There is a myth that you have to gain fat to gain muscles, but it’s just not true. Many men and women are turned off from the benefits of strength training because they don’t want to get fat. However, with a few techniques and diet modifications, there is absolutely no need to gain fat when building muscles. The people who count on you to buy their fat-burning supplements don’t want you to hear this, but you can actually lose fat while gaining muscle in many ways. Here are some useful techniques to gain lean muscle mass.
Keep moving:
If you work out five times a week, eat a super clean diet, and discipline yourself against food binges, you could still be in fat-storing mode if the rest of your life is sedentary. Sitting for prolonged periods of time throughout the day encourages the release of stress hormones like cortisol, which end up signalling fat storage. So get up and move around throughout the day, especially if your job is sedentary by nature. Try standing up and moving around every thirty minutes.
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep:
Sleep is the ultimate fat-burning activity. Your body actually needs more calories to sleep than to simply rest. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, or if your sleep is interrupted throughout the night, then your body will switch out of fat-burning mode.
Supplements That Help You Build Lean Mass:
When you have a strong diet, supplements can help you gain muscle mass and minimize fat gains. It is also important to point out that supplements are not food substitute; they are here to help you get enough of the nutrients that you can't get from regular meals.
Whey Protein: It is one the most popular supplement, since it is rapidly absorbed by your body, it is recommended to take it just after your workout (in the following 30 minutes). It can also be used as a snack, which will help you reach your daily amount of protein.
Multivitamin: They provide the necessary vitamins and minerals necessary to boost your metabolism, which will lead to better performance and optimize muscle growth.
Creatine: It is one of the most used supplements in the fitness industry, because it works. Creatine has many benefits such as: promoting lean muscle mass, improving strength and enhancing recovery.
Separate Cardio and Weight Training:
When you are doing a clean bulking, you don't want to gain too much fat. In order to do this, you will have to do some cardio training so you can minimize the fat gains.
However combining weight training and cardio is probably not the right thing to do. If you do this, your body will most likely enter into a catabolic state (using muscle tissue as a source of energy).
Therefore, it would be better to do cardio on another day or do it a few hours before/after your weight training. One or two cardio training per week is enough, so you can: reduce fat storage, promotes endorphin and improve general health.
Avoid Junk Food & Alcohol:
If you eat 6 healthy meals per day, you can have 4 junk meals per week without gaining fat (it can actually help fat loss). More will harm your progress. Limit junk food & alcohol consumption.
Eat Whole Foods:
90% of your diet must consist of whole foods to avoid fat gains. Examples:
Proteins: whole eggs, soya,chicken breast,fish and seafood
Fats: olive oil, fish oil, real butter, mixed nuts, avocado,
Starchy Carbs: brown rice, oats, brown pasta, Fruits & Veggies: bananas, apples, spinach, broccoli
Carbs-protein-fats:
There are 3 ways with which you can provide energy to your body; carbs, fats and protein. In order to build muscle you need lots of protein. Apart from building muscles protein also helps you get rid of fat, as the process of protein synthesis is very energy consuming. Always remember to eat high-glycaemic index carbs immediately after workout. There are two reasons for it. Firstly, it helps in replenishing the skeleton muscle glycogen level and secondly, the insulin released in the blood due to carbs helps in protein synthesis. Many people will argue that it is not necessary to eat immediately after workout but there is absolutely no evidence behind this claim.
Eat the right way:
You might have heard of 6-8 meals plan a million of times. Apart from limiting the large amount of calorie in-take at a single time, it also helps you lose more weight. The science behind it is that when there is a big gap between the two meals, your body goes into an energy saving state. In this state, your body burn least amount of fat. So, it is important that you don’t eat heavy meal and divide a single big meal to several small meals. When you eat lots of calorie at a single time some part of that is used to provide the body energy, the rest is stored in the body as fat or glycogen.
Run daily for 10- 15 minutes:
Running is the best way to lose fat. It not only helps in losing fat but it also makes you sweat more. Psychologically, sweating boost your energy which is very good for intense workout. Plus, there are many people who don’t warm up properly before a workout. And, the regular stretching exercises are very tedious. You should run at least 10-15 minutes before every workout. You can start by walking at a slow pace and gradually increase the speed.
