Burning fat and getting weight loss is one thing; gaining muscle is another. Can you lose fat and gain muscles at the same time? Here are five tips for building your muscles and losing your fat faster.

Burn Calories or Burn Fat?

What do you have to burn to get a fit body: calories or fats? A lot of people are confused by this question. Some would go for intense exercise to burn calories when they should be burning body fats. Others would burn fats when they should be making an effort to curb their caloric intake.

In reality, burning calories and burning fat is not the same thing. You can burn calories by doing nothing. A calorie is a unit used for energy; if you don’t get all your unwanted fats trimmed, you need to cut the calories. However, if you want to gain muscle, you need to amp up the caloric intake to make your body capable of building muscles.

What you want to happen is that your body depletes the fat reserves so that you can have the energy to break your muscles and build them. With this method, you will hit two birds with one stone. To know the best training regimen that suits your health and body, get an opinion from a professional. In the meantime, here are the tips that will help you in your training.

5 Tips to Build Muscles and Burn Excess Fats

1. Eat Healthy Fat

You might be thinking about this: why would you eat fat to burn fat? Should you be slashing your fat intake instead? Although these can make losing your weight easier, the side effects might not be significant. You might start to lose your hair, getting drier skin and nails, as well as changes in your hormone levels.

Instead of cutting your fat intake altogether, eat food that contains healthy fat.  Some of the examples that have high healthy fat content are avocados, dark chocolate, eggs, and fatty fishes such as salmon, sardines, and tuna (not canned). For a snack, you can eat mixed nuts, which are rich with fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals.

2. Use the Right Weights

Using the right weight is one of the critical tasks in gaining muscles and losing weight. The number of sets that you do per session comes only as secondary. To gain muscle and lose fat, the weights you use should not be too light or too heavy. You cannot gain muscle and lose fat if your weights are not at the level of what your body can take.

Weights that are too light will not be able to make a change, even if you do it in more sets and reps. Also, when weights are too heavy, the muscles will end up being injured. Take note that your body improves as you exercise. Make sure that you progressively increase your weights to keep up on your body requirements.

3. Don’t Stick To Just One Training Program

Another trick to keep your healthy habits is to not just stick in one program. The reason for this is the same as to why you want to increase your weights progressively as you improve. You need to keep challenging your own body to be able to keep improving in the long term. Also, different workouts can kill the boredom of doing the same exercises and keep you motivated.

4. Focus on What You Should Eat Instead

This is more on the proper mindset for a diet to work. Instead of focusing on what you should NOT eat, focus on the things that you must eat instead. It’s easier to appreciate food than to get a negative mindset about restriction. To also appreciate your health, consume foods that are beneficial to you.

5. Don’t Forget To Take a Rest

Last but not least, make sure to take the right amount of rest after a workout. Your body needs to sleep, as it is crucial to the whole functions of the body. If your body fails to function properly because of sleep deprivation, you won’t be able to exercise properly. Losing weight and gaining muscles cannot happen overnight. Focus on your well-being, and you will feel healthy and look healthy, too.

High Intensity or Low-Intensity Exercise?

A high-intensity interval training or HIIT is one of the most recommended ways to burn fat and gain muscle tissues. The reason for this is because it preserves muscle mass, as well as promotes burning fat by using it as energy.

If you’re interested in low-intensity exercise, there are workouts that you can fit together with your high-intensity exercises. This is to avoid overtaxing your body for regularly taking up HIIT. Additionally, most of these exercises are enjoyable activities such as yoga, swimming, or just walking around. These exercises are also suitable for people who got injured and want to get back to their routines.