Muscle Building: The Best Way to Lose Fat

Nutrition provides 60 to 70 percent of your body transformation goals, whether your goal is losing fat or muscle building.

There is a misconception that simply being skinny means you're healthy. This couldn't be further from the truth. Being thin doesn't necessarily mean you're in good shape. You can carry a few extra pounds and be healthy if you follow a good nutrition plan and a fitness regimen that involves muscle building.

You see professional athletes, like NFL and NBA players and assume that they don't eat a lot. Quite the contrary. In fact, they eat a lot just so they can maintain their weight and perform at an elite level. And that's combining time practicing their sport and working six days a week, at least in their off season.

But I know what you're thinking,

"I have a full-time job, school, family, and PTA! I don't have time to work out four to six times a week and monitor my nutrition to lose fat."

It's okay to think that. And it's realistic. Nobody expects you to eat 24/7 and spend all of your waking hours in a gym. That's not life! However, you can still have a healthy lifestyle and feel good about yourself (not to mention be less stressed out) by merely adjusting your eating habits and workout routine. But first, we have to attack one of the biggest health and fitness habits out there...

"The only way to lose fat is by doing countless hours of cardio and eating light."

Wrong answer! Personal trainers will tell you that the best way to lose fat and feeling good is to eat more (and smart) and incorporate a muscle building program.

"But I don't want to build muscle. If I lift weights, I'll get too big."

But merely lifting weights doesn't mean you're going to end up looking like a professional bodybuilder. Lifting weights can give you the sleek and toned body you've been craving. Engaging your muscles and working them on a regular basis forces your body to burn another source of energy... fat. If you run on the treadmill for an hour a day and don't engage your muscles, then your body will use the easiest source of fuel to burn, which is muscle. Your body burns muscle easier that fat, but if your muscles are engaged, then your body can't burn it.

Now, there are a ton of ways to feed your body during a muscle building program or lifestyle. But whichever diet you choose, you have to keep your caloric intake in check.

In order to make muscle building part of your lifestyle, you have to treat "diet" like a bad four-letter word. Diets are temporary and indicate that there is an end. This is one of the biggest pitfalls in fitness and nutrition. But in muscle building, life itself is the end game.

Your nutrition program should be a choice you follow for the rest of your life. The best thing to do is do as much research as you can from legitimate sources.

But one thing you'll see when researching for your nutrition, is organic. This is a good general rule to follow as organic foods, while pricy, are the healthier way to go because they are natural.

Another general rule you'll find, is if it comes in a box, it's man made and therefore, bad for you. Stick to perishable foods. If there's no expiration date, stay away from it.

And last, protein is the building block of muscle building. Protein feeds your muscles thus you lose fat.

When people hear about protein, they automatically associate it with meat, poultry, and fish. As much protein as these foods contain, doesn't mean vegetarians should give up on protein consumption. There are a myriad of different sources of protein including, beans and protein powder.

So the important elements to take away are that muscle building is the optimum way to lose fat, and make sure to keep your protein intake high.

Jake Chappelle has been in the fitness industry for 10 years. He's dedicated to helping people achieve their health and wellness goals.

For information on ways to improve your nutrition and building muscle, go to http://www.jsquaredenterprises.com/the-best-way-to-lose-fat

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Building Your Do-It-Yourself Six-Pack At Home

One physical fitness subject of evergreen interest to both men and women is how they can develop an attractive "six-pack". The term six-pack, AKA: 'abs', actually refers to a paired muscle set, usually appearing as two stacks of 3 muscles each that run vertically up a man or woman's front side starting slightly below the belt-line in the pelvic region and extending up to the bottom of the pectoral muscles.

Actually, you already have a six-pack. If it's not showing it's because of either or both of two factors.

First, unless you're naturally lean or you get a lot of exercise, these muscles are usually hidden by excessive fat. Secondly, you may have let these muscles atrophy through neglect therefore they have less mass than they could. Both situations can be changed by a simple program of consistently applied exercise at home.

We should also mention that some people, because they're tall or otherwise have a long torso, will seem to have an "8 pack"... but it's the same muscle set.

Let's consider, just briefly, why it is that people are so concerned with the condition and appearance of their abs. Wanting a good-looking six-pack is normal and nothing to be ashamed about.

Other than the structural reasons this set of muscles is so important to the human body, most people are more concerned with the social benefits of gaining muscle and a good looking six-pack. After all, this set of muscles shows, or doesn't show, when men or women wear a swim suit, it effects how their clothes fit and having a sleek, tight set of abs is associated with being physically fit, healthy, socially competitive and also being a proper gender role model.

Most people would naturally have a pretty good set of abs but the simple reality is that the jobs and daily routines of most people today just don't allow for the kind and amount of exercise that people need to gain muscle and look good. The point of doing your own home fitness program is to substitute for that natural exercise.

So the question really boils down to... what is the best exercise?

