If You Can"t Build Muscle, Build A Plan
A recurring theme in resistance training is the need to build muscle.
However, you may have come to the conclusion that your body is simply not good at building muscle.
This may actually be true.
However, unlike what you may believe, your body's ability to effectively gain muscle is something which you can control and change.
Having the goal of fat loss is a unique perspective to the practice of building muscle, and is somewhat different to how you would approach gaining muscle if you were at healthy weight or if you were underweight.
Therefore, some of the tips which you may find elsewhere on the internet may not be designed to help people like you.
This article includes tips which are specifically designed for people wishing to gain muscle in order to lose weight and fat.
First, in order to understand the problem, we must first identify the reasons why some people find it so difficult to increase muscle mass.
A lack of food.
Starving is not a good idea, under any circumstances.
In order to lose fat and not muscle - and therefore, to have a healthier and better-looking body - it is important to continue to eat well.
Whilst it helps to have a caloric deficit in your diet, you still need to be providing your body with enough nutrients so that it can function well, without using the energy stored in your muscles.
Fear of gaining more weight.
It is understandable that, if you are overweight or obese, you will be afraid to gain even more weight.
However, it is important to keep in mind that, whilst muscle gains will initially increase your weight, they will then work to burn away your fat, thus leading to you losing much more weight than you have gained, if you are consistent.
Inconsistency.
With all things in life, success in fat loss depends upon consistency.
If you are constantly changing your caloric intake or your approach to exercise; or, you are missing work-outs, altogether: your progress will be much more slow than if you maintained consistency.
Keep track of your caloric intake, stick with one exercise approach (preferably resistance training) and motivate yourself to exercise for at least twenty minutes, three times per week.
Low self-esteem.
A lack of confidence in oneself almost always leads to a lack of success.
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some may believe in scientific fallacies relating to metabolism or genetics.
Others may lack self-esteem due to previous experience of failure.
Either way, once you have found an exercise regime with a proven track record for success, it is important to believe that this is the right regime for you and that you will succeed at it, as much as you want to.
So, what are some practical solutions to overcoming these obstacles, other than the obvious ones of eating more, not being afraid of gaining more weight, being more consistent and having higher self-esteem? It is true that negating all of those four obstacles will lead to muscle gain which you had previously not been able to achieve.
But, it is always a good idea to have a structured approach to eliminating such problems.
Below, are examples of a few of these approaches.
Set your target weight.
The usual rule of thumb for this is, one kilogram for every centimetre above 1 metre of your height.
For example, someone who is 1.
75 metres tall should aim for a weight of 75kg (165lb; 11st 11lb).
Eat more often.
In order to keep your metabolism working hard, it is important to eat at more times of the day, but actually eat slightly less, each time.
For example, eat 5 or 6 smaller meals every 3 hours, rather than 2 or 3 large meals.
Keep a log.
In order to keep track of your progress, a wise idea is to weigh yourself and take photographs of your build, every two weeks, so that you will know whether you're on the right track.
Believe in yourself.
Understand that, whilst you were doing it wrong last time, you're doing it right this time.
Therefore, you will get the results you want.
Following these suggestions, consistently, will soon allow you to realise that your body will work just like everyone else's does, and that you are capable of gaining muscle just as other people are.
Stick with it, and good luck!
However, you may have come to the conclusion that your body is simply not good at building muscle.
This may actually be true.
However, unlike what you may believe, your body's ability to effectively gain muscle is something which you can control and change.
Having the goal of fat loss is a unique perspective to the practice of building muscle, and is somewhat different to how you would approach gaining muscle if you were at healthy weight or if you were underweight.
Therefore, some of the tips which you may find elsewhere on the internet may not be designed to help people like you.
This article includes tips which are specifically designed for people wishing to gain muscle in order to lose weight and fat.
First, in order to understand the problem, we must first identify the reasons why some people find it so difficult to increase muscle mass.
A lack of food.
Starving is not a good idea, under any circumstances.
In order to lose fat and not muscle - and therefore, to have a healthier and better-looking body - it is important to continue to eat well.
Whilst it helps to have a caloric deficit in your diet, you still need to be providing your body with enough nutrients so that it can function well, without using the energy stored in your muscles.
Fear of gaining more weight.
It is understandable that, if you are overweight or obese, you will be afraid to gain even more weight.
However, it is important to keep in mind that, whilst muscle gains will initially increase your weight, they will then work to burn away your fat, thus leading to you losing much more weight than you have gained, if you are consistent.
Inconsistency.
With all things in life, success in fat loss depends upon consistency.
If you are constantly changing your caloric intake or your approach to exercise; or, you are missing work-outs, altogether: your progress will be much more slow than if you maintained consistency.
Keep track of your caloric intake, stick with one exercise approach (preferably resistance training) and motivate yourself to exercise for at least twenty minutes, three times per week.
Low self-esteem.
A lack of confidence in oneself almost always leads to a lack of success.
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some may believe in scientific fallacies relating to metabolism or genetics.
Others may lack self-esteem due to previous experience of failure.
Either way, once you have found an exercise regime with a proven track record for success, it is important to believe that this is the right regime for you and that you will succeed at it, as much as you want to.
So, what are some practical solutions to overcoming these obstacles, other than the obvious ones of eating more, not being afraid of gaining more weight, being more consistent and having higher self-esteem? It is true that negating all of those four obstacles will lead to muscle gain which you had previously not been able to achieve.
But, it is always a good idea to have a structured approach to eliminating such problems.
Below, are examples of a few of these approaches.
Set your target weight.
The usual rule of thumb for this is, one kilogram for every centimetre above 1 metre of your height.
For example, someone who is 1.
75 metres tall should aim for a weight of 75kg (165lb; 11st 11lb).
Eat more often.
In order to keep your metabolism working hard, it is important to eat at more times of the day, but actually eat slightly less, each time.
For example, eat 5 or 6 smaller meals every 3 hours, rather than 2 or 3 large meals.
Keep a log.
In order to keep track of your progress, a wise idea is to weigh yourself and take photographs of your build, every two weeks, so that you will know whether you're on the right track.
Believe in yourself.
Understand that, whilst you were doing it wrong last time, you're doing it right this time.
Therefore, you will get the results you want.
Following these suggestions, consistently, will soon allow you to realise that your body will work just like everyone else's does, and that you are capable of gaining muscle just as other people are.
Stick with it, and good luck!
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