Train to Build Muscle NOT to Burn Fat

When you go to the gym do you know what type of training you should be doing?

What are your goals, is a better definition of muscle you desire or is it just for you to lose a few inches around your waist?

Or do you go to BURN FAT? 

The type of exercising I see and hear people performing is mainly cardiovascular exercise, such as running or walking on treadmills or cycling for miles on the the stationary bike.

This type of exercise has benefits on the cardiovascular (CV) system, the heart and lungs. HOWEVER, this type of low intensity exercise does not promote a great deal of lean muscle growth and wont help in fight against fat long term.

Lean muscle is what gives our body it's definition, unfortunately it's easily covered by the layers of fat that our body stores on itself. Lean muscle is a living tissue and requires energy to survive. The energy it uses, in the form of calories, can be from the glucose from the foods that we eat or from the energy the body can release from the fat cells. 

So more muscle tissue requires more energy. If the body is in a "fat burning" environment, this means with low blood sugar levels, the muscle is able to use your own body fat for its energy! 

The goal to burn fat starts with building more muscle, to enable the body to burn more fat 24 hours a day, rather than the half hour treadmill session 3 times a week....do the maths and there's only one winner here!

Resistance training is the key to building muscle. Resistance training is exercise in the form of weight training or bodyweight exercises where there is resistance on the muscle causing it to contract. Examples of these exercise can be seen in this previous post.

The goal of the exercise is to break the muscle fibres down and then rest, recover and provide your body with all the nutrition it needs in the form of essential fats, complete proteins, vitamins and minerals. The muscle will then rebuild bigger, stronger and more calorie hungry than before.

Ladies thinking that they don't want to build muscle and look "bulky" rest assured this will not happen. To grow large muscle mass the body requires specific hormones that are a lot more prevalent in males than females. 

The theory of fat burning zones and exercising at low intensity has it's limitations. The body can only burn fat if you are in the fat burning, low blood sugar zone. It's no good having that lucozade before the hour of power walking!

Also, the low intensity exercise does not promote the the breakdown of muscle and release of muscle building hormones that can create a more defined body and calorie hungry tissue!

Start today and change the way you exercise, leave the treadmill alone and pick up the weights. 

Build muscle to burn fat 24 hours a day, 7days a week. 

What does the flight deck door and our muscles have in common?

The fight deck door and your muscles are more common than you think.

The flight deck door is built so no-one can easily break in. It's tough and you won't break in by knocking gently on the door. The crash axe on the other hand offers a much greater force and gives a better chance of breaking down the door...... it's all about the force! 

A similar scenario relates to our muscles, by gently "knocking on the door" (basically cardio exercise for long periods) we won't break down the muscle. We need force to break into our muscles, much like the crash axe (resistance training), to cause muscle breakdown and this leads to greater muscle growth.

Note:

Cardiovascular Exercise = low intensity exercise for a long period of time, for example, jogging.

Resistance Exercise = exercise that requires force from your muscle to move a resistant weight, for example, weights or bodyweight exercises.

The benefits of muscle muscle growth include:

1. Looking leaner
2. Feeling stronger
3. Having more "energy hungry" muscle to help us burn more fat

Lets look at these benefits in a little more detail:

1. Looking Leaner 

The worry about weight is over, muscle weighs MORE than fat! And we want more muscle!

Why? 

Because muscle is denser. For example, a kilo of bricks is the same weight as a kilo of feathers but they LOOK much different! The amount of bricks are smaller than the amount of feathers. The same as a kilo of muscle looks smaller than a kilo of fat. 

Building muscle defines our bodies. Muscle makes us look leaner, as it is denser and more compact than fat. 

Ladies are you worried about looking too "bulky" and muscular?

There is NO need to worry, as big muscle growth relies on hormones such as testosterone and growth hormones. You do not possess enough of these hormones naturally. Even the biggest of men take "steroids" (hormones) to allow the unnatural bulky muscle growth.

Resistance exercise will allow you to build more defined muscle and look leaner.

2. Feeling Stronger 

Through resistance training we can use enough weight/resistance that causes our muscle to produce a force intense enough to break the muscle fibres down. Through our recovery period, with the correct diet and rest, our muscle will  grow back stronger and bigger than before.

With more muscle, we will feel stronger. We are able to manage our bodies better in day to day movements such as walking up stairs, getting up from laying down and carrying our flight bag becomes easier.

3. Having more "energy hungry" muscle to help us burn more fat

Muscle is a living tissue and requires energy to survive. We need to feed our muscles. If we eat the real foods suggested throughout the flight crew health and fitness blog, it allows our body to burn body fat for energy. 

If we need more energy because of more muscle, we can burn more body fat, look leaner and feel stronger!

The flight deck door is always locked and so are your muscles, break them down with resistance exercises.

Check out this post on my top 5 hotel room exercises to find out what resistance exercises you can do today without going to the gym!