Building muscle can make your body leaner in two ways. First, building muscle will directly increase your muscle-to-fat ratio, making you look leaner even if you gain muscle weight. Second, building muscle will burn fat even when you're not working out. The combination of these two factors can result in a dramatic improvement in your appearance and your health.
Metabolism
It takes more calories to maintain a pound of muscle than a pound of fat, according to MayoClinic.com. Since your body is busy maintaining its tissues 24 hours a day -- by supplying blood and oxygen to cells, for example -- building muscle can help you lose weight even while you sleep. If you eat right, your body will burn fat to maintain your new muscle tissue, resulting in a lower body fat percentage.
Bodybuilding Technique
Your muscles will grow if you push them to their limits every time you work out. When you lift, continue until you cannot perform another repetition before resting -- this constitutes one "set." Perform two or three sets per exercise. Choose a weight that will allow you to perform no more than eight to 12 repetitions per set, and increase the weight whenever you can perform more than 12 repetitions without stopping. Use several exercises, and choose exercises that work out all of your body's large muscle groups -- your legs, back, arms, shoulders, chest and abdomen.
Rest
Bodybuilding is based on a cycle of short bursts of intense exertion followed by rest periods -- you perform a set of eight repetitions, for example, and rest before performing another set. Rest two or three minutes between each set, and between each exercise. Skip a day between workouts. Since most muscle growth occurs during sleep, get eight hours a night. Don't deprive yourself of sleep on night and try to catch up the next night by oversleeping.
Nutrition
You should add 250 to 500 additional calories per day to support 1/2 lb. a week of muscle growth, according to Dr. Steve Fleck, chair of the Sport Science Department at Colorado College. Muscle growth is more difficult, however, if you want to build muscle and lose overall body weight at the same time. In this case, consume about 1.2 g of protein fro low-fat sources, such as cottage cheese, per kilogram of body weight, while decreasing your intake of fatty foods. You may have to settle for slower muscle growth as the price of overall weight loss.
References
- The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Exercise and Weight Control
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: About Adult BMI
- Natural Choice Directory: Lift Your Way to Weight Loss
- MayoClinic.com: Strength Training--Get Stronger, Leaner, Healthier
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Adult BMI Calculator
- CNN: How Should I Eat to Build Muscle Mass?
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