Bodybuilding Guide
How to Lose Fat and Build Muscle at the same time
Fat loss and muscle build success
Gaining muscle and losing fat is the holy grail. Instant fitness nirvana. While it's possible to achieve both at the same time it might not be the best way to go about it. Trying to do both at the same time can hinder your results in both areas. Nevertheless here are basic guidelines to reaching this fitness nirvana.
Weight training
Building muscle is key to getting strong and lean. It should be one of the foundation pillar of your program. The weight training program for simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain is not that different from normal muscle gain regimen.
The key is to hit those muscles and to hit them hard. Though you may have to go little bit easier than you would on a pure muscle gain program. Simply because the goal of losing fat requires you to cut calories you need to build muscle fast.
Cardio
Cardio is almost an antithesis for people who want to get big. You need those calories to build big muscles, so why waste them on cardio. But for fat loss some cardio is essential. Because no matter how hard you train at the gym, cardio will always burn more calories. And you need that calorie burn for losing fat.
However, don't go overboard with cardio. 30 minutes 3 times a week with moderate intensity is enough. Do your cardio after strength training.
Nutrition
You should emphasize hiqh quality foods in their natural state. These are the most nutritious foods you can eat. Avoid processed foods - basically anything that comes in a box. Go for high quality proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates in moderate quantities.
Calories
Carefully nutritional and caloric planning is requires to reach the fitness nirvana of simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain. Because on the other hand you need calories to burn muscle, but you also need to limit them to burn fat. It's carefull balance.
So you need to cut some calories, but keep the cuts modest. Starving yourself can shift the balance from fat burn to burning muscle tissue for energy. This also severely limits the work you can do at the gym. It's recommend you start by cutting your calories by 500 per day from your calculated metabolic rate. Monitor your fat loss and results at the gym and adjust as needed.
So now you have a basic understanding of how to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. If you decide to go down on this road keep in mind that your results on either area will not be as good as would be had you focused on one area as your single goal. So it might be better to first focus on building muscle (and gain some fat in the process) and then cut the fat out for a toned look.
Regardless of how you decide to do it, you need to train hard and eat smart.
Weight training
Building muscle is key to getting strong and lean. It should be one of the foundation pillar of your program. The weight training program for simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain is not that different from normal muscle gain regimen.
The key is to hit those muscles and to hit them hard. Though you may have to go little bit easier than you would on a pure muscle gain program. Simply because the goal of losing fat requires you to cut calories you need to build muscle fast.
Cardio
Cardio is almost an antithesis for people who want to get big. You need those calories to build big muscles, so why waste them on cardio. But for fat loss some cardio is essential. Because no matter how hard you train at the gym, cardio will always burn more calories. And you need that calorie burn for losing fat.
However, don't go overboard with cardio. 30 minutes 3 times a week with moderate intensity is enough. Do your cardio after strength training.
Nutrition
You should emphasize hiqh quality foods in their natural state. These are the most nutritious foods you can eat. Avoid processed foods - basically anything that comes in a box. Go for high quality proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates in moderate quantities.
Calories
Carefully nutritional and caloric planning is requires to reach the fitness nirvana of simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain. Because on the other hand you need calories to burn muscle, but you also need to limit them to burn fat. It's carefull balance.
So you need to cut some calories, but keep the cuts modest. Starving yourself can shift the balance from fat burn to burning muscle tissue for energy. This also severely limits the work you can do at the gym. It's recommend you start by cutting your calories by 500 per day from your calculated metabolic rate. Monitor your fat loss and results at the gym and adjust as needed.
So now you have a basic understanding of how to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. If you decide to go down on this road keep in mind that your results on either area will not be as good as would be had you focused on one area as your single goal. So it might be better to first focus on building muscle (and gain some fat in the process) and then cut the fat out for a toned look.
Regardless of how you decide to do it, you need to train hard and eat smart.
