Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Reducing Total Fat
• Part 2 of 3: Increasing Muscle Mass Through Exercise
• Part 3 of 3: Maintaining Lean Muscle Mass
• Tips

To increase your lean body mass, you will need to make certain changes in your diet, exercise program, and lifestyle. In addition, you may need to reduce your relative fat mass. This will help reduce overall body weight and at the same time increase the lean body mass component. It will take some time to achieve this goal, but proper nutrition and exercise will help you achieve your goal.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Reducing Total Fat

1. 1 Fill your diet with lean proteins. Adequate protein is essential for a healthy diet, weight loss, and muscle gain. To achieve this goal, you must consume the correct types of proteins and in sufficient quantities.
   • The amount of protein you need depends on your gender, age, and activity level. However, if you want to build muscle, try to consume about 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight.
   • Try to eat foods that contain lean proteins as they are lower in calories. Poultry, eggs, lean pork, seafood, legumes, tofu, and lean beef are good choices.
   • To achieve this goal, you should include one to two servings of protein with each meal. Each serving should contain 100-120 grams, or be the size of a deck of cards.
2. 2 Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Both fruits and vegetables are packed with nutrients that can help you improve your health and lose weight. When combined with a protein-rich diet and exercise, this will serve your purpose.
   • Fruits and vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, low in calories and high in vitamins, trace elements and antioxidants. Therefore, they are of great nutritional value.
   • To eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, you need to include one to two servings with each main meal and snack. One serving of fruit is 1/2 cup and a serving of vegetables is 1–2 cups of greens.
3. 3 Eat a limited amount of grains. Reducing your carbohydrate intake will help you lose fat without losing lean body mass. When combined with exercise, this will help you build lean body mass.
   • A low-carb diet has been shown to help you lose body weight and lose fat.
   • Grains are found in many types of food, but most of them are found in grain products (such as bread, rice, crackers). These foods provide less nutritional value than other foods that contain carbohydrates, such as dairy products or fruits.
   • If you do eat grains, try to limit yourself to a serving size of about 30 grams, or 1/2 cup.
   • Also, try to eat foods that are 100% whole grains whenever possible. These foods contain more fiber and other beneficial nutrients than foods made from processed grains (such as white bread or white rice).
4. 4 Snack before and after your workouts. This will allow you to make up for lost energy and rejuvenate.
   • If you don't have enough energy to exercise and recover from it, you will notice a decrease in its effectiveness over time.
   • Usually, it is recommended to eat something containing complex carbohydrates before training. This will keep you strong throughout your workout. Eat some kind of fruit, some yogurt, or a cup of oatmeal.
   • Eat a protein / carbohydrate combination after exercise. Thus, you will replenish the expended energy and provide your body with the proteins necessary for muscle recovery. Try peanut butter banana, dried fruit and nut mix, or Greek fruit yogurt.
   • Depending on how long you have scheduled meals, you can use them as a pre- or post-workout reinforcement. For example, if you exercise in the morning, breakfast can serve you to recuperate after exercise.
5. 5 Limit your intake of sweets, fatty foods, salt, and alcohol. Foods rich in added sugar or fat, as well as alcohol, have extra calories. In addition, studies have shown that eating such foods can lead to fat build-up, especially in the abdomen.
   • Reduce your intake of these foods to a minimum. This will help you lose overall weight and reduce fat mass.
   • Added sugars are those sugars that are added to food during the cooking process. They carry no nutritional value and only contain empty calories.Reduce your intake of foods such as candy, sugary drinks, pastries, sweetened canned juices, and desserts.
   • Remember that sauces, gravies, and dressings are very often high in sugar and / or salt. By adding them to your meals, you are increasing your calorie intake without realizing it. Limit their use or do without them altogether.
   • You should also limit your alcohol intake. Women and men are advised to drink, respectively, no more than 1 and 2 glasses of wine daily.
6. 6 Dedicate 150 minutes of cardio weekly. In addition to being essential to stay healthy, it will help you achieve your goal. While cardio may not necessarily help you build muscle, it can help you shed fat.
   • As a general rule, it is recommended that you do at least 150 minutes of cardio weekly, that is, do five 30-minute workouts. Try to exercise at an average pace so that your heart rate rises, your breathing quickens, and you sweat.
   • Exercise can include jogging and running faster, swimming, an aerobic group, or cycling.
   • Try one or two interval cardio sessions. Studies have shown that this type of workout can help you reduce fat mass more effectively than regular cardio workouts (like jogging for 30 minutes). In addition, interval training speeds up the metabolism, helping the body to burn excess calories.

