Gain Muscle or Lose Body Fat. Don’t Do Both Simultaneously.

August 23, 2008

Gaining muscle to lose weight is a myth that is so common, that it needs to be addressed. How many times have you heard “Gaining muscle burns more calories around the clock, causing you to lose weight”. While this is true to a certain extent, it is extremely exaggerated. Lets explain why this is not a great approach to achieving a low body fat percent.

Having More Body Fat Will Increase Your Metabolism!

Believe it or not, this is actually true. Because…a pound of fat in your body burns two calories in a day. Therefore, gaining 10 pounds of fat means burning 20 extra calories per day. Yes, this sounds silly, and you certainly wouldn’t want to gain fat just to burn those extra 20 calories, but it’s a technical fact to consider.

How Many Calories Does Muscle Burn?

Medical professionals don’t agree on an exact number, but, muscle burns somewhere in the ball park of 5-6 additional calories per day. Think about it, this is not a huge number at all. As you keep reading, you’ll realize just how insignificant this number is. Muscle really doesn’t increase your metabolism as much as you’ve been led to believe.

Putting Things Into Perspective

Simply put, if you lost 20 pounds of fat, you will be burning 40 fewer calories per day. At the same time, if you gained 10 pounds of muscle, you would be burning 60 calories more per day. Add it up, a grand total of 20 extra calories per day burned. This is not a huge change in your metabolic rate, no matter how you look at it. A 40 pound loss of fat and a 20 pound muscle gain would add up to 60 extra calories burned per day. That’s practically nothing.

What Do You Have To Do To Burn a Pound of Fat?

You might not like this little tidbit. You will need to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound of fat. At a rate of 20 extra calories per day, this is never going to make a dent in your overall body composition. So, the incredible amounts of time spent trying to gain muscle can be spent differently for better results. This “gaining muscle” approach to fitness is not all it’s cracked up to be.

The Only Direct Way to Fat Loss is Burn More and Take in Fewer Calories

A good, hard cardio workout can burn 600 calories. If you are not trying to gain muscle, you can also eat less, taking in 600 fewer calories per day. This level will maintain your current muscle easily. A combination of good cardio and good diet can burn 1,200 extra calories per day. Now, that’s a figure that adds up quickly. Figure it out…this is about 60 times as many calories burned compared to trying to gain muscle! This is one of the best fitness tips to remember.

Cardio and Diet are Better for Body Definition (Maybe Not 60 Times, Though)

Clearly there are other factors involved, but the bottom line is that a combination of good cardio and good diet is the best, most effective way to lose fat. Burning more calories burns fat. Working hard at gaining muscle is not the best way to get your body lean and defined. Focus on the facts, and get effective strategies in place if you want to see results.

Posted by kapara | Filed Under Uncategorized 

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