Put an end to wheel spinning!
Nothing great happens without compromise, including building a significant amount of muscle mass. If you desire to change your body composition in this way then understand that it will take considerable time, effort, and commitment. The truth is you’ll need to gain some body fat during the process to maximise your results.
Skeletal muscle mass is a hard-earned tissue, and in order to maximally accrue more of it you need to:
1.) Train with intelligence, intensity, and progressive overload on a consistent basis
2.) Be in a slight caloric surplus of ~100-200 calories per day for a consistent extended period of time
The reason for this is that building muscle mass is an energy-intensive and demanding process for the body. Therefore, you need to provide a stimulus (resistance training) as well as sufficient calories for the body to “get the message and get the job done”.
Unfortunately, it’s near impossible to build 100% lean mass with zero adipose tissue gain, however the ratio of the two can be greatly controlled with strategic training and nutrition protocols. By working alongside a coach, they can help you create a solid plan and timeline to make maximal progress and hold you accountable to executing the plan.
Overall, track your training, nutrition and lifestyle variables to the best of your ability and aim to gain 0.5-1.5% of your bodyweight per month. Doing so will put you in a prime position to maximally build muscle mass, positively change your body composition, and minimise fat gain. The key here is to not jump the gun early - dedicate an extended period of months or years, not weeks, to purposefully building yourself into a different person. Then, once you are confident that you have allocated sufficient time to this phase, you can consider purposefully commencing a diet where the focus will be fat loss and muscle retention.
The combination of being consistent and effortful with your training coincided with ample calories from a nutritious, high-protein diet can work wonders. Therefore, if you have a vision for how you want to look long-term, then learn to appreciate, accept, and trust the process of getting there.