this article is for drug free lifters if your not a drug free lifter it might work it might not This article is inspired by a lot of the questions people have e-mailed to me . I must have answered this question 100's of times by now. The questions are usually something like "How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?" or "I want to lose fat but gain muscle at the same time, how can I do it?" If you went into a gym and took a poll of what everyone's goal was, I can bet that most, if not all, would say to gain muscle and lose fat. I doubt there is anyone who just wants to lose fat, they want to gain muscle while they are at it, and visa-versa! So, is it? Is it possible to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? No, it is NOT possible, and I will not only tell you why its not possible, but I'll also tell you how you can do both, just not at the same time.
To lose fat, what do you have to do? You have to do lots of cardio, eat a low carb/low fat/lower calorie diet, and of course, lift weights. To gain muscle, what do you have to do? Do little or no cardio, eat a high calorie/higher carb/higher fat diet, and again, lift weights. Did you notice something there? Yup, they are complete opposites. Trying to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time would be like trying to sit and stand at the same time. It just can't be done. This is why most people who are trying to do both at the same time see no results and give up. So, then how can it be done? How can you lose fat and gain muscle if you can't do both at the same time? Simple, you don't do them at the same time. You do them in phases.
I call my muscle gaining, weight gaining, size and strength gaining phase the "bulking up phase." And I call my fat lose phase the "cutting up phase." The bulking up phase is the phase where my diet is high in calories, carbs, protein, and a little fat here and there (but only good fat of course, no fried food or potato chips or anything) and I do no cardio. This phase will usually go on during the winter. Why did I pick to do this phase during the winter?USA, its cold during the winter, which would be the best time for me to put on a bit of fat. Don't get me wrong here, its not like I become overly fat with a big gut or anything even close to that, I just get bigger. I will usually do this phase from October until around March. During this phase my goal is to gain all of the strength, muscle and size that I possibly can before its time to change phases. But then.....
But then it comes time for the cutting phase, which for me usually lasts from March until October, during the hotter, spring and summer months. During this phase, I will greatly lower my carb intake, slightly increase my protein intake, and my fat intake (which only really comes from fish, lean meats, and nuts) will stay about the same. I will also start doing cardio, about 30 mins a day, 3 days a week. Also, my weightlifting workout will stay exactly the same as it was during my bulking phase. The only difference will be that the weights I was able to lift during the bulking phase will start to slightly decrease during the cutting phase. Why? Because my body weight is getting a little lower, and therefore I am losing some strength. My goal during this phase is to lower my bodyfat and lose all of the fat that I gained during my bulking phase, and basically get those abs showing again.
See how it works? Lets say for example you are 150lbs now, during the bulking phase you may go all the way up to 175lbs, but then during the cutting phase you may go down to 163lbs. But, now you are back where you started at, except with 13 new pounds of muscle, plus by now you should be pretty ripped and have those abs showing. So now your 163lbs, repeat the phases over again and you'll be maybe 170lbs at the end of the next cycle. See how it works now? Repeat the phases over and over again. For more specific information about losing weight and gaining weight, check out the weight loss or weight gain section of the site.
Now that your done reading, you may have another question on your mind. Lets see if I can guess it, your wondering if during the cutting phase, will you lose muscle that you gained during the bulking phase. The answer is yes, you will lose some. But now you probably have another question. Why does that happen, and how can you stop it or at least lessen the amount of muscle and strength that you will lose
HOW TO BURN FAT Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight. There are 6 simple steps. Here they are:
1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Thats right, wake up, and eat like you would normally eat and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer some where. You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah right, I'm not gonna sit around counting calories all day." Well, if your thinking that, then your obviously not dedicated enough to losing weight. If this is the case, then feel free to go waste your money on the newest useless weight loss pill. But, if you are dedicated enough to take 10 minutes out of your day and count the calories, then keep on reading.
2) At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drank. Be as exact as possible. Once you add it all up, you now have the total number of calories you consume daily. Also, weigh yourself.
3) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories LESS then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day. Understand? All you have to do is subtract 500 from the total number of calories you consume in a normal day, and eat this new number of calories every day for the next 7 days.
4) Instead of eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. Doing this will speed up your metabolism.
5) Cardio. Cardio is a must for weight loss. If your serious about losing weight, but don't want to do the cardio workouts, then you are wasting your time. Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, take an aerobics class, whatever.. just do it! All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 3 - 5 days a week. I say 3-5 days a week because I don't know if you have 5 pounds to lose, or if you have 50 pounds to lose. So, depending on how much your looking to lose, figure it out. 3 times a week is the minimum though. (For information on the most effective time of the day to do your cardio workout, read doing cardio for maximum weight loss)
6) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice a difference just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 20 pound difference. Losing anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthly. So look for a 1 or 2 pound weight loss at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can lose 5-8 pounds a month! Thats around 75lbs a year! So if you have ALOT of weight to lose, you can lose it. If have just a few pounds to lose, you can lose it.
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