Working Out for Weight Loss vs Muscle Gain

If you’ve ever been on the internet, you have probably seen videos of group fitness classes full of bedraggled, sweating, exhausted people being put through their paces by a smiling gym instructor. The caption on the video may be something about how this is the best way to lose those unwanted pounds. Or maybe you’ve seen posing bodybuilders preparing for the stage without an ounce of fat on them. You may have even watched a long-distance running event and noticed how fit and lean the athletes are.

Every business and coach are telling you their system, or style, is the best for fat loss. With so many differing approaches and promises, it is near impossible to know what the best answer is to the perennial question “How do I get rid of this stubborn fat?!”

That’s what I’m here to help with. Once you’ve set your weight loss (or gain) goal, you’re ready to go!

Let’s start with the basics: A ‘calorie’ is a unit of measurement for energy. The food we eat provides us with energy. We either use the energy, excrete it, or store the excess. Body fat is stored calories.

To get rid of body fat, we must create an energy deficit that causes us to use the energy stored on our body for the activities we want to do. This is accomplished in one of two ways: consume less energy or use more energy.

Obviously, the simplest option is to eat less, go about business as usual, and watch the fat melt off. The deficit you have created by eating less will be burned from your energy storage (fat). Easier said than done, right? We’re only human, and food brings us a lot of enjoyment (assuming you’re enjoying what you eat and not mindlessly consuming).

The thing is, you can do a bunch of cardio, HIIT training, or running but it’s almost impossible to out-train your diet. If the average person does a 60-minute group class, they are likely to burn around 500-600 calories. The average chocolate donut is around 270 calories. One hard class may burn off two donuts. Guess how many calories are in a pound of fat: 3500.

You would need to do a one hour group class each day to lose a pound of fat a week. It’s doable, but there is an easier way.

The easier, and probably more fun, option is to build some muscle.

Yes, you heard me correctly, the easiest way to burn fat is to build more muscle.

There is a concept in training referred to as excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This is just a fancy way of saying ‘your metabolism is increased after exercise’. Certain types of exercise increase your metabolism to a greater extent – and longer – than others. Some exercise, like cardio and most group fitness classes do not increase your metabolism much beyond the time you are exercising. But, when you do resistance training – whether with weights, bands, bodyweight, or your home Total Gym – your metabolism can be increased for 12-24 hours! So, you may spend an hour in the gym, but you’ll get an extra day of increased metabolism. Also, muscle mass is expensive for the body to maintain. This means the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolism. This allows you to burn more energy while you sleep.

There you have it, the secret to training for fat loss is actually training for muscle gain!

If you want that strong, lean, toned look then train to build muscle! But how do you do that?

The key to training for muscle gain is targeting the muscle you want to see development in. This means choosing exercises that you enjoy, can feel the target muscles working during, and taking the movement near to muscular failure. That’s the long and short of it. If you do this, and keep your protein intake adequate, then you will start to see more of that ‘toned’ look and reduced body fat. Stay consistent and you’ll see big changes over time.