By If you want to get super lean but not lose power — you can do it. Read on and find out how
This is possibly one of the most debated issues in the industry. Can you gain muscle and lose weight via a restricted diet?
From a psychological standpoint, losing fat and gaining muscle at the exact moment is impossible because losing fat stores is catabolic (it breaks down), and building muscle is the opposite — anabolic. So your body can’t do these two tasks at the same time.
It’s very much a possibility to gain muscle and lose fat if you spend more time in the anabolic state than the catabolic alternative.
Now, this is challenging to achieve!
But, as soon as you start to reduce your calories, the body burns a combination of fat and muscle tissue.
Did you know that anywhere between 30–60 per cent of weight lost during the diet phase comes from lean tissue?
Muscle burns a lot more energy than fat, and when you lose muscle mass, your resting metabolic rate will drop.
Unfortunately, that means you burn fewer calories during the day.
You may also notice a drop in your strength, as well as lethargy.
The only way to succeed in burning fat stores and increasing muscle mass is to make sure that our diet, exercise, and nutrient timing are carefully controlled (which is challenging, but with experience, it is a possibility).
You can lose a high amount of body fat and build muscle in a shorter period.
We need to look at a few key points that will successfully transition us towards this goal.
4 of the most effective ways to gain muscle and diminish body fat — at the same time
One: Higher protein consumption
Focusing on protein will reduce the rate of muscle breaking down.
That means you encourage an environment that will allow your muscles to be in a constant (building) anabolic state.
Two: Nutrients must be well controlled and timed
That means eating the necessary macronutrients with every meal and not including any foods detrimental to fat loss and muscle gaining goals.
Three: High-intensity bursts of movement
This increases your fat-burning enzymes and boosts your post-exercise consumption (the rate you burn calories after a workout).
HIIT is also effective at retaining muscle mass whilst decreasing body fat. Make sure you keep your HIIT training within a 20-minute window and no more.
Four: Train hard Always aim to overload your body with weight training.
Don’t focus on long-duration cardio workouts. Overloading your body with weights has a more profound effect on building muscle mass and burning fat, leading to a successful body transformation.
Now, these points above are just some of the basics.
We could go into many intense details, but it gives you a good starting point in which to begin.
Please keep in mind that there is no set rule for this — we all benefit from these points in our own unique way.
The aim is to try and keep altering until the results become favourable for you.
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