Part 2 of 3: Increasing Muscle Mass Through Exercise

1. 1 Do two to three strength training sessions weekly. This will help you build and strengthen your muscles.
   • In addition to reducing fat, you will need resistance or resistance training to build lean muscle mass. Cardio and diet alone will not build lean muscle mass.
   • In addition to increasing muscle mass, strength training has many other benefits. They help prevent osteoporosis, strengthen bones and speed up metabolism.
2. 2 Choose a mode that allows you to do more repetitions. When lifting weights, you can lift a lot of weights just a few times or, by reducing the weight, do more reps. Both methods have their own benefits, affecting muscle gain and muscle strength in different ways.
   • More repetitions of a single exercise are usually recommended when you want to gain muscle mass. Try to do 8-12 reps (not 4-6).
   • More repetitions make your muscles work longer. This leads to faster gains in muscle mass.
   • Fewer repetitions with strength training also have benefits (which you might be interested in). Less repetitions with bOLighter weights quickly deplete muscles, leading to faster increases in muscle strength.
3. 3 Try to do exercises with more complex, rather than the same type of movement. Exercises with uniform and complex movements have their advantages. Most people do both types of exercises, however, if you want to gain muscle mass, exercises that include complex movements should be preferred.
   • These exercises involve various muscle and ligament groups. This allows you to strengthen many muscles at once and build their mass. This type of exercise can also shorten the overall training time.
   • Exercises with simple, uniform movements involve specific muscle groups. Usually, these exercises are good for training individual muscles, but not for gaining general muscle mass quickly.

Part 3 of 3: Maintaining Lean Muscle Mass

1. 1 Take measurements. To monitor your progress, and after reaching your goal to be sure that your performance has not deteriorated, you should constantly put in some effort. Taking regular measurements will help you keep track of how far you have progressed and stick to the results you have achieved.
   • Since you will need to lose some fat to gain muscle mass, you need to weigh yourself periodically. As your fat mass decreases, you will see your weight decrease.
   • Remember that as you gain more muscle mass, you may find that your weight increases (when the muscle mass is much higher than your fat mass). This will require other, more accurate measurement methods that will help establish the actual ratio of fat to muscle mass.
2. 2 Keep track of your body fat percentage. There are several ways to measure this value. A skinfold test or bioimpedance can be used. These tests can be done by your doctor or your trainer at the gym.
   • In addition to your weight, keep an eye on your body fat percentage as well. Your goal is to reduce fat and build muscle, while increasing overall body weight.
   • Even if your weight is “frozen” or increasing, as long as your body fat percentage drops, you are on the right track to increase overall muscle mass.
3. 3 Get enough sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of gaining both fat and overall unhealthy body mass.
   • Try to sleep at least seven (and preferably 7-9) hours a day.
   • In addition to losing weight and maintaining an optimal body weight, healthy sleep is beneficial in many other ways. It increases the ability to concentrate, improves mood and strengthens the immune system.
4. 4 Avoid stress. Like lack of sleep, constant stress leads to weight gain and an increase in body fat percentage. Both of these factors contribute to the production of the hormone cortisol, which leads to the storage of fat in the abdomen.
   • Stress can be caused by almost anything. Frequent stress can lead to negative consequences. In addition to having difficulty maintaining an optimal body weight and gaining excess weight, stress can cause frequent mood swings, fatigue, and even trouble sleeping.
   • Try doing something soothing to reduce stress. This could be reading a book, taking a hot shower, chatting with a friend, or taking a walk.

Tips

• Before making any changes to your diet or exercise plan, be sure to check with your doctor.
• To increase muscle mass, you will need to reduce (or at least keep the same level) percentage of body fat while engaging in strength training.
• Gains in lean body mass cannot be achieved quickly and effortlessly. This requires patience and time.
• The best way to achieve lean muscle mass gains is through a combination of a healthy diet, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.