You may have heard that if you manage to build muscle, you will also burn fat. That’s why a lot of pros are saying – build muscle if you want to burn fat. That’s for good reason. Muscle does burn more calories than fat.
Therefore, a lot of people do not really think about lifting weights when they’re aiming for weight loss. Well, that’s a mistake. Strengthening muscle will make you look lean and buff, but it will actually help you burn fat, and therefore, lose weight. With this being said, most people who want to look great, shouldn’t aim to burn fat alone, but to build muscle too. Building muscle will make you look leaner, and will allow you to burn fat faster.
But why is that? I mean, why do building muscle and burning fat have such a close relationship? Let’s find out.
Muscle Types
Many people still believe that fat turns into muscle. That’s a huge mistake. Fat does not and never turns into muscle! Muscles and fat are made from completely different materials.
However, there are 2 types of muscle:
- Type 1 (slow twitch muscle) fibers
- Type 2 (fast twitch muscle) fibers
The type 1 is the one that you use when you need endurance. Such as running long distances. In short, low impact workouts. The type 2 fibers are used for fast paced movements. Such as sprints or squat jumps or when you lift heavy weights. These fibers will tire faster and will require longer to recover. Yet, the type 1 fibers will stay almost the same size after toning. The type 2 fibers, however, will grow.
Based on this information, if you want serious muscle definition, it is the type 2 muscle fibers that you need to focus your efforts on. However, add exercises for the type 1 in order to reap the most benefits.
What is fat?
There are more than just two fat types and they are completely different from muscles. Moreover, unlike muscles, fat can appear a bit more complicated. That’s one of the reasons why we often refer to some of the fat in our bodies as “stubborn fat”.
- That “stubborn” fat is usually white fat. It is also known as the subcutaneous fat. The one that it is usually forming around your hips, belly, butt, and thighs. This fat is actually the body’s largest energy reserve. That’s why it is so hard to get rid of it. Our bodies are naturally made to keep hold of it.
- There’s also “visceral” fat that hides away beneath the white fat around your midsection. Visceral fat is important because it protects your vital organs such as the liver and intestines. Nevertheless, too much of this fat type is detrimental because it can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and others.
- Lastly, there’s the “brown” fat. It is the type of fat that you would love to have more of because it helps burn calories and not store them. When you’re working hard in the gym, the brown fat will encourage the white fat to temporarily turn into another form of fat that will burn calories – the beige fat. There’s also the essential fat too. Generally, there are 6 top types of body fat.
Relationship between muscle and fat
The reason why building muscle helps so much is because a pound of muscle will burn around 6 to 7 calories a day. This means that if you’re weighing 190 pounds and 100 of it is lean muscle, you’ll burn 600-700 calories that day simply because you carry that muscle around. Now imagine the amount of calories you burn when you train hard with all that muscle.
However, research uses different ways to determine this so other factors would influence your metabolism. Age, sex, activity level – all play a role.
In the end, it all occurs because much like your smartphone requiring electricity to work, your muscles require energy to work too. The muscles take this energy from the fuel you give – food.
The body is using a number of calories simply to stay alive, for normal everyday bodily functions. Your lungs use energy to breathe, your heart uses energy to pump blood, and your digestive system to break down food. Nevertheless, most of the energy that the body uses is to power the muscles and make them functional. The best part is that you do not use the muscles in the gym only. Therefore, you’ll be burning more calories even when you’re resting and having a higher amount of lean muscle.
The point is – the body will look for energy regardless of what you’re doing. It could be scrolling your phone or working hard in the gym. It is obvious that this will provide a different output of energy as your muscles seek fuel faster when you up the pace in the gym. However, we can’t dictate to our bodies where to look for energy. Therefore, it could take the energy demands from fats, or carbs. Sometimes, it may check into protein – that’s when you lose lean muscle.
So, Build Muscle To Burn Fat
Based on this, should you strength train if you want to lose weight and cut fat? Yes, you should. Not only will strength training encourage your body to look for energy from carbs and fats, not protein (preserving lean muscle), but it will also increase calorie expenditure. Then, it will use more calories to recover the lean muscle you’ve damaged when working out. Later, with a larger amount of muscles, you’ll burn more calories! What’s not to love? Strength training does help you burn fat big time! You must build muscle if you want to burn fat efficiently!
