Build muscle and burn fat - Building muscle and burning fat at the same time
Building muscle and burning fat is a highly debated topic in the world of weightlifting and fitness. Many believe that building muscle and burning fat at the same time is purely a myth while others will tell you the exact opposite. The truth of the matter is that both arguements are partially right and let me explain why. Building muscle and burning fat at the same time is perfectly do-able to the untrained athlete. For example, an out of shape 180 pounds 21 year old male is likely to have the ability to build muscle and burn fat at the same time if placed on a well structured, calorie controlled high protein diet which incorporated weight lifting into his routine.
Now, as long as the untrained athlete is placed on a solid weight lifting routine along with a calorie restricted diet which of course is high in protein, it is very possible for the individual to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. You need to know that building muscle and burning fat are complete opposites. If you want to get the most out of one of them, you will need to fully focus on just doing one of them. To gain muscle you need to take in above maintance calories. This means that if your body needs 2000 calories to currently maintain its weight, you will need to take in anywhere from 200-1000 more calories extra to put on weight and start building muscle.
On the other hand, if your looking to focus on losing weight you will need to take in less calories than your maintenance level. Again, this simply means eating around 500 calories under your maintenance level to lose weight. You should now see why it is so hard and sometimes impossible to some people to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. It is important to note that a persons metabolism also plays a big role when building muscle or losing weight.
One of the single best ways to up your metabolism and begin to melt away that unsightly body fat is to build up your lean muscle mass. Muscle is much denser and heavier than body fat, so as you progress with building muscle the number on your scale probably won’t go down too much, in fact, depending on the rate at which you are building muscle your weight may actually go up a bit due to the fact that your body is building muscle and burning fat.
Since everybodys metabolism is different, you will need to play around with your diet and find out how many calories you can consume in a normal week without putting on weight. Some people will be able to eat ridiculous amounts of food without putting on so much as a pound whereas others need to be more careful with what they eat. Unfortunately this is out of our control and is part of our genetic makeup which we are unable to change. This isnt to say you cant achieve a great looking body however!
Back to the topic in hand, building muscle and burning fat at the same time for the beginner is more than possible. However, if you are a trained athlete and have participated or are currently participating in a rigorous training regime involving heavy weights, the chances are that your body is not going to respond well to building muscle and losing fat at the same time. This is mainly due to the drop in calories. Your body wont be use to it and you will struggle to build muscle as a result. This does not mean that you wont be able to maintain your strength while taking in fewer calories. Far from it as you may be able to increase your strength or even build a small amount of muscle. Muscle built when eating fewer calories however will be extremely limited and will largely depend on your diet you have in place.
The majority of athletes nowadays go through what is known as a bulking phase and a cutting phase. Each is pretty explanotory with the bulking phase focusing on building muscle and taking in more calories while the cutting phase focuses more on dropping fat and taking in less calories. Your diet will need to be high in protein, taking in at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. That means if you currently weight 180 pounds, make sure your are getting in 180 grams of protein each day. This is important as protein will repair the damaged muscles after each workout and allow for the rebuilding process to take place.
Many of the most famous trainers in the world are beginning to shy away from the “diet only” methods of body transformation and beginning to add heavy resistance training into their clients schedules because they know that this protocol will yield much more dramatic results in a much shorter time. That’s not to say that you can’t get healthier just by adjusting your diet, but the fastest way to the ultimate goal of achieving a lean muscular body is the combination of resistance training and proper diet. Lets take a closer look at how to build muscle and burn fat at the same time.
Eating on a Build Muscle and Burn Fat Program
When eating to build muscle and burn fat, i would recommend starting at your maintenance level. Find your bodys maintenance level of calories and eat only this amount of calories for the first two weeks. Now these calories need to be coming from lean sources of protein, complex carbohydrates and fats. To save calories, simple carbohydrates may be consumed once throughout the day and this should mainly be from your post-workout shake. Click the link to read up on what you should be consuming for your post workout shake. Now, your diet should be mainly focused around lean proteins as mentioned before making sure you hit the 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight rule. This is crucial!
