Gain Muscle and Lose Fat!
Some Common Questions
I would to add some muscle mass to my body. How should do this?
To be very brief, building muscle consists of lifting weights, and eating a lot. Be advised that when you first start to exercise, you will most likely experience increased appetite. You will need to increase the amount of food you intake by a decent amount, since your new exercise habits will cause your daily calorie expenditure (DCE) to increase. Thus, you need to increase your caloric intake to balance the increased output. Furthermore, you need eat even more than you need to balance it, since you need a positive balance to build muscle.
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?
This situation might be related to the training program itself. If you\'ve been doing the same work-out for a year, you might want to change the exercise/set/repetition scheme, according to the principle of variation, which states that your body adapts to weightlifting stress after about 1-2 months. Nonetheless, if your body weight remained stable for the past few months, one thing is certain: you are in a neutral caloric balance. So bump your food intake up a little you might just start to build muscle again. If you don\'t (ie. you\'re gaining fat), chances are the problem is the way you train.
No matter how hard I train, I can\'t seem to gain muscle mass. The trainers, at the gym, say that I\'m a \"hardgainer\". Could that be?
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?
To be very brief, you need to exercise and reduce your food consumption somewhat. Exercise is going to increase your calorie usage, leading to a negative caloric balance, and you can further lower that balance by decreasing your calorie consumption. However, take caution when burning fat. A good rate of weight loss is about 1 to 2 pounds or 1 % of your body weight per week. If you\'re losing more, then might be losing some muscle mass too, and not just fat. Remember, keeping muscle mass is important because in the long run, more muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate, and a higher calorie expenditure.
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