Weight Loss: Exercising to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

Exercising to build muscle and lose weight is not something to be rushed. I am fully aware that everyone wants to achieve their goals in the shortest possible time, but the simple reality is that there are no shortcuts when it comes to building muscle. It requires a lot of work and a lot of effort. I want that reality firmly ingrained in your mind before we continue with this discussion. Now that I’ve made it clear that it takes hard work to do this, I’m going to walk you through how to build that muscle in the shortest amount of time possible.

There are certainly no shortcuts to building an amazing body. However, there are definitely exercise routines that are more efficient than others. It’s one of these highly efficient training plans that you want to stick with. The main thing you want to look for in any exercise routine you choose is that it incorporates the concept of muscle confusion into your regimen in some way. It is through muscle confusion that you will be able to build muscle at a breakneck pace. The idea behind muscle confusion is that as we do the same type of “work” over and over again, our bodies get used to it and may adjust in such a way that that type of “work” is easier. Our ability to make exercises easier the more we do them ultimately degrades the effectiveness of that workout.

So how do we stop this degradation of the exercise routine? Always changing our routines, of course!

Ideally, you shouldn’t do the exact same set of exercises for more than 1-2 weeks at a time before switching them up. You know the old saying that “variety is the spice of life”? Well, that saying holds true for working out, too. I realize it might be hard for you to sit down and figure out a new muscle-building routine every couple of weeks, but you really don’t have to.

To get the maximum effect from the concept of muscle confusion, all you really need is to write up 4 separate exercise routines and run through them. As long as you give your body a good rest from a specific set of exercises, you can always get back to it without risking the degradation I mentioned earlier. Now, when you’re actually doing your exercises, you’ll want to train to the point of muscle failure. Basically, that’s the point where you can’t do one more rep of a given exercise. You’ll also want to integrate cardio directly into your strength training program rather than having it completely separate. This saves a lot of time and will make committing to an exercise plan much easier.