I have always been a small framed person, but now since I’m older I’ve put on weight but just on my belly. I’m also starting to notice the fat in my face! My arms are still small and skinny and I have no shoulders or chest to speak of. How do I lose my fat gut and at the same time, try to make my arms and shoulders bigger? It’s like I want to lose fat and put on muscle mass at the same time. Can it be done? Please help!
Yes, it is possible to burn fat and get lean while maintaining and even building quality muscle mass. The most important thing you should focus on right now is dropping your overall body fat percentage. Once you get lean, your muscles will literally pop out of your skin and you will look much more muscular even if you weigh less on the scale. This is due to vascularity and the overall lean look your muscles and overall physique will take on once you whittle away all the excess fat.
Being fat is the most common health problem faced by millions of people all over the world. Being fat is not just an obstacle in your way of confidence but its a great barrier in your path to healthy living. It brings along with it many other diseases such as diabetes, lack of strength, and laziness. Since men tend to gain weight in their stomachs (as opposed to the hips and thighs for women), they look for solutions that are focused on losing unwanted belly fat while also toning up and even gaining rock solid muscle in their arms, legs and shoulders.
A well-built body is a dream of many and people are literally ready to do anything to achieve a perfectly toned physique. The problem faced is that people do not know the right way of achieving their ultimate goals and they end up making the wrong choices most of the time. It feels awful to be skinny but it is even more annoying to have a large portion of excess body fat hiding your muscles.
When you combine the right calorie burning cardio workouts with high intensity weight training routines, you will be able to build muscle and burn fat. Building up lean muscle tissue accelerates your basal metabolic rate. This is the mechanism which is responsible for burning calories during the day and for providing the energy needed to perform physical activity like working out at the gym. Your diet is also extremely critical for your success on your journey to get lean and ripped so make sure to follow a clean eating plan.
There are loads of exercises that will help you build up muscle but as mentioned earlier, you really need to focus on cardio workouts to burn calories and shed unwanted body fat. A great combination is to include HIIT cardio (high intensity interval training) along with multi-joint compound exercises that focus on working many major muscle groups. This will allow you to burn maximum calories and also stimulant your body to pack on lean muscle tissue.
For cardio workouts, do high intensity interval training after your weight training workouts in order to tap into your fat reserves. Mix in different cardio exercises that will keep your body guessing. For example, you can do jogging and sprint intervals for a great workout. Jog for 1-2 minutes and then do a 100 yard sprint at 90% intensity. Do this for 4-5 sets for a killer fat burning workout.
For your weight training workouts, incorporate compound weight lifting exercises like squats, bench press, and deadlifts that will help in building up your shoulders, arms and leg muscles. It is very important that you are not stuck on same repetition pattern for a long time. Always mix it up and trick your body into growth. On the first week do higher reps of 18-20 per set and then on the next week do lower reps of 6-8 per set. It is important to push your limits to overload your muscles in order to gain maximum size and strength. Below are the 3 main exercises that should be the cornerstone mass building movements in your workout routine. These are compound multi-joint exercises, which means they work multiple muscle groups and will help stimulate your body to add muscle:
Your diet will be much more important than even working out. The old saying is, “You can’t out exercise a bad diet” and this is so true! Your diet should include enough carbs needed for providing energy for high intensity workouts. Make sure that your diet is rich in lean protein sources. Protein will accelerate muscle building and assist in recovery so always shoot for having a protein source in every meal you eat during the day. Try to eat at least 1 gram per pound of body weight and divide this total number into 5-6 small meals each day. You can also find a good whey protein powder to include in your regimen if you have a difficult time cooking all of your meals. By eating a clean and nutrient dense diet, you will be on your way to building solid lean muscle in your arms and shoulders while also losing belly fat around your stomach and love handles!
