Initially, let's expose one fantasy of a few body-builders: #to lose# fat, building muscle is all you need. By not changing eating habits or cardio activity, a person trying to lose fat will only see minimal losses by building muscle. It is true, though, that building lean muscle will yield additional ways of helping #to lose# fat, by itself don't anticipate significant amounts of help.
To look at this further, there are claims that each pound of resting lean muscle burns 50 calories a day. Sorry, but that figure is much overstated. Resting muscle is like an idling car; it burns some fuel, but not much. Doing nothing, those muscle tissues burn roughly 13 calories a day. If a person were #to gain# ten pounds just building lean muscle, he would burn 910 calories #in a# week. #To lose# fat at this pace, #it would# take him around 27 days to lose one pound of body fat. That of course doesn't take into consideration all #the other# variables, such as gaining any extra body fat while building lean muscle. When you're building muscle, you are going to need extra calories to support this new growth. To believe that none will go into body fat will be truly optimistic.
That said, is building lean muscle while we are attempting #to lose# fat impossible when trying to accomplish our long-term objectives? We take the position that building muscle is an important part of your battle #to lose# fat, but it is just one leg in #a three#-leg stool. #One of the# additional vital legs #to lose# fat is aerobic activity, #and if# our muscles are growing and actively calling for extra nutrients, our body will feel lively and vigorous, making us more inclined to perform the required cardio activity. Furthermore, the third leg #of the# stool is diet. Just like all fats are not created equal, all calories aren't all created equal. There are actually good calories and bad calories, and #the type of# foods you select #will have# #a great# influence on #the type of# body mass you may attain.
While building muscle, you are creating mini metabolism machines that are constantly running. To sustain this activity, they crave more nutrients in order to keep going. #To lose# fat, #we have# always been told that we need to #cut back# on calories. Here's where proper diet kicks in. By eating high fat foods, like cheeseburgers or foods high in Tran's fats and processed foods, more #of those# calories are going to be transformed to fat than muscle. The trick is to consume just enough calories to maintain building lean muscle, but only those foods that are clean, whole foods that the body will burn for fuel and growth. By cutting out junk foods, sugars #and all# processed foods, and replace them with whole foods such as lean protein, fibrous carbohydrates and clean fats, building muscle and losing fat will become a breeze and you are going to start #to notice# the change in two or three weeks.
One final statement on building lean muscle: During your initial period #of training#, many individuals experience fat loss no matter what they eat, but #to their# astonishment it doesn't maintain. As testosterone levels are rising, your body is using everything, including stored fat #to build# muscle. But this only occurs for #a certain# period of time before your body needs more food to maintain strength levels. Yet again, the fuel you feed your system will determine if #you will# lose fat while building muscle.
Author Resource:
Gaining muscle is just one method of losing fat. Diet also plays a major role, and our post on How Fat Burning Foods Work will give you some foods that are fat-burners. We are definitely not into quick-fixes, but programs that involve proper diet, aerobic training , and muscle tone that if taken together on a long-term basis will almost guarantee you to slim down. Rich Carroll is a writer and health advocate now living in London.
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