Fat is very sneaky. It tends to build up in your body gradually when you’re least expecting it. This holds especially true when you’re trying to pack on mass. In fact, you are almost guaranteed to put on some fat if you’re not careful.
But just as you accumulated it, you can also get rid of it. Follow these five principles and you’ll be able to cut fat while keeping your hard-earned muscle and maintaining your high level of self-confidence.
1. Perform sprint intervals
I can only hope you’re not a sissy. If you’re serious about cutting fat without losing muscle, then you need to man up and do sprint intervals. Why? Because sprint intervals do magical things to your body that nothing else does.
First, you burn an immense number of calories, which melts fat right before your eyes. Second, you boost your metabolism through the roof, which has a massive carryover effect hours after you’re done working out.
Lastly, you get a sweet little release of growth hormone and testosterone. Hormone optimization through training is one of the biggest secrets you should tap into any chance you get. Use sprints as the conduit!
- Lift heavy and do compound exercises
By lifting heavy weights, you maximize your muscle recruitment and get your heart rate revving. More calories burned plus hoisting heavy weights leads to gains in size while burning fat.
Compound exercises are your best hookups to maximize this principle because they require the use of multiple joints and muscles working in unison. This gives you the ability to raise more metal off the floor. Again, you’ll get a nice kick in the hormonal pants by doing these exercises.
- Get plenty of sleep
Overtraining and depriving yourself of much-needed sleep is the stupidest thing you can ever do. Let’s look at what happens when you sleep.
Once you become comatose for the night, your body releases growth hormone and testosterone, which aids your recoveries. This is actually when you build muscle. That’s all fine and well, but there’s more to the story.
Another phenomenon occurs while you sleep. There are two famous hormones that your body uses for appetite suppression and stimulation. They are called leptin and ghrelin, respectively.
If you think you can get by on four hours of sleep and still function the next day, you’re sadly mistaken. Not only will this interrupt your muscle recoveries, but it’ll also disturb your body’s balance of leptin and ghrelin.
This means you run the risk of overeating the next day and not feeling satisfied when you should call it quits. If leptin and ghrelin are out of whack, you just added one more reason for your body to hold on to stored fat – or, worse, gain more!
Aim for a good seven hours of sleep a night to prevent any of this nonsense from occurring.
- Stay off the sauce
No, I’m not talking about the hot sauce on your omelette. In fact, that would be beneficial because it gives you a slight boost in metabolism! I’m talking about alcohol. Nothing will add layers of fat to your body faster than imbibing too many adult beverages.
If cutting fat while maintaining muscle really is your goal, then either give up drinking or cut way back. Excessive alcohol intake leads to a lowered metabolism, weight gain from empty calories, and blunted testosterone levels. In fact, I’m not sure if there’s anything worse than this for fat gain and muscle loss.
Stick with water instead. Not only will it keep your muscles hydrated and looking plump, but it’ll also flush toxins from your system. For best results, drink water as your sole beverage.
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- Practise fasting
You probably weren’t expecting this, but it’s another one of those secrets that you need to know. Do you know what happens when you work out in a completely fasted state? Your body goes through a hormone dump because it’s being fooled into thinking it’s starving.
In reality, you’re not starving. You’re simply in a fasted state. You won’t die and you won’t “burn through” your stored muscle. That’s complete nonsense. You’d actually have to fast for several days, if not weeks, before your muscles started to evaporate.
The opposite is actually true. When you fast and then work out, your body releases a ton of growth hormone and testosterone. Depending on how intense your workout is, you’ll likely be burning a blend of stored carbs and fat for energy.
The result is more muscle gained, more fat burned, and more ripples on your body. This might be a little challenging at first, but you’ll get the hang of it after a while.
Conclusion
If you’re willing to try some new things and go the extra mile, then you’ll achieve great success burning fat without losing muscle. Just remember to be patient and never get discouraged. If you have a bad day, get over it and move forward with no regrets. Until next time – good luck and always try to stay positive !
