Big Body Building Tips

Repeat after me. It is impossible to gain muscle and burn fat simultaneously.

Anyone who tells you that you can is either trying to sell you a magic pill or is plain misguided or both. To understand why this is physiologically impossible let us first delve into how the muscle building process actually works.

Muscle growth results from protein synthesis, a process that requires a surplus of calories beyond your basic sustenance. This excess has to be obtained by eating more calories than you need. The thing is, the protein synthesis process cannot make use of all the excess calories you consume and some invariably end up as fat.

Lifting heavy weights and eating more than your body needs results in gaining muscle as well as a little fat. It is possible to reduce the fat gained by following a strict diet but you cannot eliminate it completely. But worry not.The trimming phase that you will perform after you have bulked up will take care of this fat.

The good thing about bulking up and building muscle is that it also increases your Basal Metabollic Rate. This is the rate at which you burn calories while you are at rest. With more muscle you will end up burning more fat with less effort even while at rest.

Start trimming down to get leaner as soon as you feel you have bulked up enough. Do this by performing cardio vascular exercises and reducing your food intake. The energy demand created by doing regular cardio coupled with the eliminated ‘caloric excess’ makes the body burn fat to produce energy.

Just make sure you do not do so much cardio that you end up also burning muscle in the process. You’ve worked hard for the muscle. Keep it. You can tell if you are in danger of doing this by how your body feels. If you are starting to feel emaciated you are probably doing too much cardio. You should aim to feel toned and ‘tight’.

I personally use a supplement called Catalyst to make sure I don’t burn muscle. It protects the muscle tissue when doing cardio vascular exercise.

To recap what I’ve said, the amazing physique we all want-muscular, lean and well proportioned-can only be built by first bulking up and then trimming down.

These tips below will ensure your success.

1. Consume just enough surplus calories

Even though you need a ‘caloric excess’ to build muscle don’t over eat and consume calories that will not be used in muscle building. A rule of thumb is, don’t consume more than twenty percent above whatever is your weight maintenance diet. Put another way, aim to eat about 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight with your overall food in take being comprised of 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fat.

2. Observe a sensible diet

Eat lots of foods that are rich in protein, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats. Also drink plenty of water and avoid junk foods. Have a ‘day of indulgence’ when you can treat yourself to just about anything but otherwise only eat the afore mentioned foods. Without this off day, you will likely not stick to the diet.

3) Do cardio a couple times a week.

Even while bulking up do a little bit of cardio to further reduce the amount of fat you pack on as gain muscle. I recommend 2-3 sessions per week of about 15-20 minutes.

Again, you cannot gain muscle and burn fat at the same time. Bulk up first, then trim down. This two step methodical approach will get you the well sculpted muscular body that drives women wild!

By Don W. Demarco. Don writes a widely read muscle column every week. Claim your FREE Muscle Building Course For a button-popping chest visit Ultimate Men’s Workout For Huge Chest

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