Lose Weight Build Muscle
"The Secrets The Pros Use To Lose Weight
Build
Muscle And Get On With Their
Lives"
As a personal trainer, I'm often asked if it's
actually possible to lose weight build muscle at the same
time.
Instead of simply rehashing the same rehearsed answer that I usually give, I'm going to up the ante a bit and discuss whether or not it's possible to lose weight build muscle and still make time for your life outside of the gym!
To answer the first part of the question...it is possible to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, but it involves a bit of creativity on your part.
|
Do You Know... The 5 Secrets To
Building More
|
While building muscle and losing weight at the same time can be broken down into a simple repeatable process...it can be anything but easy!
In order to build lean muscle mass, your body will need an
excess of energy (calories). In order to lose body fat, your
body needs to consume fewer calories than it burns throughout
the day.
|
If you attempt to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, your progress in either direction will be so slow that you may give up before ever achieving your fat loss muscle gain goals! |
In order to understand how this works, you'll need a quick explanation of Lean Body Mass and how (LBM) relates to overall body weight.
Lean body mass is composed of everything in your body except for fat. Therefore, LBM is the combined weight of muscle tissue, intestinal bulk, water and blood weight, bone weight and the like. The important thing to understand here is that while LBM is not fat, it's not necessarily muscle mass either.
The other important concept to take note of, is the relationship between lean muscle mass and body fat.
Generally speaking, it takes more energy (calories) to maintain 1 lb of lean muscle mass than it takes to maintain the same pound of body fat.
What this means to those of you who's goals are to lose
weight build muscle and still maintain a "normal" everyday
life, is that if you continue to eat the same amount of
calories, increasing your lean muscle mass will directly lower
your overall body fat level.
|
In order to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, a balance between aerobic and strength training exercises is important. Most importantly...take the time to find something you like doing, and do it every day! |
What this means to those of you who are trying to lose weight build muscle and get into great shape, is that there's a high likelihood that as you begin to gain muscle, you will also begin to lose weight in the form of excess body fat.
The only real exceptions to this rule are:
1. You're already in great shape without an excess of body fat.
If this is the case, great!
Focus on increasing your lean muscle mass by making small adjustments to your calorie intake. Keep track of what you are changing and how it's working for you.
The down side to this situation...if you really want to call it a downside!
Is that you will not be able to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. If you are in this category any increase in your lean muscle mass will also trigger an increase in your overall body weight. (Is this really such a bad thing?)
or...
2. You modify your dietary intake as you increase your lean muscle mass.
If you over compensate for the increased metabolic rate that building muscle brings by overeating, you will be canceling out the fat loss benefit of this change.
Remember the relationship between building muscle and losing
body fat that we discussed earlier?
|
In order to build muscle, you will need to eat enough calories to allow for muscle growth! Regardless of what anyone tells you, do not believe that you can gain muscle without consuming the right nutrients in the right amounts! |
Now for the good stuff...
Now that you know it's actually possible to lose weight build muscle mass and get into amazing shape at the same time, you may be wondering how to get it done with minimal impact on your life. This is where the rubber meets the road.
I speak from personal experience when I say that anyone can follow a fat loss muscle gain diet and body building weight training program for a predefined period of time.
Even those of you who are less than motivated can pull it together for 4 - 12 weeks...right?
My question is this...
What happens after the time is up?
Are you going to continue to train as you did during your transformation?
I doubt it!
Without the structure of a well designed weight loss muscle
gain program, it becomes very difficult to do the things that
brought you the success in the first place.
|
In addition to adding calories to your diet, omega-3 fats can to help your body produce testosterone, the hormone needed for lean muscle gain. Adding omega-3 fat to your daily diet can also help you build muscle lose weight and get into unbelievable shape without having to eat mass quantities of food all day long. |
In order to overcome this muscle building paradox, you'll need to approach the whole thing differently.
Instead of thinking in terms of simply following a "muscle gain program" or "muscle gain routine" with a definite end in sight, you need to begin thinking of your goals to lose weight build muscle and still live a normal life, in terms of...
Permanent Lifestyle
Change
No doubt about it...in order to lose weight build muscle mass at the same time, you'll need to have a certain level of discipline and control over your immediate desires.
That is the truth about building muscle and losing weight. Anyone who tries to tell you differently, is being less than honest.
The way I see it, this level of self sacrifice and self mastery is what also makes the art of building muscle so rewarding.
It allows you to put yourself to the test and see what you're made of. When you put it all together to achieve your muscle building goals, it's almost sort of a spiritual process.
After you do this once, you begin to realize that there's nothing in this world that you can't accomplish if you want it bad enough!
So before you jump into the fire and plan out your next muscle gain training plan, think ahead to the rest of your life and ask yourself the question...
"How can I apply this principle to my life so that I cause the least amount of disturbance to the things that are most important to me?"
Taking the time to answer this one question as it relates to your particular circumstance, is the key to not only sustained muscle growth, but also the key to living a happier more fulfilling life!
From Lose Weight Build Muscle To Build Muscle And Burn
Fat
Back
To The Gain Muscle Home Page