Most people think of cardio when it comes to exercising to lose fat. That’s because running, biking, or any other form of intense aerobic exercise helps to burn calories, as well as raise the body’s metabolism.

But there are new studies out that show weight training to be better at raising your resting metabolic rate, which is the rate at which you burn calories at rest. This may mean that the best way to burn off unwanted fat is by building muscle in the gym.

There is one requirement for weight training to be effective at raising the metabolism. The weight lifting must be very intense to produce a drastic increase in resting metabolic rate.

Lifting light weights or exercising for too short a time can diminish the results. You need to do 3 to 4 sets per exercise and do an average of 6 to 8 reps for each.

This ensures that each major muscle group is trained intensely. In the studies, it was shown that the test subjects resting metabolic rate was still elevated, on average 21%, even 24 hours after the workout.

It appears weight training can release hormones like growth hormone and norepinephrine that assist in the fat burning process.

Also, removing the lactic acids that’s built up through heavy weight training also requires calorie expenditure.

Finally, the muscle building process of repairing damaged muscle tissue caused by weight lifting can also burn more calories.

Building muscle itself will increase resting metabolic rate, since muscle tissue burns far more calories at rest than fat.

So the more lean muscle mass you have, the higher the resting metabolism. That’s why building muscle through weight training is also a way to lose unwanted body fat.

The best way to lose fat is to combine cardio with weight training, to create a synergistic effect in which both work together to burn calories.

So if you’re currently trying to lose some fat, try to focus on building muscle as well, through weight training, so you can raise your metabolism and burn more calories at rest.

Surprisingly, when people think of building muscle, they will associate that with weight machine. Weight machines are an effective way to workout on a specific muscle group. However, with some creativity, you can tone and work your muscle to their fullest potential with some other cheap equipments without burning your pocket.

We definitely need some weight to help us with our workout goals. If you are unable to get to the gym, you can always look for a fixed weight kind of equipment to help you with. A dumbell is a cheap and easy way to help you in your workout at home. Having these types of static weight will help you build muscle as well as contribute to your workout program in many different ways.

An exercise ball, or medicine ball as most referred to, is another cheap equipment you can easily purchase from many department stores including discount stores like Wal-Mart. You can used it to workout on your abs muscle effectively. All you have to do is roll over the ball and go into a sit-ups position while using the resistance of the ball to help you work on your abs.

You do not have to spend any single cents in weight training if you can be a bit more creative. A sandbag fill full with sands can replaced your medicine ball in your workout. Or you can just tight up a stack of books to your desired weight, it can become another weight equipments in achieving your weight training goals.

However, muscle building equipment doesn’t have to be expensive. When you have make up your mind the types of equipments you are looking for that can enhance in your workout, you can actually come across some great deal when you search on the internet or look into the classified ads of your local newspaper.

Just take note if you intend to buy equipments from a large company. Reliability is something you have to look out for. This is important if a pulley system is intact in your equipments. Inspect every details if they are strong and not fray.

You should look for reliability in muscle building equipment before you buy. This is especially true if you are buying a machine with pulley systems. Look at the cords and see if they are strong and not frayed. If there is any sign of stress on the pulleys, don’t buy it.

You will want to choose the types of equipment that will give you maximum results and contribute to your goals and not take away from them. Ask for a guarantee offer. In the event of a breakdown, they can either repair it without any extra charges or offer a replacement within a specific duration since purchase.

The muscle building equipment you are undertaking can greatly enhance and tone your body to another level. But know what you are getting before you buy. Use the equipment effectively, focus on the body part you want to work on, and then observe your muscle grow.

The internet is loaded with sites that boast of their ability to help you “gain 20 lbs of muscle in 6 weeks” and “get ripped abs in 2 months”.  Naturally people read these headlines and think “yes, this is EXACTLY what I want to do” and believe that in 2 months they will have the body they have always dreamed of.  Can you do this? Really?