Plan your meals with this in mind. Carbohydrates will be your second priority with fats coming last. Now, consuming less calories as well as hitting your 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight rule is going to be a bit tricky but by no means impossible. What were looking for here are foods containing high levels of protein with low calories. This means that whether you like it or not you will have to incorporate the following foods into your daily diet: Chicken, Turkey, Tuna, Fish, Other lean meat sources such as beef, Cottage Cheese, Whey Protein, Oats and possibly milk (skimmed or non-fat being the best type here). If your wondering about the diet, take a look at the following example below.
| 8.00am |
|---|
| Morning shake (consisting of 1 scoop of whey, 150ml of milk and 1 sachet of oats), 1 Banana | 10.30am |
| 1 tuna wholemeal roll (half a can of tuna) | 12.30pm |
| 50 grams of wholemeal pasta + 1 chicken breast | 3.00pm |
| 1 pot of low fat cottage cheese | 5.00pm (pre-workout) |
| 1 scoop of whey protein powder w/ water | 7.00pm (post-workout) |
| 1 scoop of whey protein powder w/ water, half a scoop of dextrose and malto-dextrin | 8.00pm |
| 1 Big jacket potato, 1 chicken breast, brocolli and carrots |
The above diet has approximately 2,200 calories and has a total of 160 grams of protein, perfect for anybody weighing around 140 - 160 pounds. This kind of diet will allow the untrained or out of shape athlete to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. The best way to measure your progress of building muscle and burning fat is to use measurements and the mirror. Weighing scales can be used but dont become too demotivated if you find the numbers going up or staying the same as their are a number of variables that will effect your weight each day such as water weight e.t.c. Another way you will know you are on the right track is if your lifts and strength is continously increasing. Measure your waist and keep an eye on your lifts. If your waist is getting smaller or staying the same and your lifts are increasing, chances are your building muscle while losing fat.
A lot of people don’t realize that it’s even possible to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. They think to build any kind of muscular size they should be consuming thousands of calories coming from certain types of food each day. People also tend to believe that the only way to burn fat is by performing hour after hour of cardio training such as running on a treadmill or performing aerobics. The fact of the matter is that building muscle is also an effective way of losing weight and burning off additional calories.
Lets take a quick look at trained athletes. People who are moderately active and already work out with weights are probably going to find it extremely difficult to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. Unless you have amazingly gifted genetics unfortunately thats just the way it is. You will no longer reap the benefits from what is known as beginner gains as you are no longer a beginner. It may still be possible however to put small amounts of muscle on while losing fat but this is going to be minimal. The only time an athlete who is serious about lifting weights will try this is probably when they are looking to cut. Cutting is a term athletes and bodybuilders refer to when losing weight and dropping body fat levels. On a cut an athlete will obviously need to take it less calories to lose weight. This limits muscle growth as your body needs calories to grow and get bigger. As i said before building muscle and burning fat is still a possibility but you are probably not going to notice any difference in muscle size.
Keep a diet high in protein but with less calories if your looking to cut and continue to hit the weights. Chances are you will gain strength but will not notice any significant changes in muscle mass. The opposite of cutting is known as bulking. Bulking involves taking in more calories to help your body to grow. My advice here is to clean bulk unless you are the kind of person who finds it very hard to put on weight. Clean bulk will involve eating very slightly over your daily maintenance of calories to build muscle. This type of bulk should allow you to add muscle to your frame without putting on too much fat.
Dirty bulk is the other option. This will be recommended for the skinny kids out there who seem to burn off anything they eat. On a dirty bulk you should get your daily 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight in each day and then eat as much as you can even if they are not coming from particularly healthy foods. Keep track of your weight to ensure you are not overeating and just putting on fat and you should be fine.
Search for more great content below!
Other Articles You May Like:
Learn how to avoid overtraining The effects of alcohol on weight lifting The weight training dietOther Resources:
Thefactsaboutfitness.com - Building muscle while losing fat