Build Lean Muscle To Burn Fat Fast!

By Team ELM Fitness and Lifestyle Expert Robb Armstrong

At various times throughout their training regimen, some of our clients have expressed a little apprehension towards the use of weight training as part of their program to trim, shape and shed the pounds.

So, in this week’s Fit Tip we explain why adding lean muscle to your body is actually the major key to not only chiseling out definition and shape, but also losing weight!

Addressing The Muscle Myth

When it comes to lifting weights, some men and women tend to feel that by doing so it will unquestionably turn them into a hulking bodybuilder. However, if you take a look around the gym, the streets, your work environment, and even among your group of friends, you’ll realize that even though exercise is mainstream there aren’t hordes of muscled-up people everywhere you look.

In actuality, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bodybuilder anywhere unless you knew where to look. The fact is that becoming a bodybuilder takes an extreme amount of time – sometimes years. Not to mention, sacrifice and dedication under the rigorous training and dieting demands of a sport-specific program.

For The Ladies -- Being Fit With Feminine Muscle

I often laugh when some of my female clients, after following their routine strictly for the proper period of time, turn to me and say, "Wow, I really love my new muscles!" And then, after being so hesitant in the beginning, ask if the can I still build more!

We can certainly take a page from the bodybuilder playbook and adopt the understanding that your diet, training and dedication should be adapted to your specific goals. In this case, a program for weight loss while trimming and defining along the way is what we're after. And remember, ensuring success will require your complete attention to all the details.

Lean Muscle Sheds Pounds!

Having more lean muscle on your body will have a lasting impact both on the look of your physique and the rate of your metabolism. If you’ve noticed that over a course of inactivity you’ve said at some point, “Gee, I've gained about 8-10 pounds over the last year,” here are the reasons why:

Over the course of a year strength training adds about 2-5 pounds of lean muscle and each pound burns approximately 15 extra calories each day (in the past it was thought to be 50-70 calories per day per pound), which equals 30-75 calories burned each day. It doesn’t seem very significant, but it adds up to nearly 8 pounds a year!

So, without the fat-burning advantage of additional lean muscle on your body, just from regular, moderate weight training, your metabolism won’t have the jolt it needs to efficiently burn calories and ward off excess pounds that build up slowly over time.

Did You Know?

Through the use of a full-body or split-training program, whereby each muscle group is worked from a variety of angles in the same workout, the new lean muscle you add to your body doesn’t just “bulk” up one area.

Conclusion

The total lean muscle weight is actually spread out evenly over your whole body. The result is a trimmed, toned, shapely physique with a metabolism that continues to remain revved up throughout the day!

Note: Check back every week for more helpful health and fitness tips from eLifestyle's Fit Tips by Robb!