How can I maximize muscle gain and fat loss in 2 weeks?

Adding muscle while losing body fat over such a short period of time is challenging. I will share a regimen that will provide the best opportunity to perform this nearly impossible task. The need for a positive energy balance (excess calories) to be consumed while performing a resistance training regimen to gain muscle, versus a negative energy balance (negative calories) necessary to lose body fat is contradictory. The best way to attempt this feat would be to first establish your resting metabolic rate as accurately as possible. You should perform total body resistance training 2 to 3 times per week while adding high Intensity (high heart rate) interval type training, also 2 to 3 times per week. Consume a clean diet consisting of Proteins (get all the essential amino acids) from meats that are from grass-fed beef, free-range or pasture raised chicken, pastured pork, and wild-caught seafood sources, and various (non-soy) plant sources. Protein as a percentage of calories should reach the 20 to 25% range. Understand that antibiotics, hormones, other chemical residues, and excessive omega-6 fatty acid consumption from consuming corn raised animals will handicap your cellular machinery and make this short duration goal impossible. Consume plenty of organic fruits and vegetables with the emphasis on non-starchy, low sugar content vegetables. Emphasize healthy fats like grass-fed butter and ghee, and oils like olive, coconut, and avocado oils. High-quality supplementation is also a priority. This is the tactic that may trick your body into gaining a little muscle and losing a little fat in a shortened time frame. Consume 200 to 300 calories in excess of your metabolic rate for 2 days alternated with a 300 to 400 caloric deficit for 2 days. Start with the deficit days. The reason for cutting calories for only 2 days is that your body will not “catch on” to the caloric deficit and go into starvation simulation during such a short duration. You will likely have to experiment with nutritional intake for weeks or months to get it right. If accomplished correctly, over a 2-week period, muscle gain will be measured in grams and fat loss in perhaps a pound and some ounces. Use body fat analysis to check your results, if successful you still may weigh about the same. Another caution is that the body fat calculation will produce a percentage that will probably not be within the margin of testing error for a 2-week time frame. Extend this regimen for 2 to 3 months and near magical results will become apparent.

Wayne Coolidge Jr., M.Ed. is a scholar-practitioner, author, and speaker. He owns Healthy Dynamic Living, an innovative health promotion consulting firm.