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 Bodybuilding Workout Programs 18 Mar 2009 |
Building Lean Muscle: What Starters Should Know?
- Building lean muscle mass is important for weight loss because it increases your metabolism
- Eating specific portions of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats is key to building lean muscle
- Combining multi-joint weight training and aerobic exercise is good for your lean muscle workout
Building lean muscle is an important part of improving overall health and fitness. Lean muscle speeds up metabolism so you burn more calories and store less fat. Plus, the extra muscle helps give you the ability to do more exercises so you keep getting healthier. However, to reach that point you need to know how to get started.
Diet Requirements
When you are building lean muscle, the worst thing you can do is cut back what you are eating drastically. Your body needs energy to create the muscle mass. If you cut back, your body will start consuming the lean muscle you do have and will slow its metabolism down so that you cannot lose weight.
Instead, you should follow specific guidelines on what types of foods to eat. In terms of calories, you should reduce those slowly and always keep in mind that you need a couple of hundred extra for the muscle building. That means if you should be consuming 1,500 calories a day, you might need to consume 300 to 500 more calories per day to achieve your goals.
Building lean muscle requires eating a balanced diet, including muscle building goods. That means you need healthy sources of lean protein. No more than 20% of your diet should be protein, however. And that protein should come from low-fat sources, such as fish and poultry. Do not fry anything because this leads to higher levels of saturated fat which are bad for you in other ways.
No more than 70% of your diet should be devoted to carbohydrates. Remember to avoid simple sugars, such as that found in candy and sweets. Instead, look for complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat items and vegetables. Look for sources that are high in fiber which is important for overall good health, too.
The remaining 10 to 15% of your diet should be for fats. Try to use healthy fats, including olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids, whenever possible.
Lean Muscle Workout
Just eating the right foods isn’t going to be sufficient for building lean muscle. You also need to have a workout routine. Although you may assume weight lifting is all it takes to add muscle, that’s not the case. Your workout should include some weight training but also aerobic activities that improve the functioning of your lungs and heart.
When you do weight lifting, avoid the isolation activities which are designed to increase muscle mass in certain areas of the body, such as the biceps. Instead, you want to use compound areas that are going to require the use of multiple joints in the body. Squats, chin ups, and bench presses are a couple of the most common of these training exercises.
Remember to know your limits. You don’t want to push yourself so hard you injure your body. That could set back all of your building lean muscle efforts. Instead, do about 20 repetitions of each exercise a couple of times a week and give your body a chance to heal afterward. Without allowing for healing time, you increase your risk of injury dramatically.
The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.
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This article is jam-packed with information! Seriously, I had no idea that building muscle was going to be that easy!
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.
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!
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.
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.
What kind of carbs are good for this? Is pasta and things like that all right?
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!
Lean muscles were never important to me before I read this, now? I think completely and totally different! Thanks a lot!
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.
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!
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.
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?
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
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
Hey guys
I would like to throw a spanner in the mix here and recommend people take up on the ‘anabolic diet’ which is the opposite of what is
recommended on this website. Anabolic diet is ahigh saturated fat, low protein and virtually zero carb diet. I have been on it for 6 months and have gotten leaner beyond my imagination. Please do read up on it, you might be surprised.
Regards
J
This guide helped me prepare to save the world!
Great post! Thanks for sharing this with the online community!