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2003/06/26, 10:16 PM
Gaining muscle or losing fat…….
You actually have to be like Luke Skywalker, and use the FORCE!! Sounds funny, but this cannot be overstated.
There are always lots of questions from both camps, those wanting to gain mass, and those wanting to lose fat. Actually, these 2 may be dealt with in much the same way. Let me explain. If you are trying to gain mass (lean tissue), you have to work out brutally hard, rest well, and ingest a load of calories. If you do not consume enough calories, and in the correct amounts, day after day, week after week, you will not gain muscle. No matter how hard you train. You have to be able to accept a reasonable fat gain along with this muscle gain. An overabundance of calories is needed for gaining, thus some spill over into fat.
Now, if you want to lose fat, a calorie deficit is needed to accompany the same intense training, but still supplying quality nutrients, day after day, week after week without fail.. In all reality, some lean tissue may likely be lost in the process, but again, as in gaining, precautions can be taken to minimize this. Now, how are these two opposite agenda’s linked?
I think the answer to this is your body’s priority is neither to gain muscle or to lose/burn fat. Once it reaches a comfortable set point, it wants to stay there. In fact, it is the very LAST thing it wants to do, and will do. The body is only concerned normally with self preservation. And it will fight hard to stay there. So, either way you are going, you literally have to FORCE your body into either building muscle or burning fat. I think this is the key word in all of this, FORCE. In gaining, this is achieved by basically overeating, and eating still more, so the excess calories are there in the correct forms after the body does all other functions. The same with burning fat, you need to be at a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, and taking in nutrients to preserve your lean mass. Half measures either way will not work. The body has to be forced to burn fat for fuel. If not, the body will turn to muscle glycogen then tissue in an attempt to keep its happy level of stored fat.
So, either way you want to go, the force is on. Either eat large quantities of food, or diet consistently and smartly. Half measures either way and your body will not respond the way you want it to. Your diet is your key both ways, and can never be overlooked, not even for a day. So, you must remember always, that like it or not, you are in a literal fight with your body. Any half measures will just short circuit any progress you are trying to make. Good luck to all of you in your goals.
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As far as genetics go, the skies the limit. You are limited only by your mental perception of it.
Ron
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