People often say they want to lose weight. However, everyone knows that the weight of our body is represented by various tissues. Among them there are fat, and water, and muscles and more.
Therefore, when we talk about weight loss, everyone is naturally interested in getting rid of hated body fat, and not muscle.
There is only one piece of advice for weight loss, despite the fact that we are given thousands of them. It - .
A calorie deficit is eating fewer calories than your body needs throughout the day.
A calorie deficit forces the body to find alternative source energy. Ideally, they can become hanging areas of subcutaneous fat, which you are so tired of. However, it can also be muscle mass.
Of course, no one wants to lose muscle, but only burn fat. However, the body does not pay attention to our desires at all, it just needs the energy that it takes from fat, muscle, or both.
How to lose fat without losing muscle? I thought you wouldn't ask!
Here are eight actionable tips to help you along the way.
1. Eat enough protein
Sufficient daily protein intake is the most important dietary requirement for maintaining muscle mass.
Numerous studies have shown that even in the absence of proper power loads, the body will lose more fat with sufficient protein intake.
The first step is to get your protein intake throughout the day. The good old 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is still relevant for most people.
Photo: Meditations/unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
2. Save power, no matter what
The main incentive necessary to maintain the volume of muscle mass is to maintain the current level of strength indicators. You know that a constant increase in strength signals the muscles to start building.
While on a diet while burning fat, it is necessary to maintain the existing levels of strength indicators. This tells the body to keep the muscles. That's why it's futile to expect muscle preservation when training with light weights.
In reality, you lift heavy weights to build muscle, and you train heavy weights to maintain muscle while burning fat.
If you focus on light weight training when you are in a calorie deficit, then your body will reasonably decide that your goal is to lift light weights.
This means that large amounts of muscle are no longer needed, and they can be burned for energy. In other words, maintaining strength is maintaining muscle!
3. Reduce workout duration and/or frequency
A calorie deficit is an energy deficit. Therefore, you will not be able to stick to the previous training script in order to maintain working weights.
Many have experienced this in their own skin. With the loss of calories, it becomes more and more difficult to train, the number of repetitions and weight decreases.
How to avoid all this? Just. Change your training program to compensate for the lack of recovery that always comes with a calorie deficit.
Reduce the amount of work: the number of sets and repetitions, the number of workouts per week.
4. Eat before and after your workout
Even if our goal is to burn fat, we still need to eat before and after training in order to preserve muscle. Recovery and preservation of muscle volume is directly dependent on nutrition.
Being in a calorie deficit doesn't mean you should avoid pre- and post-workout meals.
5. Avoid Excessive Cardio
Strength training obviously remains a stimulus for maintaining muscle mass and burning fat. But in the case of this it is not necessary at all.
Of course, if the goal is to maintain endurance, then cardio is king. But when it comes to muscles, no! Of course, we are not talking about high intensity or normal walking, which do not affect the recovery and preservation of muscles.
6. Don't cut calories too much
As we all understand, it is necessary to create a calorie deficit. And that means lower calorie intake. required level to initiate fat burning.
The fact is that the calorie deficit is divided into moderate, medium or pronounced. Each degree of deficiency has its pros and cons. A moderate deficit of about 20% of calories is ideal in most cases.
Why not more? Maybe a more severe calorie cut will make the fat melt in front of your eyes? A pronounced deficit has a powerful Negative influence for training and recovery. This will cause a loss of strength and volume of muscle mass.
7. Control the amount of carbohydrates during the week
Eat more calories on certain days (workout days) and fewer calories on regular days (recovery). This is done primarily with carbohydrates, and the amount of protein should remain unchanged. Especially if our goal is to lose fat, not muscle.
On training days, you reduce your calorie deficit, and on recovery days, you increase it. As a result, the average deficit will be at the required level.
The goal is to improve recovery by providing the body with more energy/ nutrients when he most needs them. This will allow you to better maintain muscle and strength.
8. Take a Break When You Need It
The body does not like a calorie deficit, and our will is not made of steel. Sometimes the passion is like you want something to eat. Well, you can give yourself a break.
Sometimes you can return to normal for 1-2 weeks. There are dozens of potential physiological and psychological benefits that result from such breaks. And maintaining muscle mass is one of the key benefits.
Created on 04.11.2013
Are you losing weight, but instead of the expected fit and beautiful, your body becomes flabby? You are losing muscle mass!
To prevent this, it is important to know how to maintain muscle mass while losing weight.
Weight loss and fat loss are not the same
People often say they want to reduce their weight. But this is a dumb statement. Our weight includes, for example, water, glycogen, muscle, fat. You can cut off a leg and lose "weight" perfectly. You need to lose fat, not muscle.