OK, maybe you will not lose lots of extra calories by adding some extra muscle. However, you will definitely boost your metabolism, your overall health, and fitness. Strength training will lead to lots of benefits!
Research proves that holding muscle mass and even gaining lean tissues as we age will help us stay away from excess fat weight. In short, it will provide lots of benefits. Some examples of such benefits:
- A drastic increase in body composition, making you look healthy and be healthy
- Burns extra calories, even after your workout
- Helps enhance coordination and balance (less prone to injuries)
- Prevents lean muscle mass loss
- Enhances bones and connective tissues’ health
How To Build Muscle and Burn Fat?
When it comes to cardio to build muscle, I would recommend you exercise at around 65% of your maximum heart rate. This is the “fat burning zone” helping your body burn fat efficiently, but just below the threshold where your body switches to burning carbs instead. To find out your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 0.65. 20 years old? 220-20×0.65=130 your perfect heart beats per minute.
But this will only provide fat loss. When it comes to building muscle, here are some quick tips:
Exercise earlier
According to research, morning exercise can blast up to 20% more body fat and help you gain more muscle mass. Working out after your workout will encourage your body to burn fat because it has less glycogen (energy) from carbs that you eat in the morning. Moreover, testosterone levels are higher in the morning. Also, simply your energy levels are higher in the morning. Want to get big and muscular? Wake up in the morning.
Get more rest
When we mean rest, we do not mean scrolling through social media at the gym as it seems that most people are doing nowadays. In fact, you shouldn’t be scrolling through social media at night either. You need to get a decent amount of sleep each night, at least seven hours of high-quality sleep. This will balance out your hormones (reducing cortisol) and will maximize your efforts in the gym. Studies suggest that being sleep-deprived will hinder your muscle-gaining process and fat-burning ability.
Follow the 1:3 rule
It is a very simple rule. Work out for one hour, three times a week. However, you need to exercise hard. You need to stick to your workout schedule and train strenuously. It is much better to throw yourself into a beast mode three times a week for one hour, rather than barely breaking a sweat five times a week, for two hours.
Work harder
I’ve just mentioned it, but I will mention it again. If you want to burn fat and build muscle, your best bet is to work harder. You need to lift weights and do bodyweight exercises until you can barely make it to your bed. Lift to failure, and eat correctly. In combination with proper sleep – you’ll see huge results.
Get plenty of sleep
As said, you need to get enough rest. The best time when your muscles, mind, and body are resting is during sleep. So, once you go hard in the gym, you need to recover… through sleep. You need to learn sleep techniques as it may not be as easy as it sounds. Wake up in the morning, get quality sleep, go early to bed, and avoid blue screens, foods, and drinks before going to bed – these are just some tips.
Eat correctly
Your body will build muscle only when it has the proper “material” to do so. Therefore, you need to pay attention to what you’re eating and how much. Moreover, even your post-exercise snack is going to make a change in terms of building lean muscle and burning fat. You should go for a combo of carbs and protein within 2 hours post-workout. The amino acids in the protein will repair muscles and carbs will replenish glycogen stores. Aim for a healthy, balanced, and varied diet. Avoid junk food, high in sugars and fats, as well as processed foods.
Ready To Build Muscle and Burn Fat?
We understand that building muscle and burning fat can be hard. Building muscle usually involves eating in a calorie surplus, but this surplus can lead to fat gains. Burning fat, on the other hand, usually involves eating with calorie deficiency, but this deficiency can lead to muscle loss. So, what to do?
Use SARMS.to. With the help of our SARMs, you can achieve your goals much faster and much easier. We provide the best quality SARMs on the market for the best prices. You do not need to worry about quality and you ensure you get them for the best prices. SARMs are proven compounds that significantly help you cut through fat (fast) and protect lean muscle mass. They will also reduce energy, fatigue, and recovery times. With SARMS.to, you’re making sure you’re well on your way to achieving your goals.
