Guys… as much as it pains me to say this… you absolutely CANNOT turn fat into muscle.
Fat is fat. Muscle is muscle. They are two completely separate things and it’s physiologically impossible. That’s like saying you want to turn a banana in to a strawberry, it just can’t happen.
Fat is the storage of excess energy that will not go anywhere until you burn it off. Muscle is active tissue that burns calories around the clock, even when you sleep. Do you see the difference?
I know that some magazines and websites love to title their articles with things like “How to Turn Fat into Muscle Fast,” but they do this for the same reasons tabloids might post something like “Michael Jackson Came Back to Life and Ate a Tiger” – to sell more copies. It’s simply not true and you need to check their credentials before reading any more of their advice.
You can build muscle and you can also lose fat, but they are two different processes and both happen to be the result of eating clean and exercising.
The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn when working out. And once the fat is gone, your muscles will show through.
One thing to keep in mind is that building large amounts of muscle tissue and decreasing body fat are conflicting goals.
To build a significant amount of muscle you will need to take in extra calories so your body has the energy necessary to make tissue. But, to decrease body fat, you will need to burn more calories than you take in.
This is why many body builders choose to cycle their weight gain and weight loss into a “bulking” phase and a “cutting” phase. The bulking phase requires an increase in intensity and volume of weight training and cardio may be reduced. When cutting, the calories will be reduced, the intensity and volume of weight training will be reduced and cardio activity will be increased. This cycling can be more efficient when a total goal of increasing mass and decreasing body fat is trying to be achieved.
All that to say, if your personal trainer or anyone else tells you that it’s possible- please stop them right there and ask them for their certifications. Then please ditch them and find someone who will not lie to you.
