It would be safe to say that most people, at one time or another have wondered how long, and with how much intensity they would have to train in order to turn all their unwanted body fat into sexy muscle?
And, on the flip-side, when they stop training, how long before that precious muscle turns back into fat?
These are some of the questions I hear all of the time. In fact, questions like these have been asked so often that I've come to realize that there is quite a lack of knowledge, or perhaps understanding is a better word, relating to how training actually affects someone's body composition.
In order to answer these pressing questions, I want to take the time and explain the different roles of muscle and body fat.
I want to share some common statements that are used by many people, and then, I will try to give you the straight-up, honest truth about why those statements don't make sense, and why they should be taken out of your "wellness vocabulary."
Let's start with the most common one of all:
"If I workout, I will be able to turn my fat into muscle."
First things first, muscle and fat are two distinctly different types of tissues. Therefore, it is physically impossible to change muscle into fat, or vise-versa. The best way to think about fat is that it is a mass of cells which can do any of three things. They can remain together as a mass and remain at rest, they can grow and divide as more calories are taken in and turned into fat, or they can shrink in size if and when those fat-converted calories are burned off by some form of physical activity. That's it! That's all that fat can do.
Muscle, on the other hand is a very different type of tissue. Muscle cells, also known as "fibers" cannot grow in terms of their numbers, like fat can. Each of us has a pre-determined number of muscle fibers in our body. These fibers, however, can be stimulated and grow individually, therefore giving us larger, more defined muscles overall.
"I'm going to lose my fat before I start gaining muscle."
For a long time now, people have thought that losing fat and gaining muscle were two totally separate things that could never be done effectively at the same time. Well my friends, times have changed, well, not really, actually attitudes have changed, and there is now a much better understanding about how these two things actually work.
That's exactly the reason why many fitness professionals (myself included) now agree that doing BOTH an effective fat-burn, along with a muscle-gain in the SAME workout is truly the best way to get the results you want, fast! After all, if you lost all of your body fat first, before attempting to add any lean muscle, first, it would take you a very long time to get into shape, and also, you would be so weak from all of your "fat-burning" efforts, that you probably wouldn't have the strength to pick up a dumbbell! If you want to start losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, you need to start doing a complete wellness program that incorporates dynamic training and functional nutrition.
If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this statement: "The more lean muscle you have on your body, the more fat you will burn, no matter what activity you are doing."
"I just want to target the fat on my [belly] [hips] [butt] that's all."
Targeting specific areas of fat, or "spot-training" as it is so commonly called is, in a word, a MYTH! If you remember back in my first point, fat cells all work together as a large mass, and it's impossible to know where they are going to end up sitting on your body. This is determined by how much and where your body decides it needs extra fat stored. You have absolutely no control over this, so please stop thinking that you do. When this fact finally sinks in for people, that's when they start to get the results they want, because they aren't fighting a losing battle against fat. They're attacking fat as a whole and creating a situation where fat is not permitted to grow.
The great thing about muscles on the other hand, is that they can be targeted specifically, and therefore be made more or less pronounced, depending on how much or how little work is done on them from a training standpoint. Use this strategy to your advantage when planning your workouts!
"I'm working out, so I can eat whatever I want."
This final statement is something that I hear far too often. People enter into a training program with this mis-conception that the work they are doing will magically cancel out any and all of their poor eating habits! This statement is as full of bologna as the people who believe it to be true. Don't be one of those people. Listen, all you have to remember is that if you continually burn off more calories than you consume, you will be in a "calorie deficit." And, if you are using quality, dynamic strength training to burn those calories, then the stuff you're losing will almost certainly be body fat! Remember that it's impossible to out-train a bad diet!
It really is that simple! So don't get caught up in believing false statements about losing fat and gaining muscle! Our bodies have been the same for thousands of years, and the way they work is also the same. There's no miracle drug, or shake or workout that will bring you results overnight, or while you sleep.
The FACT is that if you work hard, and put forth an honest effort to eat well, and stay motivated to see your results, you WILL succeed!
Now, go and get it done!
My Name is Dale Bateman. For over 10 years, I've been helping ordinary people (like you and me) achieve their fat loss goals with my common sense approach to health and wellness. I truly believe that long term fat loss can only be mastered by incorporating what I call my three components of fat loss.
These are Fitness, Nutrition and Motivation. Without all three components, you are setting yourself up for failure. Each week, my blog features a brand new, original post dealing with one of these three components. Also, you can sign up for my free weekly newsletter and free 5 week e-course, "5 S.T.E.P.S. to Losing Your First 5 Pounds."
So if you're looking for common sense strategies for losing fat and achieving optimal health and wellness, please visit my blog today: http://losethefatforlife.com/
Thank you.
Dale Bateman
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