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Muscle Building and Weight Loss
I've learned a lot of things during my own quest to get physically stronger. Each time I've been doing something wrong which made progress worthless. Yet, it is because of this that I finally understood the “hows” to working out and losing body fat. Below, I will explain the process in simple terms so you won't be left wondering as I was.
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How to Lose Weight There are two ways we gain body fat. One is by consuming more calories than we expend, in which case, the extra calories are stored as body fat. The second is by consuming an excess of simple carbs aka simple/refined sugar from foods such as those convenient little candy bars we see when checking out at the grocery store. The latter method almost completely disregards the whole, "consuming more calories than you expend" rule, and, instead, converts the excess sugar/energy into body fat... think of it as the fastest method of gaining body fat. But I digress, if you're here, you probabl want to lose weight, not know how to gain it... with that said, know this right off the bat.
Losing Weight is a Very Slow and Gradual Process
But, before that, let us talk about carbs. You see, carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy. Let us stop and gain an understanding to the two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex. What Are Simple Carbs Simple carbs are contained in foods made of refined sugar such as cupcakes, twinkies, oreos... all the food that is considered "junk" really. For you see, simple carbs are called such because they are converted into glucose (energy) and used by the body MUCH more quickly than complex carbs because they are more simple to break down. However, because of the speed in which they are used, if you eat an excess of simple carbs and not immediately use the energy of which they are converted into, your body will take that unused energy and store it regardless of how many calories you actually ate. With that said, the most ideal time to consume sugary goods are before or after taking on some sort of activity that demands a lot of energy. How Can I Tell When Something is Composed of Simple Carbs? If you can't tell, here's an awesome tip; look on the nutrient label on the food package. Go to the "Total Carbohydrates" and compare that number to the "Sugar"... the closer the sugar count is to the total number of carbohydrates, the closer that food is to being made out of mainly simple carbs. Genius right? You're going to do this with all foods now. :) Of course, bear in mind that almost all foods are going to have some level of simple carbs in them, the key is to limit that amount by as much as possible, whenever possible. In summation; Avoid eating an excess of simple carbs (mainly white foods and junk foods) If you absolutely must, the ideal time to consume such foods are before/after taking on a strenuous activity or upon waking up. What Are Complex Carbs The difference between simple and complex carbs is what they're made out of, which, in turn, reflects how quickly your body breaks them down for energy. Complex carbs are called such because they are broken down and converted into energy much more slowly than simple carbs. As a result, your body receives a stable source of energy throughout the day... this stability is essential to maintaining your body's natural balance and health.
Much to your surprise, foods that are white e.g. white bread, white rice, white pasta and whatnot are not all that good for you. This is because those foods have been tampered with. Have you ever wondered WHY white foods are white? It is because their " whole grains", which are brown, have been removed or refined. Yes, the brown counterpart of white foods have not had their healthy whole grains tampered with. In essence, removing/refining the grains from foods leaves them, usually, white and more easily digestible by the body which can, in turn, create insulin spikes. Interestingly enough, some bread companies color their bread brown, using molasses, to make it appear as if it were made from whole grains. Whole grain products are typically more expensive due to the fact that they spoil faster than refined grain products.
From Wikipedia... "Regular wholegrain consumption lowers LDL and triglyceride levels, which contributes to an overall 26% reduction in coronary heart disease risk factors. In addition, wholegrain consumption is inversely related to hypertension, diabetes, and obesity when compared to refined grains, all of which are negative indicators in total cardiovascular health."
Foods in this category include brown rice, brown bread... well, to make it simpler, anything that is listed as being made from "whole grains" are true complex carbs that you should be incorporating in your daily diet. Be careful though, as with some bread companies, the ingredients may be misleading. "Enriched Wheat Flower/Grains" are bad, to make it simple.
You Already Burn Off a Large Amount of Calories a Day, By Doing Nothing
When I first started cardio, I was extremely confused about a few things. They say you're supposed to eat about 2,000 calories a day so that your body has enough calories to keep itself healthy. I always thought, "What? How are you supposed to burn off 3,500 calories if you need to eat at least 2,000 just to stay healthy?? You'll have to be doing cardio non-stop just to break even!"
The answer was BMR (Basal Metabolism Rate). What THAT is is basically the amount of calories your body uses to function; the calories you burn by just lying on your bed from morning to night. We all have our own BMR, but it's typically in the mid 1,000's which makes things a LOT easier and logical. So, when they say to eat at least 2,000 calories a day, they're really just basing that off eating enough to meet your BMR plus a little extra to compensate for the basic activities expected of you for the day... that is called maintenance, a term you'll hear often if you look around. To easily sum it up... eating to maintenance basically means consuming calories equal to the amount of calories you burn for the day (BMR + activities performed), therefore, you will not gain weight nor lose it, you'll maintain it. Get it?
Don't know your BMR, the amount of calories you burn by doing nothing? Click here to easily find out...
