Should I lose fat first or build muscle first?

Cut first if you have a lot of fat to lose or already carry decent muscle underneath it. Nikkiey explains that the order is to shed the fat, reverse your way back up, get comfortable where you are, and then shift into putting on lean muscle. A cut also reveals the muscle tone you already have. On another episode, one WarriorBabe coach says the best time to switch to build workouts is as you come out of a cut. That's when you're reversing and your calories are coming back up.

Build first if you don't have much to lose or you're skinny fat. Nikkiey suggests sitting at maintenance and slowly working into a surplus, which means eating more food. Expect the scale to barely move. It may stay about the same or drop a little, even as your body composition changes. She calls progress pictures essential at every stage because the scale doesn't show the whole picture. She also says more muscle helps you lose body fat in the long run. One coach adds that muscle is metabolically active tissue that contributes to your basal metabolic rate. Gaining it is slow at first, then snowballs.

The part most women aren't told is the timeline. Nikkiey recommends staying in a build for no less than six months. Depending on how much muscle you want, it can run a year, 18 months or even two years. If you're skinny fat, it can take a year to a year and a half before you really see the gains. You will look fluffier and put on some body fat along with the muscle. The work usually doesn't show until you come back down into a deficit. She calls building a mindset, and it isn't for everyone.

So if past attempts stalled, it may not be you. It may be that the phase didn't match your starting point, or it wasn't given enough time.