Well, someone does win the lottery, and all they did was buy 1 ticket.  So in fact the answer is yes, it can be done. But your odds are better at buying the lottery ticket.  See, the facts to these web sites boasts hides in the small print.  Or as I like to call it, the truth. Doable? Yes. Easy? Well… I’m afraid not.

With VERY few exceptions, losing a lot of fat and gaining a lot of muscle at the same time is very virtually impossible to do. That’s because of the opposing demands these goals impose on your body.

To build a lot of new muscle tissue, your body needs energy. Meaning you need to overfeed, to consume more calories than you’re burning each day. To lose fat, you need to do the opposite, underfeed, to consume fewer calories than you burn. If you try to do both things at once, your progress in either direction will be so frustratingly slow that it won’t be long before you feel like quitting. It would be nice if the energy your body needs to build new muscle tissue came from stored fat, but, unfortunately when your body is in a catabolic state, which it needs to be to lose fat, gaining muscle is not its main priority.

The good news is there are exceptions, most notably beginners. More specifically, overweight beginners. And by “beginners,” I mean people who are new to weight training.  Overweight beginners on an exercise and nutrition program that’s geared towards fat loss can gain a significant amount of muscle mass while losing fat. The reason that beginners usually respond better to weight training is that they’re a long way from the upper limit of what they’re capable of in terms of muscle mass.  The closer you are to this upper limit the slower your gains will be. Someone who’s been working out with weights for 10 years will gain muscle a lot more slowly than someone who’s just starting out.  Obviously if you are obese fat loss will occur when you begin exericising.

So what are you to do, if fat loss and mass gain simultaneously is your goal and you are not an “overweight beginner”?  Well like most things you can bend the rules a bit and find a way. 

If I have been able to do this, which I have been and so can you, it will lead to the huge lean physique that everyone dreams of.  Just not in 2 months. 

For weight lifting routines that will teach you the what, how and when for maximum success you can visit MuscleandHealth.org to learn how to build muscle by weight lifting.

What many don’t realise is that building muscle is actually quite simple. All that you have to do is get stronger. Generally, the stronger you get, the more muscle you will build.

If you continually subject your body to progressively heavier weights, your body will have no choice but to adapt and grow larger, to withstand the stress we are putting it under. It really is that simple.

Problem is, many programs out there are so confusing and complex, you need to be a rocket scientist to understand them. It doesn’t need to be this complex. So let’s break muscle building down to its most basic level, which is to train for strength.

How do we train for strength?

To explain this to you, I want to give you a basic, overview of our energy timeline.

When we exercise we have 3 different types of energy systems. The first system, which is basically the first 0-15 seconds of an explosive activity, is the phosphate region. In this energy range there is very little lactic acid built up. Training in the phosphate system is most beneficial for strength and fast twitch muscle fibres. A typical exercise would be to sprint any distance up to 100m.

The second system, which ranges from 20 seconds to approximately 2 minutes, is known as the lactate region. This is obviously where you build up a lot of lactic acid. This results in that burning sensation in your muscles. Training in this range is ideal for endurance, improving your lactate tolerance, and increasing your anaerobic threshold. The lactate region has very low muscular activation and stimulates more slow twitch muscle fibres. A perfect example would be a 200-400 meter sprint.

The third region, aerobic, is basically from 5 minutes onwards. Training in this range helps improve your aerobic conditioning. It stimulates slow twitch muscle fibres and improves your endurance. It doesn’t build up lactic acid as much as training in the lactate range. An example would be going for a 20-30 minute jog or walk.

Now, to train for muscle growth, we want to train for strength, and to stimulate your fast twitch fibres. So obviously, you want to train within the phosphate region. To do this, you don’t want to have your muscles under tension for more than 20 seconds.

To do this, 5-12 reps per set is ideal. Doing any more will start to creep into the lactate region, which promotes more endurance than size and strength.

Forget about all those routines that you see in the muscle magazines. Many of these contain way too many sets and reps to ever enable you to get stronger. Many of those bodybuilders get results no matter what they do because they have some special little helpers!

