One of the primary areas of difficulty for many people is losing weight and building muscle. While independently they may not be the most daunting tasks - together they become quite difficult.
Strength experts around the world have struggled with this issue for generations.
Losing weight comes down to maintaining a caloric deficit (eating less than your body requires), while, in most cases putting on muscle requires some kind of caloric surplus (more than your body requires).
This puts your body in a tricky state of confusion, and for many people leads to a lack of results and an eventual retirement from training in the gym.
Fortunately, science is our savior. Research has provided us with concrete methods and opportunities we can capitalize on in order to lose weight and build muscle.
Understand Your Basal Metabolic Rate
If you have goals of losing weight you need to understand your metabolic rate - and ultimately how to raise it.
On a fundamental level, your metabolic rate is the amount of energy your body uses in a certain amount of time.
For example, your metabolic rate for a day is approximately 2000 calories (that's the amount of energy your body requires to maintain its function).
Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of energy your body uses while at rest. If we can raise this amount, we can continue to “burn” calories and energy in a steady state throughout the day.
How Can You Raise Your Basal Metabolic Rate?
Diet and exercise can take you pretty far, especially if you are strength training - yet if you have goals of losing more weight it may be time to look into a metabolic booster.
Commonly known as “Fat Burners”, a metabolic booster will help to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate through thermogenesis and an increased heart rate. Your body will begin to burn more energy throughout the day - assisting in total caloric deficits without breaking down muscle.
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Protein Intake And Weight Loss
Protein intake is uniquely correlated with an athletes goals. Power athletes may lower protein and increase carbohydrates in order to boost strength and endurance - yet they do not have any goals oriented towards weight loss. If you have goals of building muscle and losing weight you need to take care to increase your daily allowance of protein - this is essential.
Any caloric deficit can start to limit muscle growth - simply because there isn't enough fuel to power workouts and recovery. Increasing your protein intake can help to increase the rate of protein synthesis, thereby enabling for greater advancements in strength.
In addition to enhancements in strength, research has shown that a diet higher in lean protein sourced from chicken, fish and other low-fat meats has been shown to promote weight loss. For best results, increase your protein to 1.3-1.8g/kg of body weight daily.
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Weight loss is a tricky goal. Not only does it require a huge amount of dedication, but for many athletes, you need to keep your protein requirements in check in order to limit muscle loss.
To lose weight and build muscle quickly try to increase your metabolic rate (especially basal metabolic rate) and increase your daily protein consumption.