Believe it or not, the answer is simple: The best exercise is the one that you'll do. No matter how good a particular exercise works for somebody else, if you won't or can't do it, for whatever reason, it's of no use to you. Therefor the first criteria for an exercise program for you should be "Will I do it?"

That being the case, another question arises: "How much exercise is enough"?

Again the answer is simple. Any exercise you do has two factors... intensity and frequency. In other words, you can exercise a lot or a little. For example, doing 5 sit-ups is '5 reps'. Doing 5 sit-ups 5 times is '5 reps of 5 sit-ups'. As you progress through your own ab development programs you'll want to start with smaller numbers of reps of various exercises and smaller numbers of sets. As you gain muscle, your abs get stronger, your stomach gets flatter and your condition gets better you'll want to push both numbers up.

What you want is the proper mix that pushes your body to whatever point that shows results you're happy with. When you're looking better and feeling better every week... that's a sure sign you're doing the right thing.

The point is that you shouldn't go too far to either extreme... frequency or severity of your home workout program. For the average person, whatever kind of exercise you'll do on a daily basis that will make you tired, increase your breathing rate and start to sweat is as good a start as any.

The idea is to start your program and don't stop. Most people never do that. And if they do start, the reason they don't continue their exercise program is because they push themselves beyond their comfort zone. Experts will tell you, you should do that and that's true up to a point.

Just be careful. Take it easy. You've already done the most important thing. You've started. Every day that you don't stop is a day you can be proud of.

Almost any type of body movement you do that makes you curl your body inwardly, face toward your knees, is going to do something positive for developing the strong abs, distinct six-pack and flat stomach you want. Yes there are all kinds of strange contortions that various gurus recommend... and they usually work... but it we're talking about something YOU will do at home.

So let's keep it simple. Pick an exercise and do it. The more you do it, the tighter your stomach muscles will become and the flatter your stomach will look. You'll feel better and look better too. But let's talk about some of the language of any exercise regimen... "sets" and "reps".

We mentioned this earlier but let's give you another example.

Let's say you do 5 sit-ups in about 15 seconds. That would be called a 'set' of 5 'reps'. Your goal should be to do as many sets of as many reps as you can. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing one set of 5 reps on Monday, a set of 6 reps on Tuesday, a set of 7 reps on Wednesday and so on... until you reach your personal 'wall' beyond which you can't or won't go beyond.

Gradually you'll want to work up to multiple sets of reps interspersed with breaks to recuperate and hydrate.

What do you do then?

The answer is that you simply keep on doing that number of reps that you are capable of... and keep on doing it... and keep on doing it. This is not rocket science because you need to realize what's happening here.

Your body is adjusting and muscles are being torn down and rebuilt and sooner or later you'll suddenly realize that you can go 'a little further'. Wow! Isn't the body wonderful!!!

Yes, that's the way it works... really. You don't really need a personal trainer if you sincerely want to develop a flat stomach and good six-pack. Yes, a personal trainer is nice if you can afford it and if you have the time to go wherever they are. But really... do you? Probably not. That's why... the best home exercise program is the one that you'll do on your own at home. And you just need to keep on doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it.

Now... sure, there are some things you can do to make your home workout program more fun. Probably the most common exercise aid that people use is doing it to some form of energetic music. If you like rock music... do it to rock. If you like classical... do it to classical. If you like Salsa music... do it to Salsa.

It's partly a mind game... and the music that gets your mind off the exercise and on the music is the music that's best for you. This will help your home workout program be more enjoyable.

But there's another possibility you might want to consider too. A workout program can be fun to do with somebody else. It might be with your spouse, a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, somebody of the same sex or the opposite sex or even a mixed-group. It's entirely up to you.

The point is that sometimes doing it as a group makes it more fun. The only limitation of this approach is that sometimes it either restricts you from reaching your full potential as fast as you otherwise would or it pushes you further than you want to go.

So... it's your call whether you want to exercise with a group or not.

But we can guarantee you one thing. When you do start to exercise, you'll feel it before your friends notice it. And when they do start to notice... it won't exactly be your body they'll notice.

More likely first it'll be your attitude. There's something about the connection between the body and mind that just seems to make exercise good for you mentally too.

You'll find that you almost immediately start to feel better. Your attitude is brighter and you feel more positive about the day in general. People will notice that and isn't that really a big part of the reason you wanted to develop a good six-pack anyway... i.e. you wanted to be more socially acceptable?

Another important element of your exercise program is the aerobic value. Even a relatively non-stressful exercise, done with enough reps, will develop your breathing muscles and, in case you didn't know, it... those muscles are right there, in back of your abs and will help you develop the good looking six-pack you're looking for.

So that's the basics of what's involved with developing a flat stomach and a good looking set of abs. Pick an exercise, start to do it, and don't stop. Success is guaranteed.

If you need any professional help check out http://www.absformen.org/ where you can find all the help you need. If you're a woman in a need for help check out the site also, don't let the title fool you:)

I wish you the best of luck!

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