Those who lose weight reduce their calorie intake. But with a calorie deficit, what happens is that the body receives fewer calories than it needs for the energy that will be spent on movement, breathing, digesting food, pumping blood, and so on.
If the body receives an insufficient amount of calories, then it will look for an alternative source of energy. Ideally, this will be the stored fat you want to lose. However, muscle tissue may also be consumed.
Of course, you want to lose fat, not muscle. But your body won't do what you want. It's just that the body knows that in order to survive and function in these conditions, you need to take energy from somewhere. It could be fat, muscle, or a combination of both.
How to Lose Fat Without Losing Muscle Mass
Eat enough protein
Sufficient daily protein intake is the single most important dietary requirement for muscle maintenance.
Even in the absence of a proper gym workout, you will lose fat rather than muscle mass just as a result of increased protein intake.
Maintain your strength level
The key requirement of strength training for fat loss without losing muscle mass is to maintain your current level of strength, that is, the amount of weight you lift with each exercise.
It's insanely stupid to lift heavy weights for muscle building and then switch to light weights for bigger reps. When you start lifting light weights, your body thinks, “Looks like we only need to lift a light weight and those muscles that were built to lift heavy weights are no longer needed. So you can burn them as a source of energy, and not take this energy from fat. " Do not lose strength and this in turn will allow you not to lose muscle.
For example, if you are currently bench pressing with 30 kilos, then for the entire fat loss phase you should stick to that 30 kilos (or more if possible). The same goes for any other exercise.
Reduce the frequency of your workouts
If you don’t recover properly after training, then muscle mass is not built up, but lost. The workouts get harder, you get weaker, the reps and weights you lift decrease.
To avoid this, reduce the number of repetitions or exercises that you do, reduce the number of workouts per week.
Eat right before and after workouts
When your goal is to lose fat without losing muscle, the food you eat before and after your workout is very important.
Don't Reduce Calories Too Much
It is known that in order to lose fat, it is necessary to create a calorie deficit. Deficiency can be small, moderate or large. A moderate deficit of about 20% below previous calorie intake is ideal in most cases.
The main disadvantage of a large calorie deficit is that it will have the most negative impact on training and recovery. This means cutting calories too much will increase muscle loss.
Those who have already lost enough fat can stick to a smaller calorie deficit.
Consume different amount calories on certain days
Eat more calories on training days and fewer on rest days. So you provide the body with energy when it is needed. This will allow you to better maintain muscle mass and strength while losing fat.
Sometimes it is necessary to take a diet break for 1-2 weeks. There are both physical and psychological benefits to this. You will recover, and this will help maintain muscle mass and strength in the future.
Avoid excessive cardio or don't do it at all
Cardio training for muscle building is not important and can even be harmful. Yes, cardio is good at burning fat, but it can take away the ability to maintain muscle. They also lead to loss of power.
30-60 minutes of low-intensity walking will burn calories well and you won't need a long recovery. You can also switch from running to an exercise bike. Muscles will have less damage, which will speed up recovery.
Change the duration and intensity of your workouts. Do classes for 20-30 minutes. Do intervals of 10 seconds to two minutes in the active phase and 20 seconds to 4 minutes in the rest phase.
Do cardio 3 times a week. And after such classes, do not do strength exercises on the lower body for at least 24 hours from the moment they end, since strength training will not be effective due to under-recovery.
This technique will burn fat faster and preserve as much muscle mass as possible.
If you've ever lost muscle while trying to lose fat or are just worried that it might happen to you in the future, these tips will help you avoid it. The first two points are the most important in order to lose weight without losing muscle mass.
Good afternoon friends. Right on the agenda fat burning and weight loss. We will find out how to burn subcutaneous fat without losing muscle mass. Let's start with the established rules for gaining muscle mass and losing weight. When a person gains weight, the amount of fat is necessarily added, and in the case of drying, not only lipids (fats) are burned, but also muscle mass. Let's try to find out if it's really true that burning fat, you will definitely lose lean muscle mass.
How to burn fat, not muscle
When the process of nutrition and training is not established, not a serious approach to losing weight, the body loses proteins, and muscle mass goes along with fat. The second option is the correct and competent approach to fat burning, as a result of which the muscles gained by hard work in training are not burned.
Important! It is necessary to understand the mistakes, after which the process of catabolism of muscle tissues starts.
First, let's talk about a process called the Krebs cycle. He explains the processes of energy exchange and providing the cell with all the functions for its life. In order not to dive into science, we will give you a simple analogy.
You have a large stove in which firewood is stored, acting as fats - fuel for the body. Your goal is to burn fat, that is, those firewood that lie in the oven. The firewood is large, they cannot be kindled with a match. If you have ever tried to light a fire, you know that you first need to light a lot of paper or use an incendiary mixture - another substance. So, not large chips will gradually light up, and only then you will have a fire. Such chips for the body is glucose. She's the one who starts fat burning mechanism in which the muscles remain in place.
