Want To Lose Weight Without Losing Muscle Mass? Here’s How.

Want To Lose Weight Without Losing Muscle Mass? Here’s How.

One of the side effects of traditional dieting and exercising plans is the loss of muscle mass. While you’ll likely lose unwanted belly fat from reducing your caloric intake, you may also lose some of your muscle mass. It’s a discouraging sight to see your muscles gradually disappear. But the good news is that you can prevent this from happening by following a few basic steps. If you’re looking to lose weight while maintaining your muscle mass, keep reading to learn more about how to accomplish this.

Watch Your Cardio!

Cardio is the single most effective form of exercise for losing weight. By speeding up your heart and lungs, you’ll naturally burn off a greater amount of fat in less time. The downside, however, is that too much cardio can also burn off your muscle mass. Ever notice how nearly all of the Olympic runners have very little muscle mass? This is due to their cardio-intense workouts which burns both the muscle and fat from their bodies.

Some cardio is perfectly fine, but you must avoid going overboard with your cardio workouts. Stick to 20-30 minute bouts of cardio 3-4 times a week. This is a healthy balance that will help your body burn fat while maintaining its muscle mass. Sure, performing a greater amount of cardio will burn more unwanted fat, but it will also reduce your muscle mass. Stick to just 3-4 days of cardio for week to maintain your current muscle size and structure.

Protein, Protein and More Protein

Protein is an important nutrient that plays a key role in the development, growth and repair of muscle fibers. If you aren’t getting enough protein in your diet, your muscle mass will deplete at an increasingly faster pace. So, how much protein do you need to consume in your diet? Health and nutrition experts have constantly argued over the “recommended” amount of protein. With that said, 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight seems to be a solid amount to maintain healthy muscle function.

Consuming 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight might sound difficult if not impossible to some people, but there are certain foods which are packed with this critical nutrient. For instance, tuna, salmon, turkey breast, chicken, nuts, yogurt and milk are all excellent sources of protein. You can even supplement your diet with a daily protein shake for an additional 40-50 grams.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Exercises

Lastly, your workout sessions should be centered around high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises. Performing weighted lunges, squats, chest presses, standing military shoulder presses and tricep dips will burn fat while encouraging the production of muscle mass.

The truth is that you don’t need an expensive gym membership to perform HIIT exercises. As long as you have a set of basic dumbbells, you can perform all of the exercises previously mentioned. The key thing to remember is that you want to use a rather heavy set of dumbbells that really places a stress on your muscles.