The aim of a large portion of people new to weight training is to try and both build muscle mass and lose fat. If you ask a newbie what their goals are they will often say burn fat and build muscle. here we are going to take a look at whether this is actually possible or not.
So are people really able to increase muscle mass and reduce their body fat?
Well, yes is the answer to that one. However there is a but and it is because it is a very difficult thing to do. If you want to burn fat and build muscle then you must be very careful when you work out how many calories you need to eat and then keep to that amount strictly.
Why do we have to do that? The reasons behine why we ought to do that is because if you want to build muscle mass and not put on fat you have to take on board just enough calories to support muscle growth but not so many that you will have a surplus of excess calories that will become stored as fat tissue.
Can I calculate the number of calories I need to consume to achieve that?
yes you may although bear in mind that these calculations are based on assumptions from data based on the general population. This makes them inaccurate as most people are different to the norm in someway, usually this is in terms of how fast their bodies metabolism is which makes a big difference to the amount of calories that you should actually take on board. You ought to google: ‘ Katch-McArdle muscle building nutrition formula’ if you want to do this calculation.
Is there an easier way than this?
Yes, in fact however you will find it far easier to burn fat and build muscle in a two step process. this mean that 3-6 months would first be spent increasing muscle mass and bulking up, this would then be followed by a 3-6 month period whereby you train to get ripped and lose body fay. This period is then followed by a 3-6 monthS period of losing weight and ripping.
This way is a lot easier because losing weight and gaining muscle are actually opposites so by attempting to do just one of these at a time you stand a much better chance of succeeding. This is one of the best weight gain tips around.
Whilst you may still wish to work out how many calories you should be eating as a minimum you requirement to build muscle up you do not have to worry about going over this amount thus making it easier to achieve. If you consume to few an amount of calories then you will reduce your bodyfat but you will not be able to support any muscle growth therefore a two stage process is far more reliable.
At the end of the day you can use either approach and achieve the same results however most experienced bodybuilders will tell you that the two step approach is the simplest and easiest to get fast results with. One excellent program entitled burn the fat feed the muscle can be found here which guides you through the entire above process.