Fat loss vs muscle gain vs...

A lot of people want to know if it's possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. The answer is yes, but also, it depends. If someone has much more fat that they should and are a non mover (as in sit on their butt all day as most of us do, let's be honest), then it is fairly easy to lose fat and gain muscle when you first start going to the gym and changing what you eat. I've seen it in plenty of people. They sign up at a gym, start moving and within 2 months they will have lost fat mass and gained muscle. But the closer you get to your ideal body composition the harder it gets to make changes. When you have too much fat your body will be glad to get rid of it. When you are weak your body will be glad to get stronger. But if you are already lean and fit, your body likes being there, so it is less likely to change much and you really need to push it to get results.


That's all fine and dandy but a lot of the people who want to know about fat loss versus muscle gain are already within healthy range. These are mostly men who want to look like some sort of Superman. Or at least like they could be on the cover of Health Magazine. Well, then there are two ways of doing it. Either you can bulk and shred, a well proven method in bodybuilding that has been tested for years and does work. It's not easy, demands a lot of discipline and facing the bulk period can be very hard for some people because it may look like you're just getting fat instead of getting strong. Then the cutting period where you focus on losing fat mass can be pretty intense as well. And then you have to manage to maintain. I don't even want to think about that.

The other way, which hardly anyone does, is taking it easy and building up really slow. The problem is that it takes years to get where you can get within months with the bulk/shred method. And if you have the HM image in your head as a goal, you don't want to get there in 5 years, you want to get there in 5 months, or 5 weeks. Hell, 5 days if you can. Yesterday would be even better. The question is why.


Why do we want to look like that? Why do we want a six-pack and arms bigger then our heads? Is it to prove we are real men? Being a man is how you feel, not what you look like. If you think you need to have a six-pack to be a real man you need to get your head checked. Is it the obesity pandemic? Do we feel the need to prove we are healthy by being supper shredded so our spouses don't need to worry we will get fat? Is it to pick up girls for a one night stand, for instant gratification? Or because it's the only way we can compete with others and our self esteem depends on pushing a few pounds more then the guy next to us in the gym? Is it because it makes us feel like we are in control? Or simply because the media tells us this is what a man should look like? Or could it be because we have lost contact with our bodies, just as much as the obese people have and we no longer know what our most natural, healthiest and therefor happiest state really is?


I always feel like the outside should reflect the inside, not the other way around. So instead of trying to push your body into an idea someone else dreamed up, maybe you should take a good look at who you really are and what suits you best. If you take good care of your body it will live up to its potential. Stay true to your own body type which should give an indication of what your body will be good at and will enjoy. Don't deny yourself a bit of fun. Besides, recent studies have shown that most women don't like guys who are too muscular. It's like those huge plastic surgery boobs. Bigger sounds better but when it comes down to it, we really don't know what to do with them, do we? Same goes for too much muscle. If it's not functional, and it gets pretty boring after a while.

 

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