Question:
Why is it that people
who want to lose weight are told to exercise and people
that want to gain weight are told the same thing? If exercise
builds muscle why would people that want to lose weight
want to exercise when its building muscle?
Answer:
Basically, exercise is the
best means of changing your body, which is why it is recommended
to people regardless of goals. If you are trying to gain
weight, you should utilize different forms of exercise and
nutrition than someone trying to lose weight, however. Though
the information may look similar there are differences.
One of the main differences
is in the amount of food you eat. In order to build muscle
and gain weight, you must eat more calories than it takes
to maintain your bodyweight. In order to lose weight, you
must eat less. The types of food you eat will be similar,
only the amounts will be different. This is why it can be
confusing.
A similar concept applies
to exercise. You're still using the same basic exercises,
you're just targeting your exercises, rep ranges, rest periods
and intensity levels to muscle gain rather than fat loss.
For example, if you are trying to lose fat, you would use
shorter rest periods and add more cardio training into your
program. To gain muscle, you use somewhat longer rest periods
for moderate reps and reduce the amount of cardio you're
doing.
Since maintaining muscle mass
is important for weight loss (muscle burns calories even
at rest), eating high protein and lifting weights are critical.
Basically, the same things that build it will help to keep
it, which is why the information looks fairly similar.
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