise for one or two sets to failure and you've just 'toasted' chest, shoulders and triceps in 28-32 mins (8 working sets at 3-4 mins of work and rest). 

I haven't checked this all as I've just bunged it up to get the conversation started but hopefully this gives you some gris for the mill - happy training.

Hi Elly,

I am of the opinion that by following a hypertrophy workout with cardiovascular interval training you are going to negate all the hard work previously completed in the 1 hour prior, especially if their true number one goal is to put on muscle mass.

I think that it is greatly important to always focus on one goal at a time. By trying to do two things at once you will most likely get mediocre results at best. So if you want to get bigger, focus on hypertrophy, if you want to lose body fat then focus on fat reduction training. This is where planning ahead is important and using training blocks to establish what your focus will be for that particular month or however long you decide that block will be.

Just to build from what Steve briefly touched on with regards to nutrition; to gain maximum results it will be vital to make sure that they are all eating a ‘clean’ diet with appropriate macronutrient timings. Once this has been established you could possibly look at introducing the ‘carb cycling’ method. Without going into to much detail carb cycling is where you have low, moderate and high carb days, according to your training schedule (protein and fat intake remain stable throughout). For example you could have 2 high carb days, 3 moderate carb intake days and 2 low carb days. This method can help to ensure that you still gain muscle mass but don’t add any of the unwanted fat like you would in a traditional ‘bulking’ phase. With these guys (although I am unaware of their training history) it could potentially also result in that drop in body fat percentage that they are after as well.

Lastly, don’t forget to always mix up your training, generally after 6 workouts (depending on training experience) your body will have adapted to the training stimulus and will no longer continue to improve at the previous rate. This means that with your current 3 day training split the maximum amount of time you would want to spend with this workout would be 6 weeks.

The main thing that these guys do have going for them is that the obviously like to train hard, so as long a they keep that up, but train a little smarter I am certain the results will follow.