Increasing lean muscle and reducing body fat are key components of health and fitness. Every day, television commercials and magazine advertisements drive home this home as they tout the newest drugs and nutritional supplements. While nutritional supplements are less-regulated than pharmaceutical drugs, both sometimes pose serious side effects that can be detrimental to overall health even as they build muscle and burn fat.
Resistance Training
The simplest, safest way to build muscle and burn fat is through resistance training. Performing "abbreviated" strength-training routines, focused on simple, multijoint, compound-movement exercises, two to three times per week will increase lean body mass. Bodybuilding coach and writer Stuart McRoberts, in his book "Beyond Brawn," says these abbreviated routines not only are the most-efficient way the average person can build muscle quickly but also provide the additional benefit of burning fat more effectively than dietary supplements and pharmaceutical aids.
Abbreviated Training Plan
Performing exercises such as the barbell squat, deadlift and bench press creates an energy demand on the entire body that leads to faster muscle growth and fat loss than less-intense resistance-training methods.
Perform three to five sets of five repetitions for four or five exercises. Start each training session with the barbell squat, then focus on a pushing exercise and a pulling exercise with no more than one or two supplementary exercises. Strength coach Mark Rippetoe and McRoberts both call this approach the single most effective resistance-training strategy for the genetically average, recreational athlete.
GOMAD
The "GOMAD," or "Gallon Of Milk A Day," nutrition method ideally supplements your abbreviated resistance-training program. Whole milk blends essential nutrients like proteins, carbohydrates and essential fats that are naturally balanced to promote muscle growth in humans and animals. Strength coach Rippetoe, author of "Mean Ol' Mr. Gravity"---a compilation of his articles and columns from various online forums---points out that you cannot consume an entire gallon of milk to start out. Rippetoe recommends starting with a quart or pint of milk a day and increasing your consumption to a gallon, over the course of several weeks.
GOMAD is a supplement
GOMAD does not replace a healthy diet with adequate nutrients and calories. It adds an additional 2,400 calories to your diet. When combined with a solid resistance-training exercise that provides total body fitness training, it will increase lean body muscle. When you've reached your target bodyweight, reduce your consumption of milk, while maintaining your total daily caloric intake, and any fat gained during the GOMAD program will be lost as long as you continue to perform heavy resistance training.
Cardio
Performing 15 to 20 minutes of cardio three times per week is more than adequate for maintaining heart health and cardio-respiratory fitness while building muscle and burning fat. According to Rippetoe, too often people focus on hours of endless cardio in a misguided effort to simply burn calories. While this is effective, it tends to burn muscle tissue as well as fat, leading to a reverse of gains, and what Rippetoe refers to as "skinny-fat" physiques. This is a syndrome where the athlete appears thin and fit, but maintains an abnormally high and unhealthy bodyfat percentage.
References
- "Mean Ol' Mr. Gravity;" Mark Rippetoe; 2009
- "Beyond Brawn;" Stuart McRoberts; 2007
- "GOMAD: How to Gain 25 Pounds in 25 Days;" Stronglifts.com
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