Before steroids, bodybuilders were freakishly strong. I know bodybuilders are strong now too, but not considering how heavy they were. Guys half there weight can lift as much as they do. Many of the old time bodybuilders were some of the strongest people in the world, pound for pound.

As a matter of fact, undefeated bodybuilding champion John Grimek also competed in the 1936 Olympics for weightlifting.

So to gain muscle, forget all those confusing routines and simply train to get stronger. To do this, strive to lift more weight each week, sticking in-between the 5-12 rep range.

Good luck

Building Muscles At Meal Time!

Eat more, eat more, eat more! I am sure you have heard it a thousand times before as you attempt building muscle mass. But nobody has shown you exactly what to eat and in what amounts to get! Wouldn’t it be great if you could have your day to day meal plan right at your finger tips? Taking all the guesswork out of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After you have access to these meal plans you will no longer have any excuse for not gaining muscle. Finally…Just follow the plans and gain mass muscle! Other websites offer basic 30 days meal plans, but not on this plan. You’re getting 5 unique 84 day meal plans with a variety of food. That’s 12 full weeks of no-guesswork, real… healthy eating.

And you don’t have to worry that bulking up means eating fatty foods. These plans range from 2,000 calories to a massive 6,000! Yes… 6,000 calories of healthy eating. You are in complete control of how much muscle you gain! Can you imagine how huge you will be when you build to the 6000 calorie meal plan!

You are guaranteed to build 5-10 lbs of clean, lean muscle weight in the next 4 weeks! No more feeling guilty when you sit down at the table. You will know that what you’re eating is what you should be eating to build more muscle. Grocery lists are included for you each week. So you will know exactly what you need to buy… and what you don’t. Saves you time and money!

Meal preparation strategies are also included. Not much of a cook? That doesn’t matter, because you are shown exactly what to do! Step by step with absolutely no guess work! Hey… you want to build your muscles… You’re not looking for something complicated! You’ll see…this is easy!

Building muscle with pushups is the most basic, easiest way to start building upper body muscles quickly. For those of you who dont have time to go the gym, or even if you just love to do calisthenics you know you can always benefit from pushups. Building muscle with pushups is one of the oldest ways to gain muscle yet its also one of the best ways to gain muscle.

There are a variety of pushups you can do to get your chest, shoulders, and triceps busting out of your t-shirt! Even your biceps are hit to a certain extent but not as much as the other muscles. Incorporating these different types of pushups in your workout can have a huge positive effect on the muscular development of your upper body. For example, you can start building muscle with pushups by starting with a set of 20 normal pushups, then 15 diamonds and 15 inclines with no rest in-between. Imagine the intense burn a workout like that can have on your upper body! (Change those rep numbers according to your physical ability of course.)

Try These…

Normal Pushups – Get down on the floor, back facing the ceiling, extend and balance yourself on top of your toes. Spread your hands shoulder width apart. On the way down keep your body in a straight line downwards toward the floor, but dont let your back go down before the rest of your body goes down.

Wide Pushups – Wide push ups are self-explanatory, they are performed with your arms extended further from your shoulders. This style of pushups hits a larger area of the chest.

Diamonds – With this type of pushup you are to put your index fingers and thumbs together on the floor in the shape of a diamond. With your hands in this position you will get more direct stimulus in your triceps. This is sort of like the calisthenic version of the close grip bench press.

Decline pushups – Decline pushups concentrate on your upper chest muscles as well as all of the areas of a regular pushup. In this exercise you place your toes on a stable surface above the floor which puts your body at a downward angle. Put your hands on the floor and perform as normal.

Incline pushups – Inclines are the exact opposite of decline pushups. Incline pushups concentrate on the lower chest muscles as well as all the areas of a regular pushup. Incline pushups are performed just like normal pushups, except you want to tilt your upper body in a upward angle with your feet on the floor. Find a sturdy surface to rest your hands to perform your pushups.

Take these different types of pushups and create an intense workout. To make it more challenging, you could even have someone lay a weight plate on your back! You could even have a small child sit on your back as you perform your reps up and down! Be creative, get results, and enjoy yourself.