Thursday, January 22, 2009

Why Bodybuilding is so Effective for Losing Fat

By S. Dale

Many people assume you need to get rid of those unwanted fatty pounds before starting a bodybuilding program. They often try to achieve this with cardio or the latest diet. However, it is completely unnecessary to lose weight before bodybuilding as this would take more effort than doing a bodybuilding program on its own. Let me explain.

In order to lose weight and reduce body fat you must burn more calories than you eat. If you are on a good diet that doesn't involve eating too many calories and you take up a bodybuilding program, you will be able to burn more calories than you are eating. This will result in fat loss and an increase in muscle size and definition.

This is why bodybuilding helps with weight loss. Your metabolism is determined by how your body is able to burn calories and how efficiently your body burns that energy.

The higher your metabolism is the more efficiently your body is burning calories. Your metabolic rate is affected not only by your age and gender but also by your lean body mass.

The more lean muscle your body has, the higher your metabolic rate is. This means that if you follow a bodybuilding program and a healthy diet, your body will burn away those extra pounds and inches because adding muscle mass will increase your metabolic rate.

Losing weight before you start bodybuilding is redundant and a waste of time. As you go through your bodybuilding program you will be able to watch your muscle mass increase as your physique improves and weight loss become a natural part of your routine.

Don't rely on your body mass index (BMI) reading to know if you are within a healthy weight range. As you increase your muscle size and lose fat your BMI will not be a valid indicator of obesity or health.

Muscle is heavy and dense, so as you add lean muscle mass to your body with a body building program, you may not see a decrease in your weight. However, this does not mean you have not lost fat, it means you are shifting your muscle to fat ratio. You are becoming learner, not lighter.

A BMI calculation is simply your height divided by your bodyweight multiplied by 703. This is therefore meaningless because someone who is overweight may have the same BMI as a bodybuilder who carries only 5% body fat. You need professional fat callipers or specialist body fat measuring equipment to accurately determine how much fat you carry.

Knowing that your body is going to lose weight while working through a bodybuilding program should give you even more incentive to start a program. As your body adapts to the routine and your lean muscle begins to appear you will see your weight or inches begin to disappear.

You should use inches as your guide rather than actual pounds due to muscle being added to your body as fat disappears completely. No, you don't need to lose weight before bodybuilding, you do need to body build to help yourself lose weight and feel great about yourself. - 16887

About the Author:

No comments: