Why Focus On Muscle Gain Instead Of Weight Loss?

Losing weight can be tough, but focusing on muscle gain can be a game changer.

Muscles are often described as the “engine” of your body’s calorie-burning mechanism. As your muscle mass increases, your body burns more calories, increasing the basal metabolic rate (BMR), thus helping you lose weight.

Before we get to the benefits of a higher muscle content in your body, lets understand a little more on body recomposition.

What do you mean by body recomposition?

Your body is basically composed of a collection of fat mass, muscle mass, water and bone. Body recomposition means the process of changing the ratio of fat mass to muscle mass in your body.

So, how to lose fat and build muscle?

Robing your body of essential nutrients and energy with the objective of changing the composition of the body is not a solution. Instead, reduce the fat intake and keep carbohydrates moderate. Also, consume more high-quality proteins to reduce break down fewer muscles as the weight loss begins. This will help you eventually build muscle.

Along with the right diet, focus on consuming a good pre-workout supplement to help you give that much-needed energy to sustain through your workouts.

Why is muscle gain crucial for a healthy life?

In changing your body composition, the weight may not reduce on the weighing scale as muscle is denser than fat. However, it has multiple health benefits.

Better strength and agility, which means better quality of life

Many researchs support the idea that having greater muscular strength leads to an enhanced ability to do daily tasks easily. Like playing with your kids, helping around the house, doing your daily chores. All this will improve the overall quality of life.

Helps as you age

The activities of daily living and physical function depend upon your ability to move fast and efficiently as you age. But with aging comes sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle.

In fact, after you enter your 30s, you begin to lose about 3% to 5% of your muscle mass each decade. Less muscle means you have less strength, and your ability to move around freely becomes restricted. Both of which put you at an increased risk of falls and injuries. Hence, having good muscle mass in your body is imperative. You can maintain it with a good diet and working out on a budget elliptical machine or an elliptical with a 20-inch stride.

Easier to manage weight

Consuming a high-protein diet and exercising to build muscle helps you slim down. With the muscle mass you gain, your body can burn more calories even when at rest. Which is a massive benefit while trying to lose weight.

Gives a toned look

Not only will you feel better after starting a strength training program, but you will also begin to look better as muscles are denser than fat cells. Gaining muscle can help you look leaner and more toned, giving you an overall slimmer look.

Reduces the risk of lifestyle diseases

Building muscle does more than make you stronger. Along with improved metabolism, there are numerous benefits to muscle-building:

Improved cardiovascular, diabetes, cancers and Joint Health

A 2020 study suggests that less than 2 hours per week of muscle-strengthening activities (MSA) is associated with lower mortality risk from diseases like hypertension, blood sugar management and some cancers. Some types of strength training activities help to keep your bones healthy.

Strength training can also improve how your body processes food to help prevent diabetes and related diseases.

Helps the Immune system

Our immune system is always at work, protecting us against unwanted microbes or infections. Muscles produce and release compounds that play an essential role in the proliferation, activation and distribution of some immune cells. Without this, the immune system might not function properly, leading to frequent immune-related diseases.

Hopefully, the above points will help you focus more on building muscle to get fitter than just look at the number on the weighing scale.