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Building Lean Muscle: What Starters Should Know? – Updated Article With More Information

Building lean muscle is important for your general health and fitness. Building lean muscle will speed up your metabolism, so you will store less fat and burn more calories. Also, with more lean muscle you will be able to exercise more and get even healthier. Here is what you need to get started.

Building Lean Muscle

Dietary Requirements

The worst thing you can do when building lean muscle is your food intake. Your body requires a lot of energy to build lean muscle, so if you cut back on your food intake, your body will consume the lean muscle you already have and slow down its metabolism. Hence, you won’t be able to lose weight. Instead, it is imperative to follow the guidelines on specific types of foods you should be eating. You will need extra calories for lean muscle building, rather than a reduction. The regular amount is 1,500 per day, so you will need about 300-500 more. You should also drink 4-6 liters of water every day.

Building lean muscle involves a balanced diet with healthy sources of protein. However, protein should not comprise more than 20 percent of your diet, and it should come from sources that are low in fat, like poultry and fish. You should also consume a wide variety of lean beef, whole milk, and whole eggs throughout the day. Avoid protein bars that contain aspartame, sucrulose, or any kind of sweeteners.

As for carbohydrates, 70 percent is the maximum your diet should contain. Consume them when your body requires them the most: before and after workouts, and at breakfast. You should avoid simple sugars, like those in sweets and candy. Instead, consumption of complex carbohydrates is recommended, examples of which include vegetables and whole wheat foods.

The 10-15 percent of your diet that remains should be left for fats, which are necessary for testosterone building and other muscle building hormone production. Try to make these healthy fats when you can. Examples include fish and fish oils, mixed nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, and natural peanut butter. Avoid packaged, processed, and fast food.

Lean Muscle Workout

Most people assume that all they need to build lean muscle is weight lifting, but this is not true. Your workout should include aerobic exercise and some stretching too. You should start with 3 full-body workouts of weight training every 48 hours. You should be stretching at least half the time that you are lifting. So, if you do weight lifting for 3 hours a week, 1.5 hours should be for stretching or yoga. To stimulate muscle growth, train each group of muscles through its entire motion range. The core of the workout should include presses, deadlifts, rows, squats, dips, pull-ups, and weighted core work.

Remember not to overdo it and know your limits. If you push yourself too hard, there is a risk of injury. This could actually set you back and have the opposite effect on your efforts to build lean muscle. Give your body a chance to heal to avoid injury.

For the original article, click here

For more information, go to:
en.wikipedia.org,
wiki.answers.com

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.

17 Responses to “Building Lean Muscle: What Starters Should Know? – Updated Article With More Information”

  1. 1
    Fitness Ian Thorton Says:
    Great post! Thanks for sharing this with the online community!
  2. 2
    James Bond Says:
    This guide helped me prepare to save the world!
  3. 3
    vivini Says:
    Well your only 13 you have abortively no experience in these fields or any experience or knowledge in what steroids can do for a person. Anything is possible but if you want results then listen to the experts and learn about what your talking about before speaking about it, kiddo.
  4. 4
    tori Says:
    I disagree i think girls and women CAN gain muscle without steroids. Many women just don't want to be big. I am 13 and i am stronger than many people girls AND BOYS at my school. ANythings possible i know this for a fact
  5. 5
    brandon Says:
    it is the same for a woman, tho it is harder to get muscles, many woman say they dont use heavy weights because they dont want to be big like a man but the truth is without roids you wont get big. But if ur after lean and toned muscles then yes it is near enough the same. Dont start eating the same amount of calories as is recomended for a man though, and some think not high lighted above is the importance of water, when building muscle. The main contents for building muscles is protein to help build and repair tissue, and water to hydrate your self and bulk the musles. Only down side or maybe upside of drinking alot of water is that your veins will increase in size. Good luck with it and remeber consistancy is the key, take it easy. Sorry about the spellings. X
  6. 6
    Alicia Says:
    So, is this just for men, just for women, or is it for both sexes? If it's not, then do women need to do anything different to put on muscle?
  7. 7
    Evan Says:
    The worst thing you can do is trying to do too much too fast. If you do that, you are going to wind up completely exhausted and you definitely won't have the physique you dreamed of.
  8. 8
    Mindy Says:
    I have to say that I love candy and sweets but after reading this article, I'm done with them! I'm going to start working on my lean muscles right away!
  9. 9
    Nate Says:
    Naturally exercising is important for building muscle as well. However you need to remember that keeping your muscles in good shape and always stretching is just as important as what you eat.
  10. 10
    Lonie Says:
    Lean muscles were never important to me before I read this, now? I think completely and totally different! Thanks a lot!
  11. 11
    Lindsey Says:
    I had no idea that lean muscle speeds up metabolism and can help you burn a whole lot of calories. That's pretty cool actually, thanks so much for the info!
  12. 12
    Zach Says:
    What kind of carbs are good for this? Is pasta and things like that all right?
  13. 13
    Sam Says:
    Always remember that while eating plenty is essential, you have to eat the right foods. Also, too much caffeine or other energy boosters can make you crash bad during a workout.
  14. 14
    Gordon Says:
    Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, I am interested in bulking up muscles but don't want to look like a meat puppet. I had no idea diet was so important to making muscles lean.
  15. 15
    Tucker Says:
    Really, lean muscles are the wave of the future. For all you body builder guys and gals, you should slim down and invest in lean muscles -- it's better!
  16. 16
    Adam Says:
    This is great info. I personally am not into the big meaty look. Great to know how to put on lean muscles without going overboard.
  17. 17
    Sealy Says:
    This article is jam-packed with information! Seriously, I had no idea that building muscle was going to be that easy!