One of the most cherished goals people pursue when entering the world of fitness is to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. However, despite the many tricks circulating online that promise to help achieve it, personal trainer Martín Giacchetta has revealed in an interview for THE OBJECTIVE the reality behind it. Indeed, achieving both at once is not a simple process; in fact, if you truly want to stay healthy and improve physically, Martín makes one thing clear: you should not obsess over the number on the scale, but rather understand how your body works.
You Should Not Focus Solely on the Scale
When people aim to achieve physical changes related to weight loss, the first thing they constantly check is the scale, but this is an error, since the weight displayed does not necessarily represent reality. Muscle has a higher density than fat, which means it occupies less space but weighs more.
Giacchetta clarifies this with a very practical example: if a person manages to gain three kilograms of muscle and, at the same time, loses three kilograms of fat, their total weight on the scale will remain exactly the same. Therefore, the trainer emphasizes that what truly matters is knowing what your body is made of and not obsessing over a specific number. As Martín himself notes: “Imagine, a person who gains 3 kilograms of muscle, hopefully, and loses 3 kilograms of fat. The weight remains the same; the issue is what you are made of”.
The Foundations for Getting in Shape
To achieve real goals that fit your body and genuinely improve your health, Giacchetta notes that it is essential to follow a series of fundamental requirements in your daily routine.
1. Stop being a “sedentary who goes to the gym”
To avoid becoming what Martín Giacchetta calls a “sedentary who goes to the gym”, it isn’t enough to train 40 minutes and sit the rest of the day. What truly matters is staying active at all times by incorporating simple, easy habits into your daily routine, such as walking and strolling whenever possible, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or carrying grocery bags by hand to keep the body moving.
2. You should train the whole body
To be truly fit, there are four types of exercises you should include in your routine: strength to preserve the muscles and cardio to care for the heart; in addition to improving endurance, working on mobility to move without stiffness and practicing flexibility to keep joints healthy and prevent injuries.
Do What You Don’t Like to Do
Meeting all of these points isn’t always easy, even for professionals. Martín himself acknowledges that he sometimes forgets to stretch, focusing only on what excites him the most. On this, he shares a piece of advice that shaped him in his early days: “A great trainer once told me: ‘Martín, all you need is what you don’t like doing.’ And it’s true—the things we need most are the things we don’t like doing.”
