While the majority of us are out there grinding, eager to be shredded, some have had enough. The majority of workout plans are geared for muscle growth, fat removal, or weight gain. So, it’s not always obvious what to do if you’re attempting to lose weight (both muscle mass and fat). At its most basic level, decreasing muscle mass entails doing the exact opposite of what one would do to gain muscle mass—that much is obvious. However, there are various ways to make the procedure simpler for yourself so that you may get results faster while maintaining safety.
Track your diet
If you want to lose weight, whether fat or muscle, you’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn. This will prevent your body from building new muscle tissue or storing fat. While the quality of the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats you consume is imperative, the bottom line is that you need to consume fewer calories.
Each person has a calorie intake that is exactly at maintenance levels, which means they are neither losing nor gaining weight. Everything you eat throughout the day is used to keep your body running smoothly. This is dependent on age, weight, sex, and degree of activity; nevertheless, even if these variables are constant between people, everyone will have their eccentricities. As a result, it’s a good idea to figure out your body type and create a diet plan around it.
Meal timing
This concept ties in nicely with our following topic, cardio, but it’s also crucial to plan your meals around your workouts.
You don’t want to overload your body with muscle-building components while you work out if you decide to undertake weight training while trying to lose weight. At the same time, you don’t want to push yourself too hard to the point your health is jeopardized. After all, food is imperative, and putting it on the backburner for the sake of aesthetic or athletic goals is putting your health in danger.
Take a break from lifting weights
It’s as simple as avoiding it in your exercise if you’re attempting to target a specific muscle. If you want to reduce muscle mass in general, you need to take a break from the weights for a while.
One of the components for muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth, is the pump. It’s what happens when your muscles absorb more fluid, usually as a result of a high-rep, mid-weight lifting program. The speed you lift at (faster is better) and the amount of rest you get between sets also play a role in getting a greater pump. If you combine all of these ingredients, you’ll have a solid pump—at least for those who want it.
If you want to lose muscle mass, the pump is something you should avoid if you wish to continue lifting.
Do cardio in abundance
When it comes to losing weight, anything that gets your heart pumping for a longer amount of time is beneficial. There are, however, better and poorer cardiac exercises.
We’ve all witnessed the physical contrasts between athletes at the top of their game in various sports. Consider the difference between a sprinter’s and a marathon runner’s bodies. Even though they are performing the same activity, their compositions differ. The former, as you may have noted, has a slimmer body.
If you want to boost your weight reduction, long, steady-state cardio is the way. Running a marathon will not only burns a lot of calories over a long period but also results in a slimmer physique. It all boils down to which muscle fibers you want to engage more: fast-twitch or slow-twitch.
So, if you’re trying to lose weight, steady-state cardio will be a huge aid in achieving your goals.
