People make building muscle and losing fat much more difficult than it has to be - it's not complicated. It's just a simple formula in need of minor adjustments : calories in + calories out = weight loss or weight gain. Getting lean doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your muscle tissue and it certainly doesn't mean you have to do hours on end of cardio activity. Do the math: exercise + eating right = lean muscular body. It's as simple as that. Here are three tips to get to build muscle and get lean successfully.
1) Interval TrainingInterval training is short bursts of explosive energy. You can burn up to 3 times more fat than if you were to run or jog at a continual pace. For example, instead of merely doing 30 minutes of continual repetitive aerobic activity, you could sprint for 15-30 seconds then walk at a more comfortable pace for 1-2 minutes. You would repeat this cycle a few times and increase the number of intervals you are able to do by 1 more interval each time. The after burn of interval training is higher than if you would have just done a unilevel intensity aerobic exercise - so you're burning MORE fat when you're NOT exercising!
Let's think about this for a minute. Interval training requires an extreme and explosive amount of effort in just a short period of time, so therefore blood rushes through you body as your heart rate increases and your breathing quickens. This rush of circulation can do wonders for your oxygen deprived muscles! Oxygen is life, right? So it stands to reason that by increasing our oxygen intake and delivering more oxygen to one's body, one can more fully experience the benefits of building muscle. When your cells use oxygen more efficiently, your body produces more enzymes which build more muscle through protein synthesis, while becoming leaner at the same time.
2) Consuming the Right FuelThis is critical to building muscle and shedding fat. Without the right fuel, our bodies lack sufficient carbohydrate, quality proteins, adequate vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Last time I checked, these are all essential ingredients to the building muscle recipe. Additionally, the way your body metabolizes junk food is completely different than the way it metabolizes quality food (that helps to build and protect your body without causing unwanted fat gain). Your body needs protein no less than every three hours. Your body needs an adequate supply of complex carbohydrates like whole grains, potatoes and beans for energy so that your body doesn't catabolize your muscle tissue for energy during intense training.
Despite all the controversy about the new "MyPyramid" and traditional eating styles, food consumption for getting lean and building muscle can be broken down into just a few very simple categories: Proteins, Complex Carbohydrates, Produce, and Healthy Fats. You can actually get all of this in a couple of scoops of hemp protein but for whole food varieties, just choose a lean protein like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs and combine it with a serving of complex carbs like potatoes, lentils, beans, yams, oatmeal or brown rice every few hours. To complete this simple formula add in TONS of veggies through the day, a couple servings of fruit and a healthy fat like nuts, nut butters, olive oil, sunflower oil, salmon, avocados etc. There you have it, a complete meal plan customizable to your liking that will build muscle and get your body lean.
3) Eat to Grow, Eat to Stay LeanIn order to grow muscle you have to eat and likewise, in order to lose fat you have to eat! So how does that work? Your body is a smart machine. You teach it and train it, by your eating lifestyle, to know what to expect and when to expect it. In other words, if you are accustomed to skipping breakfast then your body will slow its metabolism down in order to "conserve" energy, knowing that it won't be given fuel anytime soon. Your body is a survival machine and if you were indeed in a situation where you lacked food, your body would slow down the rate at which it burns calories in order to survive.
So conversely, when you teach and train your body that it can expect a regular income of fuel, your body's metabolism will burn calories at a higher rate because it has no fear of food deprivation. The continual and regular consumption of quality food will keep your body's metabolism flying while at the same time giving your muscles the continual nutrients they need to repair damaged muscle tissue from weight training. Only in cases of occasional fasting to cleanse your system, should you go without food. The bottom line is you have to eat to build muscle and you have to eat to become lean.
Pretty simple isn't it? Building muscle and getting lean is really just a simple formula that has been complicated over the years with every body's "gym" opinion. Stick to this very basic advice and you will be well on your way to build muscle and get lean!
Copyright: Copyright © 2008 Rochelle Moreno
About the Author:Rochelle Moreno is a natural bodybuilder who has used the Freaky Big Naturally Training System with great success. Join him by going to http://build-muscle.freakygrowth.com/ and you'll learn about build muscle, training routines, build-muscle and much more. You'll also get 5 FREE Bodybuilding videos.
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