Article Advise

submitted: Aug 14th 2008 | by: ClareInnes | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 654 | |

There are two common fitness goals - to gain muscle mass and to lose body fat. Unfortunately, for the most part, the two goals are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Building muscle mass is going to require you to take in a surplus of calories because, well, let's face it, you can't build muscle out of nothing (unless of course you have some chemical help going on). Losing fat mass on the other hand is going to require you to be in a negative calorie balance because that is what will get your body burning off additional body fat as fuel for its tissues.

Striving to accomplish both goals at the same time is rarely a good approach because more than likely you will just end up spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.

If you want to increase your muscle mass, you have to accept the fact that there must be some weight gain, although exactly how much is the factor that you can control.

So can you really gain weight without getting fat? When adding muscle mass there are two approaches you can take...

The first idea is generally this...that the more food goes in...the more muscle goes on!

This plan is wrong for one simple reason. Once your body has used up all the calories that it needs in order to produce this lovely muscle tissue...the excess calories still need to be stored...how? BODY FAT!

Most people begin their mission to 'bulk up' by increasing their calorie intake, some taking in five thousand plus, on a daily basis. And this over a period of, say, three to six months. This is far too much, and will result in a large amount of body fat weight.

The second option is to adopt a more moderate approach and only eat so many additional calories to support this muscle growth and that's it. This will allow you to hopefully get as much lean tissue gained as possible without the accumulation of a monstrous rise in body fat.

So now you want an answer? How many calories can I eat (over what I normally do to keep a stable weight)?

There are many factors that influence how your body will react when you try to gain muscle. You see an advertisement showing that Joe Bloggs has added 20 pounds of muscle in six weeks, which is not impossible. The truth is he is brand new to weight lifting, has a fantastic genetic background, and he used a top-notch training and nutritional system. The honest truth is that generally it is very difficult to put on this much muscle mass.

A naturally trained individual can hope to achieve about half a pound to one pound of muscle per week - if he's doing everything correctly. If he doesn't have the greatest genetics or isn't feeding himself optimally, this will decrease even further. So as you can see, at a measly two to four pounds of muscle growth per month, you aren't going to be needing to eat insanely high calorie intakes.

The higher your intake is, the more you risk putting on additional body fat. As a general rule, keep it to about 250 to 500 calories above maintenance in hopes of putting on mostly muscle without too much body fat. Keep track of your current body fat levels and appearance and if you see that too much of your weight gain is coming on as fat mass, reduce your calorie intake slightly.

Every persons body reacts differently when beginning a weight or muscle gain regime because everyones metabolism is different. As you try to optimise your 'bulking up', alter your calorie intake accordingly.

Just keep in mind that if you take it slowly with the muscle building, you won't have to put in time to diet away that excess body fat that you received as a free gift. Let's face it - dieting isn't fun for anyone!

About the Author

About the Writer: Clare Innes has many lifestyle websites, including one dedicated to muscle building You can also see her Weight Loss website at http://firstforweightloss.com Look out for more lifestyle websites in the 'First For...' series, curently under development.

Comments

No comments posted.

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.