How is fat burned during fasting?
Most of you have heard the expression "fats burn on the flames of carbohydrates." After all, glucose is a source of energy. With restrictions on the consumption of carbohydrates, during weight loss and diets, glucose burns quickly enough, but since the body needs energy for life, fats are the source of energy for the firebox. Respectively, carbohydrates are needed to start the fat burning process, which, in turn, after burning, will pull fats that we do not need as an energy source.
You have a frozen question, what if the diet is carbohydrate-free, does it not work? However, the catalyst in this case is not carbohydrates, but proteins. This is due to glucogenesis, the process by which non-carbohydrate compounds are broken down into glucose. When you use a no-carbohydrate diet, the amount of protein in your daily diet needs to be increased. Most of the coals will be broken down to glucose and will act as a catalyst to start the fat burning process. The rest of the percentage will be used to maintain body tone, muscle growth and other processes.
An interesting question about starvation diets. Where does the body get energy to maintain all vital functions and how does the fat burning process work in this case?
Everything will happen by analogy with the previous options, as in the case of carbohydrates and proteins. That is, the body as a catalyst will use its own protein (your muscles) to start the process.
During fasting, proteins will be used not only to start fat burning and as a catalyst, but also to support vital functions.
Mistakes that burn not only fat, but also muscles
We have identified three main areas, the result of which is the burning of not only subcutaneous fat but also muscle tissue.
Starvation and refusal of food. Catabolism of muscle tissue is inevitable as a result of prolonged starvation and lack of intake of essential nutrients, proteins and carbohydrates. You don't need to starve.
Continuous loads. If you exercise a lot or lead an active lifestyle, being on the road, moving, food does not come in for a long time - catabolism is a gift to you. You don’t need to spend hours and every day in the gym, take time to rest and recover, overtraining has not yet gone to anyone.
Rigid diets and heavy loads. In practice, this error is considered the most common. If not many people risk exhausting starvation and heavily load themselves, then there are many who want to go on a strict diet and load themselves with intense training. This means if you drastically reduce your usual calorie intake and start exercising intensively every day.
Cardio in the morning. upon waking up is not the best way to burn fat. You need to be careful about this, because the body spent about 8 hours without food when you slept. Your glycogen stores are depleted and you're on a long run. What's happening?
Drying without losing muscle mass. The essence of drying the body
Metabolism and calorie deficit
To get rid of excess subcutaneous fat(and for the determined inhabitants of the gym, he, the same fat, cannot be any other than "superfluous"), you just need to create calorie deficit. But with ease we use the phrase "just that" when we are just discussing a topic. drying, but when this is the case in practice, everything has a slightly more serious scale. We will not touch upon the moments of discipline, willpower, and so on - we will leave this topic as homework, but rather focus on what actually is essence of drying- how best to create the same calorie deficit so as not to get a "collapse" of muscle mass.
There is a term like a basic level of metabolism or BUOV. What is this baseline metabolism? This is the value that determines the number of calories needed for the functioning of our organs. Big impact BUOV has our muscle mass. The more muscle mass, the more calories our body spends even at rest. Now, let's say you sit on diet and not particularly bothering, properly, generously cut down the number of calories consumed, to which in response they received loss of muscle mass. So your base metabolic rate decreased because the body no longer spends calories as actively when muscle mass was slightly higher. And a sad picture comes out: we get fewer calories, but also we burn there are fewer of them, as muscle mass is lost. How to be in this situation?
The way out of this situation is to plan a diet in such a way that the reduction in caloric content of the diet is not critical and does not cause loss of muscle mass. But our body has such, it would seem, useful property, which in this situation is bad for us. It's about adaptation. If we take and reduce the calorie content of our diet by a fixed number of calories, then in a few days the effect of this event is on the way to fat burning will approach zero due to the very adaptation of our metabolism to such a way of eating. Of course, it will not be said on the "drying", but "we have brewed this mess, we will disentangle it." In order to prevent the body from adapting, it is necessary to make "differences" in calorie content and this will not give our body a chance to adapt to a certain number of calories.
In practice, it looks like this. First cycle: cut calories, lose fat. Second cycle: slightly increase the calorie content of the diet, while gaining some fat, but less than before the first cycle. And the third: again we reduce the calorie content for a short period and again we lose fat. Thus, you constantly lose fat.
We calculate the energy needs. The essence of drying the body
Energy needs
To start the "cycle" body drying we need to determine the body's energy needs. There is a special formula that will help us to cope with this task, and this formula is based on body weight, percentage of body fat and level physical activity.
