Guidance on losing weight and building a strong, muscular frame with either big or hard muscles has never been easier to find. TV shows are on nearly 24 hours a day based on fitness. Chains of stores throughout the U.S. sell supplements, and enough home gyms are on the market to cover a small country. When training, it's important to understand the differences between bigger muscles and harder muscles, and how to obtain either.
Body Fat
The primary contributor as to whether muscles will be big and soft, or big and hard, is your overall body fat. This usually has nothing to do with the actual muscle itself. Typically, larger, less-defined, softer muscles have a thin layer of fat covering them, just under the skin, known as subcutaneous fat, which leads to a sponge-like feeling when flexing muscles. For an accurate body fat measurement, the Mayo Clinic recommends making an appointment with your primary care physician instead of using any at-home tests.
Intramuscular Fat
A layer of fat on top of the muscle isn't always responsible for bigger, softer muscles. Sometimes a type of fat called intramuscular fat is the culprit. Intramuscular fat usually begins to form as your body starts aging. This fat is a marbled type of fat that literally runs through the fibers of your muscles, giving them a softer feel, but larger appearance.
Harder Muscles
Harder, firmer muscles are a result of long hours lifting weights in the gym, a healthy diet and a regular routine of cardiovascular exercise. The long hours in the gym are necessary to build the muscle tissue up over time. A healthy diet is necessary to limit the number of calories taken in, thus keeping the chances of your body depositing fat on top of or inside the muscle to a minimum. The cardiovascular activity is necessary to burn any excess fat the body might be storing.
The Goal
If your goal is to obtain bigger, softer muscles, you will want to eat a very high-calorie diet while still exercising regularly. Consult your physician on the number of calories you need to eat, as the number varies significantly from person to person. For example, some athletes eat as much as 10,000 calories per day. If your goal is to build firmer muscles, keep your caloric intake at or below what you burn daily, and lift weights regularly with proper form.
References
- MayoClinic.com: How Accurate are Portable Body Fat Analyzers?
- "Annual Reviews"; "The Effect of Exercise and Nutrition on Intramuscular Fat"; Christopher Shaw; August 2010
- MayoClinic.com: When You Lose Weight, Where Does the Lost Body Fat Go?
- Hussman Fitness: You Really Do Change from the Inside Out
- Training and Conditioning: Fueling for Football
Member Comments