Gain Lean Muscle
If you are serious about building lean muscle you need to gain muscle and lose fat together, rather than just concentrating on gaining mass and worrying about the fat later. This can obviously be easier said than done. The mistake most people make is just trying to bulk up and they don’t realise that they are outing on fat also. After all there’s no point having all that muscle if it’s buried under a layer of fat.
Another common mistake people make when trying to gain lean muscle is not eating properly. Really you should have 5-6 good calorie meals a day consisting of 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% good fats.The best foods include lean meat, egg whites, pasta, brown rice and lots of green veggies. You should also make sure you are getting enough water. Lots of water is a priority. You should be drinking 2-4L per day depending on your caloric intake, and it is especially important to maintain adequate hydration before, during and after a workout. Your body performs best when it is hydrated.
In order to gain lean muscle you also need to make sure that you are training correctly with the right exercises and getting adequate rest between workouts. Growth hormone levels rise 30-45 minutes after you fall asleep, so if you’re serious about gaining lean muscle you also need to be serious about your sleep.
The best way to gain lean muscle is with brief high intensity weight training and low intensity, long duration fat burning activities such as walking or jogging. The reason that cardio is so important is that it helps shed that fat and create muscle definfition. In other words you will appear more muscular than just bigger. Over time the intensity must increase and so too must your rest to allow your muscles time to repair and grow optimally. A rough guide is to gain one pound of body weight per week, any more and you are putting on more fat than muscle. Follow these simple tips and you should be on your way to gaining some lean muscle