First you need to determine the proportion of fat that accounts for your body weight. The average figure, as a rule, is 15% of the total weight of our body. There are many methods for quantifying subcutaneous fat, and as a rule these methods give more or less accurate data. Below are illustrative examples quantity subcutaneous fat
an example of the percentage of adipose tissue in men
an example of the percentage of adipose tissue in women
Knowing the amount of fat as a percentage, we calculate the body weight without fat. The resulting number must be multiplied by 24, as a result, we will determine the basic level of metabolism, the so-called BUOV.
The next step to take is to figure out our daily activity level and multiply the REM by that.
Coefficient 0,35 corresponds to a low level of activity.
Example: low activity sedentary office work
Coefficient 0,45 corresponding to the average level of activity.
Example: light exercise, walking
Coefficient 0,5-1.0 corresponds high level activity.
Example: intense training, physical labor, etc.
Having chosen the appropriate coefficient, we multiply it by our base metabolic rate BUOV. The resulting number is added to BUOV
The last step in these calculations is to determine the number of calories to provide a thermal factor. The thermal factor is a combination of processes of digestion, transfer and assimilation of nutrients. Typically, this takes an average of about 10% of the energy.
Below is a calculation using the example of a 90 kg man leading a moderately active lifestyle:
Mass of fat
90x0.15=13.5 kg of fat
Body weight without fat
90-13,5=76,5
Base metabolic rate
76.5 x 24 = 1836 calories
Metabolic level with regard to activity
1836x0.5=918, where 0.5 is the activity coefficient
1836+918=2754
thermal effect
2754x0.1= 276
Outcome:
2754+276=3030 (calories).
Thus, in order to burn fat the most dynamic and do not lose muscle mass need to create calorie deficit, which will be 300-500 calories less than the calculated figure. After 4 days, when, the basic metabolic rate will begin to adapt to diet, you need to add a few hundred calories to the diet. This will help you avoid falling. metabolic rate in and loss of muscle mass.
When distributing daily calories, consider what you will be doing in the near future. That is, take into account the level of your subsequent activity.
FROM ut drying the body- active fat burning without loss of muscle mass
Author: Vkopirait
Any overweight bodybuilder or powerlifter will tell you that it is impossible to lose weight without losing a drop of muscle mass. And he will be right. At one time I was puzzled by the reset excess weight. At the time of setting the task, I had 104 kg in me, while I benched 150 kg from the chest, squatted with 200, and pulled 220. Not the most impressive results, but all this was lifted without ammunition, with only a rag belt two fingers wide. In a year, I managed to lose 15 kg, bringing my weight to 89. At the same time, I squeezed 145, squatted 190, and pulled - still - 220.
How did I achieve this? In fact, everything is very simple. There is a rule that if an athlete loses more than 1.5 kg in a week, then along with fat, he also loses significant muscle mass. I am ready to subscribe to this statement right now. There are enough effective methods fast weight loss, which I personally tried on myself. For example, a 5-day watermelon diet. During it, I lost 6 kg, which I subsequently gained with success, but at the same time, every day of these five I was in gym. The effectiveness of training did not fall at all, which is explained by the high content of carbohydrates - the main source of energy for the body - in watermelon.
There is a kefir diet - when up to 2 kg of excess weight is taken in one day. But all these methods suffer from the same drawback. How quickly the body loses weight, just as quickly it gains it. In addition, the next day after the kefir diet, the effectiveness of training decreases sharply. So, after it, I was able to run only 4 km, against the usual 7 for me at that time.
However, there is a reliable method of effective weight loss with 90-95% preservation of muscle mass. It is worth reducing the eating of carbohydrate-containing foods at night. Potatoes, pasta, all sweets, sugar and even sweet fruits (they contain fructose, although their calorie content is minimal) should be consumed at the latest before 2:00 pm. In the evening, you should focus on protein-rich foods - eggs, lean meat, skim milk and kefir, fish and lean poultry. But cottage cheese, albeit fat-free, is still better to take in the morning because of high content carbohydrates. In addition, it will serve as a great way to close the morning protein window.
You can also use a drug such as L-carnitine. It will accelerate the burning of body fat during aerobic exercise. Speaking of training. It will have to make significant changes. Firstly, at the end of the workout, when all the glycogen in the muscles has already been “burned”, you will need to spend 30-40 minutes jogging - during all this time the body will feed on fat deposits. It would be reasonable every morning - on an empty stomach - to make 40-60 minute runs. Please note that in this case the body will consume fat only from the 30th minute, because. before that, it will “burn” glycogen. Fortunately, after 6-8 weeks of morning jogging, the body will rebuild its energy balance and learn to use fat from the 15-20th minute.
Such simple rules will allow you to confidently lose up to 1 kg per week without causing damage to the muscles.
