Posts Tagged ‘build muscle then lose’

When  a personal trainer first asks a new gym attendee what their goals are, they most often hear replies such as: “Build muscle lose fat”,  “build muscle then lose“, “burn fat build muscle”, ”build muscle and burn fat”. So, it would seem to be that nearly all people would prefer to get bigger muscle s and also simultaneously reduce their percentage body fat. In the next few paragraphs I discuss if it is really possible to do this or is it something that only professional bodybuilders and marketing companies believe is possible?

Is it actually feasible to build muscle mass and lose fat tissue at the same time?

The short answer is ‘yes’ however not without a great deal of difficulty, calculating calories and discipline but it can be done! To build muscle you need to take on excess calories than you work off throughout each leaving enough left to build muscle but not so much that they get stored as fat. If you don’t consume excess calories then you you won’t build muscle for sure, with too many extra calories then you may grow some muscle but you will of course add body fat tissue at the same time. The secret is to consume sufficient calories to build muscle mass but not enough so that fat is built. There are

If you wish to avoid adding fat at the same time as building muscle then you really have to work out your exact calorie requirements and then stick to them. to work out your calorie requirements then use the following simple equation that provides an approximate answer:

Find out your body weight and you percentage body fat e.g. 200 pounds with 10% body fat.

Workout your body’s lean mass.g. 200-10% equals 190.

Times you lean body mass by 19 e.g. 190 multiplied by 19 equals = 3610

This is then the amount of calories you approximately need to eat to gain muscle mass provided you are doing effective workouts too. Whilst this is a rough figure if you consumed 500-1000 more calories then you would certainly increase your muscle gains and put on some body fat. This method provides an approximate figure only and it would be rather difficult to track how many calories you are going to eat.

So I am assuming the you do not relish the prospect of trying to master the tricky process just outlined and are perhaps wandering if there are any easier alternatives. Well most bodybuilders of course opt for the second option which is highly recommended. Firstly you need to build muscle then you lose weight. This is sometimes known as a bulking up phase followed afterwards by a cutting phase. This is much easier as in the first phase you simply need to eat a lot and often. All you need ensure is that you consume more calories than the above figure. This phase normally lasts for a duration of 3-6 months during this time you will probably have packed ona few kilograms in muscle and also a few in body fat too. Now you start to eat less calories and increase the cardio-vascular sessions so that you work off more calories per day than you take on.

Maintaining your muscle mass and burning off excess calories will thus be the main focus of the newxt few months. So in effect looking at the results over a year you will have built muscle and burnt fat but you will have done it in two separate stages and not at the same time. The long term affect is excatly the same only you use to distinct phases and it is a lot easier to do.

So if you do wish to build muscle and burn fat I highly recommend that you build muscle then lose fat in two separate stages. Expert author Tom Venuto has the entire process and more broken down into simple steps for you, read the ‘Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle E-book’ Review here for more information on how to build muscle then lose fat.