Weight loss and muscle building

by Jason Diggs

Weight loss and muscle building are two widely divergent fitness goals involving different exercise and diet requirements as well as widely different biochemical processes. A large number of people wonder whether it is really possible to lose unwanted body fat and build rock-hard muscles at the same time.

Burning of fat and building of muscles involve two different metabolic functions with absolutely contrasting requirements. While muscle building requires you to consume more dietary calories than what you can burn in a day, weight loss requires fewer calories intake than what gets exhausted each day.

However, there exists a strong link between weight loss and building muscle and you can achieve both if you plan your workouts correctly. Once your muscles become strong enough due to regular workouts, you need to gradually increase the intensity of your workouts so that your muscles continue to grow. To enable your muscles to grow, you would need to supply them with more nutrients and ample rest. Since muscles are the most metabolically active tissues of your body, when you add more muscle mass to your body, your metabolic rate increases, as a result of which your body burns the excess fats faster.

When you are under a weight loss program, your body is in a state of deprivation, as a result of which the carbohydrates, proteins and fats present in the cells of the body get used up for energy production. If you can manage to replenish the proteins and carbohydrates content in your body and allow only the excess fat to be used up for energy production during rigorous workouts, then your body can achieve the desired objective of weight loss as well as muscle building.

For building muscles, you need to maintain your body in a calorie surplus state by consuming more number of calories than your body is able to burn every day. In addition to this, you must also undertake the correct resistance exercises and strength training in order to stimulate the numerous cells involved in the development of muscle tissues.

During every single workout, try to increase the intensity of your workout by implementing the principle of “progressive overload”. When you increase the intensity of your workout, you can start noticing you muscles getting stronger and bigger.

Do not over-train your muscles because this can have counter effects on your muscle building program. Ideally, you need to workout at least three times a week and alternate it with two days of rest period to allow repair and growth of damaged muscles.

If you are ultimately interested in losing weight as well as in building muscles, then you must engineer your diet regime in such as manner that you do not allow the proteins to be used up for energy production in your body. Rather, the proteins must be made available for the repair and growth of the muscle tissues in your body through protein supplements. Most experts recommend consuming a mixture of protein and carbohydrate immediately after a workout session in order to provide the body with sufficient energy as well as to facilitate maximum muscle repair.

About the Author:

Personal trainer/bodybuilder, Jason Diggs, writes quality, non-biased reviews on the nets top ” how to build muscle ” instructional programs. His #1 pick goes to muscle gain truth, a highly recognized, extensive bodybuilding package.