Learn how to prevent muscle catabolism and maintain as much muscle gain as possible on the course and during natural training. Every athlete during drying asks the question - how to maintain muscle mass. A similar problem is relevant for people who want to lose fat. There can be many reasons for losing weight, but one thing is important here - you need to get rid of fat and at the same time maintain muscle mass. This is especially true for girls who most often use cardio loads for this and neglect strength training.
Today it is known for sure that the more muscles in the body, the higher the metabolism and even at rest the body spends a lot of energy. If you decide to lose weight and want to know how to maintain muscle mass, then today we will try to answer this question. We must say right away that you need to set yourself up for serious work, since it is difficult to get rid of fat, especially for girls. At the same time, it is quite possible to achieve this and you need to eat right and play sports.
You should also know that the human body, as it were, remembers the amount of fat reserves that it had before losing weight. Moreover, he not only "remembers" this meaning, but also tries to return to it. Don't think about it. That you can deceive your own body. When you decide to lose fat, you must change your attitude towards your lifestyle. Having set a specific goal for yourself, strive to achieve it.
How to Maintain Muscle Mass - Recommendations
We will now give you a few guidelines to help you fight fat effectively while also showing you how to maintain muscle mass.
- Set a goal for yourself. Any important business should start with setting a goal and losing weight is no exception to this rule. However, you should be realistic, and, say, you will not be able to lose 15-20 percent weight in a month. Now we are talking about the correct fight against excess weight, which involves reducing only fat mass. It's not for nothing that you want to know how to maintain muscle mass. Write down your goal on a piece of paper and thus, on a subconscious level, you make a promise to yourself to achieve it. From a psychological point of view, this is very important, because it will be very difficult to transfer a dietary nutrition program and you will have to give up many habits. You can also take a photo of yourself at the beginning of the weight loss process so that you can clearly see the results.
- Organization of catering. By and large, to lose weight, you just need to change your diet, reducing its energy value, and playing sports only helps to achieve your goal faster. If you actively play sports, but at the same time do not make adjustments to your nutritional program, then you will not be able to get rid of fat. The body will find ways to preserve the accumulated energy reserves, which are fats. After deciding to lose weight, your main "enemy" will be a special enzyme - lipoprotein lipase. With its direct participation in the body, metabolism slows down, and adipose (fat) cells become the last in the list of potential energy sources. It is not difficult to guess that muscle tissues are the first on this "list", since the body considers them less important. You should be aware that muscles are more than 70 percent water, and when using most diet programs, it is the fluids that will be lost with the muscle tissue. This is the reason that many people in such conditions see the result and rejoice at it, not suspecting that the fat mass in their body has practically not changed. Thus, you should definitely reconsider your approach to nutrition.
- Power frequency To ensure that your body is not deficient in nutrients, you must eat regularly. The interval between meals should not exceed three hours and therefore you should switch to five meals a day. In this case, the daily calorie level must not be exceeded. You must distribute food evenly throughout the day. This step will reduce appetite, increase the rate of metabolic processes and eliminate sudden surges in sugar concentration.
- Serving sizes of food … We have already found out that in order to lose weight it is necessary to limit the daily calorie intake. To do this, you can engage in constant calculations of calories eaten, or simply limit the size of one serving of food to the level of the palm or clenched fist. Of course, the second option for controlling the calorie content of your diet is much more convenient and simpler. But at the same time, you should use only the right foods, which we will talk about now.
Organization of meals for drying without losing muscle mass
Scientists today devote a lot of time to studying the issue of proper weight loss. And now we will tell you about what you can eat while losing weight, and what foods are strictly prohibited.
- Omega fatty acids. Almost everyone knows about this group of substances today, and we will not dwell on the benefits and beneficial properties of omega fats. Let's just remind you that they must be present in your diet. Eat fish and possibly supplements for this.
- Protein compounds. If you want to know how to maintain muscle mass, then you cannot do without protein during the period of weight loss. At the same time, this does not mean that you need to consume this type of sports food in large quantities. You probably know that the daily requirement for protein compounds is on average two grams per kilogram of mass. It should be remembered that you also eat foods containing this nutrient. Therefore, you need to consider this fact when calculating the required amount of protein mixtures. In addition, it is important that about a third of the daily protein requirement is satisfied with the help of sports nutrition. When it comes to food, you need to eat red meat, poultry, legumes, fish and seafood. Remember that meat should not contain a lot of fat, and poultry should be skinned. Also, do not fry fish or poultry in oil, and even more so in fat.
- Carbohydrates. It is the main source of energy that the body needs. There are complex and simple carbohydrates and the former should be present in your diet. Sources of simple carbohydrates are sweets, flour products, etc. It is allowed to use simple carbohydrates before the start of the training, but in small quantities. You also need to consume fiber, which is also considered a carbohydrate. Vegetable fibers are found in fruits and vegetables.
How to organize a workout so as not to lose muscle mass?
As we said above, many girls for weight loss prefer cardio loads to strength training. However, much better results can be achieved when they are combined. With men in this matter, things are different, and they often do the opposite, preferring just strength training.
By working with weights, you significantly speed up your metabolism, and this has a positive effect on fat burning. Also, muscle mass requires a lot of energy to maintain, which we also mentioned. As a result, we strongly advise girls to do strength training.
During the period of weight loss, your exercises should be intense, but at the same time, not long. If you want to know how to maintain muscle mass, then do not train long and often, as this will only harm you. Often people assume that aerobic sessions need to be low-intensity and prolonged to burn fat. In practice, this is not the case, and such an approach to organizing training will not bring good results.
Scientists have proven that high-intensity cardio stimulates lipolysis processes much more actively and, in addition, increases the rate of metabolic processes. Moreover, if you do not eat for 60 minutes after the end of the cardio session, the fat will continue to "burn" after the training. To effectively fight fat, you only need to do three 20-minute aerobic workouts per week. You can use any kind of aerobic exercise, and the choice is quite large. You can work out on a variety of cardio machines, jog, and even walk at a brisk pace.
How to Maintain and Maintain Muscle Mass While Drying? Watch in this video:
