Bodybuilding Fat Loss

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Weight Loss With Body Building Routine - Tips and Strategies

If you've seen a body builder before either in real life or in a magazine or tv, you can see that these athletes have lean muscular bodies and practically no fat. Usually, you can see their six pack abs quite well. Their abs themselves show that their amount of body fat is very low because the more your muscles are visible, the less fat you have. Body fat is measured in percentage and a 2-4% range is usually the norm for most body builders.

The topic of this article is about weight loss and how to use body building to achieve your goal and why I've given you the previous illustration of body fat is because the less fat you have in your body, the lighter you'll weigh. Fats are excess calories in your body and fats have more calories than protein and carbohydrate. So if you consume more fats, you'll get more calories and you can end up storing excess calories as fat deposits in your body.

A body building routine for weight loss is an ideal weight loss plan since a body builder regularly exercises and pays strict attention to nutrition. If a weight loss achiever wants to attain his objectives, body building is a highly recommended sport. With body building, the weight loss individual will adopt a different mindset. He will be more disciplined, patient, determined just like a body builder's qualities. And naturally, he will have a better health and less prone to diseases like cardiovascular, diabetes, high blood pressure amongst others.

So what consists exactly a body building routine? A body builder typically trains several times a week with weights and perform body weight exercises as well and eat several quality meals daily. He also does cardio training multiple times a week. Since a body builder usually competes in contests, he needs to adhere to his routine very closely and this is what you should do too even though you're not competing. Why? The simple reason is that if you follow such a strict routine, your weight loss success will become a reality sooner than you initially thought of. Here are some tips and strategies.

When you work out with weights or do body weight exercises alone, you are basically toning and strengthening your muscles. And you know what? Muscles speed metabolism which will benefit you because your body will be more inclined to burn fat rather than store them. Also, when you do strength training, you are also burning fat since you will be sweating. Sweating is a key factor to burning fat and excess weight. Then, you also need to do some cardio training like running and cycling. You can do these activities in the gym with the machines or in nature. The frequency of your weight loss routine is fundamental too. You can do weight training 4 times per week training different body parts per day and perform cardio training 3 times per week for about 45-60 minutes per session. Do your cardio training on the days you don't do strength training. Basically it's preferable that you don't mix your cardio in your weight training. If you do cardio first, you might be a bit exhausted to do weight training after. And vice versa.

Since you'll be training hard, you should pay strict attention to your nutrition because if not, all your hard work will be wasted. Avoid foods high in saturated fats and soft drinks which are filled with sugars. Don't snack on just anything. If you don't know what to eat, here is a sample nutrition for your weight loss goals. Eat more quality protein and opt for complex carbohydrates but be moderate though. Some valuable protein sources are skinless chicken breast/turkey breast, egg whites, white fish, lean red meat, tuna, salmon, cottage cheese and skim milk. Some valuable complex carbohydrates are wholegrain cereals, porridge oats, oatcakes, wheetabix, shredded wheat, brown rice, corn, yam, lentils, potato, sweet potato, bagel, brown bread, wholemeal breads, spaghetti and macaroni.

Don't forget your vegetables intake like broccoli, green beans, asparagus, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic(garlic has been proven to be great for weight loss) and eat fruits like banana, orange, kiwi, papaya and grape. Opt for healthy fats like canola oil and olive oil. Go for healthy cooking techniques like boiling, baking or steaming. Drink lots of water at least 8 glasses or bring at least a 1.5 litre bottle with you. Go for 4-6 small meals per day instead of 3 big meals. And eat every 2-3 hours. Eating regularly in small quantity will boost your metabolism which will put your body in a fat burning mode rather than fat storing. Get adequate amount of sleep everyday.

If you follow a body building routine with determination, discipline and patience, I guarantee that you will shed the pounds away like you never did before. Give it a few weeks before you start noticing changes in your body fat and weight and sooner than you realize, you're on your way to get the body of your dreams. Good luck.

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