4 Easy Steps For More Muscle and Less Fat

Common questions

I would to add some muscle mass to my body. How should do this?

The best way to build muscle is a combination of lifting weights and eating a lot. However, keep in mind that when you first start to exercise, you may become hungrier than usual. You must increase the amount of food you you're your caloric intake, since your new habit of exercise is increasing your DCE, your caloric expenditure. If you want to build muscle, you have to have a positive balance. Thus, your output of calories are increasing, so your input has to increase with the output, plus a little more to result in a positive balance. In conclusion, you would need to eat a lot more, in addition to your exercise regimen.

I've been training at the gym for a while now. I've built some muscle, since I've been eating more, but now my muscle mass has slowly stopped increasing. Am I doing something wrong?

What's happening is probably a result of the training program you are in. If you repeat the same exercises for a while (in this situation you've been training for about a year), your body adapts to the type of stress in about 1 or 2 months. You should try to change and mix up the exercises often so that your body is developing is many ways. This will prevent your body from adapting as well as allowing you to gain muscle all over your body. The good news is that, if your body weight has been stable for the past few months, you are in a neutral caloric balance. Another thing you can try is eating some more, and you may begin to build muscle again. If you don't, the way you train is most likely the cause.

No matter how hard I train, I don't think I'm gaining muscle mass. My gym trainers have said that I may be a "hard gainer". Could this be the reason behind it?

Yes, it's a possibility. If you are very lean and don't gain or lose weight easily, you have a body type that some may consider a "hard gainer". This type usually means high metabolism, so you'll want to eat some more to offset that metabolism. I suggest you increase your food consumption and keep exercising.

I want to burn fat. What should I do?

The best way is to exercise and reduce your caloric intake somewhat. Exercise will add to your daily calorie expenditure, thus causing more calorie usage. When you decrease your caloric consumption in addition, you will have a negative caloric balance, your body will look for stored calories. Fat is the primary source, so your body will be using up fat for energy, allowing you to lose fat. However, decrease your food consumption by a little at a time and don't over-exercise. When you're losing about 1 to 2 pounds (or 1% of your body weight) per week, that's a good rate of fat loss. If you're losing more, then you may be losing muscle mass in addition to fat loss. You don't want to end up there, so remember fat loss is a gradual process. Keeping your muscle mass is very important, because it eventually raises your resting metabolic rate and thus increases your daily calorie expenditure.