There usually are 2 major reasons why people exercise. Building muscle and lose fat. Although training industry promote exercise and diet program to do both at the same time, however, unfortunately this does not happen that easily. Reason is building muscle and losing fat is two opposite mechanisms. One is building and another is breaking down. Most people want to accomplish both at the same time not knowing what it takes and never able to accomplish both.
Fat Loss
When focusing on fat loss major focus is in breaking down of fat or using stored energy. Therefore, it is ideal keep the carbohydrate intake low, which will lead to suppressing of insulin. During this process, while fat is catabolized, muscle may also go through breakdown. When you are following low-carb diet this process may slow down, however, expecting muscle growth may not be a ideal focus.
That is the reason we need to consume adequate amount of protein and exercise on regular basis to minimize the loss of muscles. Although exercise is important, however, exercise itself is a breakdown process of muscles. Muscle growth happens when it gets recovered from breakdown by proper nutrition and sleep. While you are on fat loss, depending on what plan you are going through, amount of nutrients required for the muscles to grow may be limited. Therefore, we need to be mindful of not overtraining ourselves to the point muscle is not recovering properly, which can lead to elevated cortisol and injury.
Muscle Building
To build muscles 2 things must happen. One is stress to the muscles, which can be done with training. Second is rebuilding muscles, which can be done by proper nutrition and sleep. Therefore, it is ideal to train properly and eat properly so that breakdown and rebuilding of the muscle, or muscle synthesis, is happening. During this process, we may gain some fat, however, due to muscle growth energy expenditure, or metabolism, may increase, which may result in slower accumulation of body fat. Yet, it is ideal to add few days of fat loss plan every 4-6 weeks to keep the fat under control.
Remember, our body is designed for survival and building muscle to the body is using extra resources and to maintain it takes more energy. So, if you are not consuming adequate amount of food, the body will focus only on keeping our brain and heart functioning and not on muscle building or recovery.
Muscle Building and Fat Loss by Phase
Often time people mix the fat loss and muscle building together, which lead to not consuming enough nutrients. This leads to fatigue, elevated cortisol, long lasting soreness, poor sleep quality and can also lead to loss of appetite.
If you have several pounds to lose, focus on losing fat while maintaining muscle mass and strength through exercise as much as possible. Once you have met your fat loss goal, transition to muscle building with short duration of diet every 4-6 weeks.
Although mixing doesn’t work, working by phase does work and seems to be more efficient.
Improving Appetite
When transitioning from fat loss to muscle building and having a trouble eating more, focus on consuming suggested protein amount (0.7-1.1g/lb). Remember, your intestine is also a muscle. Along with intestine, digestive enzyme is also made with protein or amino acids. Therefore, along with building muscle we will also need to strengthen our digestive system, which prioritize protein intake.
If you are struggling to meet protein requirement from food source, you can utilize protein or amino acids supplement. If you have digestive issue with protein, amino acids supplement may be a good place to start.
Information you may receive regarding fat loss and muscle building is confusing due to how they are used to market. However, just like anything else, focusing on one goal at a time will help you focus on what need to be worked on.
Kota Shimada
Comments