Exercise Physiologist
I think the first thing to appreciate is the face that we are all born with a certain somatotype (body shape) & regardless of training, we only have a certain range within we can manipulate our form depending on our somatotype. That is, a very stocky, muscular individual will certainly be able to decrease fat mass through proper training & nutrition, but they will never look like an African marathon runner.
However, the ability to manipulate form within the limitations of your natural somatotype depends on how you plan & implement a well thought our regimen of resistance training & nutrition. In term sof the lalter, don't just focus on the total caloric intake. Also consider the type of calories & the timing of their ingestion. Some recent work in this area has suggested that as long as the nutrition around training is optimal, you can be in caloric deficit & still increase lean muscle mass. This has to do with the stimulation fo the MTOR pathway that leads to protein symthesis after a weight training session.
When putting together your training program consider the training variables of exercise type, exercise order, tempo (speed of movement), volume (sets & reps), recovery (between sets & exercises) & the big one…intensity. Hypertrophy is best achieved between 65-85% of 1 rep max. Remember growth hormone is up-regulated when lactate levels are high so the recovery between sets needs to be minimal.
The American College of Sports Medicine release position stands & the one on resistance training guidelines for healthy young adults might be worth a look.
Good luck,
Brad
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