To repeat, your Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of calories one burns by simply lying in bed all day. When it says, "Your Average Daily Calorie Need is:" it's telling you the amount of calories you require for maintenance. Of course, the ladder is inaccurate since only YOU know what you did that day and how hard you pushed yourself. That said, to be as accurate as possible... find out how many calories you burned for each activity/thing you did that day and add it to your BMR, that will give you the most accurate answer. Yeah, I know... it's a lot to write down, but hey, if you really want a 100% accurate report, you're going to have to find out these things. Luckily for YOU, I found a pretty cool website that tells you the amount of calories you expend during many activities. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
FOR LOSING WEIGHT, FIND OUT YOUR MAINTAINANCE, not BMR, AND CONSUME 500 CALORIES LESS vise-versa... FOR GAINING MUSCLE, FIND OUT YOUR MAINTAINANCE, not BMR, AND CONSUME 500 CALORIES MORE ...but we'll talk about this one later.
1lb of Body Fat = 3,500 Calories
This is a relatively easy question to answer but the mechanics behind it are quite tricky. The general guideline is "Calories in VS Calories Out"... what I mean by that is, throughout the course of the day, if you consume less calories than you burn for that day, you create a Calorie Deficit which is one of the main keywords you'll hear about when trying to lose weight. Where does the body get the extra calories? Well, again, that is hard to figure out, depending on your diet and exercise levels, your body will get the extra calories from a combination of...
Bear in mind that no matter what, you will always burn off a small portion of muscle, even body builders know that when they're on a cut. It's just the way it goes, so don't even worry about it if you're doing it properly. Now, obviously, you want your body to use the stored fat for fuel once you've created your calorie deficit. Easier said than done since a lot of people just figure they can go for broke and simply consume 0-1,000 calories a day. That will have the result of your body, not only holding on to every calorie you eat henceforth in a desperate attempt to survive, but, you'll burn away all of your muscle making you look pure like skin and bones. It is for that reason why I say losing fat is a long, difficult and annoying journey; you HAVE to go slowly and gradually, you have no choice if you want to do it the correct way. But, that's only 75% of the battle, the other 25% comes from the state of your mind... and your liver. Assuming you ARE doing things correctly, that is maintaining a healthy calorie deficit whilst exercising, your brain sends out signals to begin using stored fat as fuel, where does this stored fat go? The liver. Do you see where I may be going with this...?
The Liver Breaks Down and Metabolises Stored Fat MEANING... If You Smoke and/or Drink, Your Weight Loss Goal Will Be Significantly Tougher!
Do you know why they say you should be drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day? Because it helps maintain a healthy and efficient liver... and now you know. Anyways, the key to losing weight is via cardio. Lifting weights is also very beneficial way because you see, your body uses more calories to regulate muscle mass... the more muscle you have, the more calories you expend by doing nothing, as opposed to having little muscle and doing nothing. You can imagine how easy it would be to lose weight with muscle AND an active lifestyle. Of course, though, getting those extra pounds off for the first time requires some willpower... but once you break through, it'll be a lot easier to keep it off, assuming you didn't get thin by crash-diets and/or pills. Don't be fooled by stupid gimmicks that promise you'll lose stomach fat by doing one workout repeatedly. That's not how your body works. Also... YOU CAN NOT BURN OFF STOMACH FAT BY DOING JUST ABDOMINAL EXERCISES!
Sure, you can build muscle UNDERNEATH the fat by doing ab exercises, but it will in NO way burn off the fat COVERING that muscle. In order to get rid of stomach fat, you have to do cardio and/or lift weights. Don't get discouraged because stomach fat is usually the LAST place fat will come off. You see, let me explain, the stomach is typically the FIRST place body fat is stored and it's the LAST place it leaves. I forgot the terms but, the receptors sending fat to your stomach are strong and many, yet, the receptors that get rid of fat are weak and few. See how that can be annoying?
Don't despair though, the road to getting a six pack involves strengthening those stomach-fat-leaving-receptors and making them more prevalent This is because, as said, stomach is the last place for fat to come off so when your down to the end, your body will be scrambling to find the last bit of body fat to burn, and that involves creating new and stronger stomach-fat-leaving-receptors. So, the first time you attempt to get a six pack, it's going to be very tough, however, after that, your receptors will be MUCH stronger and receptive so any time you try to lose stomach fat LATER, it'll be a lot easier and quicker. I read a very interesting analogy...
Additional Muscle Building/Weight Losing Tips:
Always warm up before every cardio/weight lifting session; warming up gradually (keyword) gets your heart ready for the intensity you're about to put it through. Additionally, you don't want to get to the end of the workout then, "Stop." Like warming up, you want to gradually bring your heart-rate back down.
It's a great idea to do some flexibility training before/after working out. Also, stretching warm muscles, post workout, greatly increases all flexibility training.
If you're trying to bulk up, go light on the cardio. Too much cardio between lifting weights can reduce muscle growth. This is because, as I said previously, you need a lot of calories, clean calories, to develop muscle. Too much cardio takes away those calories the muscles could be using. The cycle of building muscle and losing weight is what bodybuilders refer to as, "bulking phase/cutting phase."
Breath, Breath, Breath! Never hold your breath during weight lifting sessions or during stretching/flexibility training... EVER.
Water, Water and More Water!
"If losing weight was like raiding a castle, the stomach would be the King's Secret Escape."
Bear that in mind when you're getting frustrated. ;) But, yeah, that's pretty much it really.
General Aerobics
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