By: Benedict Smythe
Submitted: 2009-09-30 20:17:22 | Word Count: 520
There are two main problems when it comes to amateur or professional bodybuilding or similar sub disciplines burning fat (therefore, effectively reducing the body weight for a leaner body) and building muscles (can also be done after losing weight, but is a problem for people who are already naturally lean). In both instance, the resistance training program and the daily diet play crucial roles in determining the success of a person engaged in body building.
How do these things work anyway? What happens when most plans are for heavy set individuals who are in dire need to trim fat instead of gaining eight? According to Tom Venuto, the author of the book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”, gaining weight is just about tweaking existing plans to suit your needs. According to this author, you simply need to increase the amount of calories that you are taking in at the moment, and you have to make your workouts more efficient so as to convert those extra calories into hard muscle mass.
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Failing to eat sufficient amounts of food means you are depriving the human body of the necessary “raw material” to do just about anything. Think of it this way how will you be able to build a house with no concrete and no wooden frameworks to begin with? The body will not build muscle from thin air. The body needs ample amounts of fat, carbohydrates and protein to shape itself to the desired physique.
Tricks of the trade
Just how does one eat without gaining hard to burn fat? The trick, according to Tom Venuto, is to choose foods that give only a small calorie surplus. The small calories surplus would allow the body to capitalize and build muscle in its place. The way to do this is to study carefully the diet plan that has worked for you, and choose foods that provide this small surplus.
We should emphasize the word “small” here because this approach would be turned on its head if the surplus is too large. If the surplus is more than a thousand calories a day, then there is definitely something wrong with the extra eating that you are doing. Imagine yourself an efficient engine that is also efficient in fuel management. The extra gas that you have left over allows you to go the extra mile but too much gas makes the whole structure heavier, reducing your performance. This is what Venuto was hinting at.
“Bulking up” so to speak is in itself an art there are no clear cut guidelines as to how to do it, but it is possible and you can work it out on your own. Your main advantage is you have already observed the amount of effort it takes to build muscle with your own body. This means you simply have to work from there and make sure that you don’t over do the eating part.
Increasing your protein intake is also a good step in making sure that your body has enough organic substrates to maintain the bulking up. With no protein, you will have no muscles.
