You recently shredded some extra pounds to finally enjoy a slimmer and smarter body. But just after a few time, those extra pounds are coming back to reside on your belly.
Weight loss is considered the toughest job. However, in my opinion, keeping the weight off is far more difficult than losing it. Simple said, it is harder to stay lean than becoming slim and smart.
How Weight Management and Muscle Building Are Connected?
We have a pretty smart and unique solution for you. Lose body fat but gain muscle mass to keep the body weight off. Replace the body fat with muscle mass and get wide where it counts.
Related: 5 Muscle Building Exercises Using Pull Up Bar
Increasing the lean muscle mass boosts up the metabolism rate of your body. More the muscle mass, higher will be the rate of weight loss. Strength training is the number#1 choice of bodybuilders to develop muscle mass.
Related: Build Up your Strength with the Gym Pull Up Bar
Miriam Nelson, a researcher at Tufts University in the US, found out that the women who paired up their weight-loss diet with weight-training exercises lost 44{317a7769e272dec17b69bda26c6a5a4c5e6799efcd8a85f72cb552b76862c2b9} more fat than those who only followed a diet.
1 kg fat burns only about 20-40 kJ per day. On the other hand, 1 kg of muscle will burn almost 627-1465 kJ per day. These low-kJ diets also increase the swagging and loosening of the skin. So building a lean mass after losing the body fat is your only weight-friendly choice.
Guidelines For Weight Management and Muscle Building
In this article, we will introduce the 5 basic guidelines to build muscles while avoiding the fat gain in the process.
Tip#1: Mind Your Carbs
Go low in your carbs to gain muscle mass without gaining waist mass. A diet with less than 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight is ideal to keep the insulin levels steady. This, in turn, will make it easier for you to put on lean mass while burning the body fat.
Balance out your carb intake with proteins and go with 1.5 grams per pound of the body weight.
Related: Low Carb Diet: Does it work?
Tip#2: Get Fat
You are always inclined towards the idea of having a low-fat diet. However, if you are trying to build muscle mass, this is certainly not the good idea.
Research suggests that almost 30{317a7769e272dec17b69bda26c6a5a4c5e6799efcd8a85f72cb552b76862c2b9} of your daily calorie-intake must come from the fats. Akmof this 30{317a7769e272dec17b69bda26c6a5a4c5e6799efcd8a85f72cb552b76862c2b9} fat portion, atleast 5-10{317a7769e272dec17b69bda26c6a5a4c5e6799efcd8a85f72cb552b76862c2b9} must come from the saturated fats. The diets that are slightly higher in saturated fats (steaks and ground beef) and monounsaturated fats (avocados, mixed nuts, olives, peanut butter) maintain the proper testosterone levels in your body.
An optimal testosterone level is good for building muscles and strength. Moreover, it will also avoid the weight gain which is exactly what you wanted in the first place.
Tip#3: Have A Good Dinner
If you want to get big and lean, skipping the dinner is the worst choice for you. When you sleep and there is no food available, the body seeks help from the muscle fibers for amino acids. These amino acids will then refuel the brain after breakdown of your muscle tissues.
So immediately before going to bed, have the proper foods with slow-digesting proteins and healthy fats. It will stop your body from using muscle for a steady supply of amino acids to refuel your brain.
Casein shake, milk, or cottage cheese is the best choice in this case. Here is the perfect meal for your dinner time:
- 30-40 grams of casein protein shake
- 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons of flaxseed oil
- 2 ounces of mixed nuts
- 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Tip#4: Get Good Sleep
When you are sleeping, your body will release the anabolic hormones such as testosterone. Such anabolic hormones increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis i.e. build new muscle tissues.
So if you will carry weight daily, you are going to suppress these anabolic hormones in your body. Aim to get almost 7-8 hours of good sleep daily. Don’t stop your body from the secretion of these hormones in greater quantities.
Related: 8 Muscle Building Tips for Beginners
Tip#5: Eat, Eat, and Eat
If you eat a meal every 2-3 hours, your body would have an ample supply of amino acids and energy throughout the day for better muscle growth.
Keep your meal carb and protein-rich while ensuring the almost same size for every meal. If you eat for almost six times a day, the metabolism rate of your body will boost up. This sparked metabolism rate will make you stay lean and smart.
