How do you gain muscle and burn fat at the same time? Many people believe you can burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. We have seen commercials that promise the best results. Unfortunately, some of them make promises that steroids cannot deliver on. So can you burn fat and build muscle at the same time?
You can’t build muscle and burn fat at the same time. It is one of the biggest myths used to simplify a complex process. You either have to gain muscle or lose fat for the best results. This article will discuss the facts that refute this myth and what you can do to reach your goal faster.
Bodybuilding Fact #1
Bodybuilders who are experienced in gaining muscle and burning fat do not attempt to gain muscle and burn fat simultaneously. Instead, most professional bodybuilders use professional trainers and nutritionists that understand the science behind building muscle and burning body fat.
In addition, many bodybuilders use steroids that tell the body to build muscle and burn fat. Instead, bodybuilders go through a bulk phase followed by a cutting phase. That means they build muscle while storing fat, and after the bulking phase, they go through a cutting phase by burning the extra fat.
Bodybuilding Fact #2
You are burning body fat and gaining muscle using two different energy systems that your body will not combine. Trying to combine them is like driving simultaneously on both sides of the road. The body uses metabolic flexibility to switch from one energy system to another and does not use them simultaneously.
Therefore, burning body fat is a catabolic process, and building muscle mass is anabolic. A catabolic process is the breaking down of tissue to perform work. In comparison, an anabolic process builds tissue to perform work. Thus burning body fat and losing muscle are catabolic, while gaining muscle mass and storing body fat are anabolic.
Bodybuilding Fact #3
Muscle and fat coexist and help the body perform the same functions. You cannot separate fat and muscle. When you add one, your body will also add the other. When you lose one, your body will also lose the other. Also, this is a biological process. The goal, then, is to have a higher percentage of muscle than fat.
Thus if you are gaining muscle, you will want to achieve a higher rate of muscle than fat. Also, if you burn body fat, you will want to lose more fat than muscle. Many bodybuilders use steroids to help reach this goal. However, you can use the proper diet and workout combination to do the same on a lesser scale.
Bodybuilding Genetics
If you are a true hard gainer, you will find it hard to gain muscle while maintaining your lean physique. It would be best if you focused first focus on building muscle mass. Then, you can worry about losing fat later. Unfortunately, no magic pills, powders, foods, or exercises will allow you to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.
Most skinny guys want more muscle but are afraid of gaining body fat. They see all the bodybuilder photos and read the stories about people gaining pounds of muscle while losing pounds of fat. They want to do the same. When looking at these photos, you must remember that most people do not have your body type. Most gained too much weight and wanted to lose fat, not gain muscle.
It all is determined by your genetics and metabolism. For example, people who gain too much weight can look muscular while losing body fat. However, if you are naturally thin and have difficulty gaining weight, it would be silly to think that you will gain muscle while reducing your body fat.
Bodybuilding Transformation
What about those people who transformed their bodies? They lost fat and gained muscle. Yes, but those people who gained too much weight or had high body fat levels. In other words, their metabolisms were slow for the most part. Nevertheless, they dieted and trained for fat loss.
Weight training helped them maintain or slow down the loss of their muscle mass while speeding up the loss of body fat. As a result, they changed the percentage or ratio of muscle to fat because they quickly lost fat. However, skinny people will never increase their body mass far above their weight on this type of diet.
If you are skinny, you cannot do this. Instead, you will need to build muscle while storing some fat slowly, and once you gain more muscle mass, your goal becomes to diet to lose the extra fat. Also, this is the hard part. Remember, most skinny people have fast metabolisms. Therefore, gaining weight will be extremely difficult.
How to gain muscle mass
The only way you will get bigger is to shock your body.
You must shock your body by:
- Training with heavyweights, and
- Eating a lot of calories.
The first shock is with weight training. You must focus on compound free-weight exercises, lifting heavy weights, and stimulating muscle fibers. Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass. The big lifts do the best job of building muscle mass.
The four most significant free-weight lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, and back row. Also, this is common knowledge. Ask yourself what lifts can I lift the most weight. You don’t need science to tell you these are the best lifts. Just listen to your body. The best lift for you is that you can lift the most weight.
The second way you must shock your body is by eating more calories than you are used to. Also, this is an essential factor in gaining mass. When you overload your system with plenty of protein and fats, your body has no choice but to gain weight.
Most people take the gym seriously but not the kitchen. They don’t mind feeling pain and making sacrifices in the gym. But when it comes down to the kitchen, they don’t want to feel any hunger or pain, and they want to enjoy food. So to get the best results, you can’t play with your food. You must take your diet seriously because 80% of your body is built in the kitchen and 20% in the gym.
The bottom line on Myth 101: Burn Fat and Build Muscle at the Same Time
You don’t need to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. When burning fat at a higher rate, you will change how your body looks. The same holds for building muscles. For example, if you are 70% muscle and start to build at 90%, it will not take long for the 90% to change the 70% to a higher percentage of body mass.
The best way to recompose your body is to use scientific approaches. Eat clean and use a workout program with a track record for success. Let others figure out the dieting and work out mistakes before trying something new. Doing this will help you reach your health and fitness goals faster while avoiding errors and setbacks. If you or someone you know is considering weight loss, share this article on Facebook or Twitter so that others can learn more about losing weight.
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