If you are trying to maximize your muscle building gains or learn how to lose weight safely, you will need to be aware of a few important factors if you are to see any real results. The biggest factor, of course, is learning how to optimize your eating habits to suit your goals.
In today's post, you will learn how to do this for yourself.
Both weight loss and lean muscle gain can be attributed to one particular aspect of your diet and that is your calorific intake. If you consume less calories, the general rule is that you will lose some pounds. Likewise, those who increase their calorie intake should expect to see an increase when they step on to the scales.
However, when it comes to building lean mass we need to look at something a little bit more in depth. That is because we don't simply want to add some size, we want to ensure it is the right kind of size. In order to do this, we need to see where those calories are actually coming from. []
If you need assistance in creating a solid calorie target for building lean size and retaining it, try the following equation. While everybody is free to tinker with it and strike a balance which works for them, the basis of this equation works for the vast majority of individuals:
* Daily calorie target = your body weight in pounds multiplied by 15.
If you wanted to reach a weight of 180 pounds, you would simply take that figure and multiply by fifteen. In this instance, it would give you a target of 2700 calories per day.
* Total daily protein intake = 30% of overall calories divided by 4.
So for the individual in question, we'd establish that 30% of 2700 is 810. Then we divide this number by 4 and it will tell us the number of grams per day of protein which would be optimal for our diet. The answer in this case is 202 grams.
* Total daily carbohydrate intake = 55% of overall calories divided by 4.
Carbohydrates are our best friend when trying to add size to our frame. Many people mistakenly believe protein is the key, but it is not. 55% of your calories should arrive from carbohydrates. In the case of our 180 lb male, this would be 1485 calories. Share this by 4 and we get a target of 371 grams.
* Fats = 15% of our calorie target, divided by 9.
To establish the fat intake for our 180 lb male, we would take 15% of our calorie target and divide the figure by 9. So, 15% of 2700 calories is 405. This figure divided by 9 is a total of 45 grams per day in healthy fat sources.
If your goal is to learn how to lose weight or build lean muscle then you need to be able to understand the importance not only in how much food you eat throughout the day, but where those calories are coming from. It's quality, rather than quantity. If you are able to follow the guidelines above then you will be set on the right track to building a leaner, stronger body in no time.
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Post provided by: Unveil the facts behind how to build muscle with Russ Howe PTI. Russ is the UK's leading personal trainer, showing people facts on how to lose weight freely every morning on his website.