Knowing how to preserve muscles while burning fat can be a little overwhelming if you want to lose weight. Losing too much muscle can reduce the metabolic rate and impair your physical performance. You may also get weaker and unable to train as hard, bringing the fat loss to a halt.
The best way to preserve muscles while dieting is to reduce calories while lifting weights slowly. However, several other ways can help you burn body fat without losing your muscles during a weight-loss diet. The following part lists five such ways to help fitness enthusiasts preserve muscles.
1. Use fat-burning supplements
Losing weight is a balancing act where you lose fat while preserving the muscle. There are numerous quality supplements available to ensure this. One of the best ways to burn body fat without losing muscle is by using Clenbuterol. This fat-burning drug raises your metabolic rate and can help you reach your fitness goals. It also increases the body temperature, allowing your body to burn off more calories.
Weightlifters have been using Clenbuterol for bodybuilding because of its ability to burn fat. The drug activates specific receptors and helps burn fat while increasing lean muscle mass. Considering the body stores fat as energy, it uses calories to reduce body fat and lower the overall weight.
2. Eat a sufficient amount of proteins
Maintaining muscles while losing fat requires more effort than usual. You must eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and incorporate strength training in your workout routine. One of the most important steps is to eat a sufficient amount of protein. According to experts, a high protein diet can help maintain muscle and boost metabolism when trying to lose weight.
A high protein diet can be an efficient way to preserve muscle mass from high-volume training sessions. Consuming the optimum amount of protein boosts your metabolism and maintains muscle. It also provides all the nutrients needed to preserve muscle mass. If your diet has too little protein, your body may experience increased muscle catabolism.
You need sufficient proteins during a fat loss phase to maintain muscle mass. Experts recommend consuming at least 1 g of protein per pound of body weight, with slightly high amounts for more advanced weightlifters. While you need to create a calorie deficit, you’re likely to lose fat quickly if you lower your carb take.
3. Eat carbs after your workout
Excessive cardio exercise can interfere with muscle tension and accelerate muscle loss. Besides, losing fat on a low-carb diet will impact your weight training sessions. This is because carbohydrates are the best fuel source for high-intensity training, such as lifting weight. Your muscles can also store carbs as glycogen for energy.
However, you still need carbohydrates during an ambitious lean phase. They help optimize performance during weight training sessions, muscle retention, and recovery. Ideally, low-fat and high-carb diets are better options to burn fat without losing muscles.
Choose starches like rice baked potatoes and sweet potatoes after your workout to start the recovery process. However, avoid low-carb diets as they can reduce muscle retention.
4. Maintain a moderate caloric deficit
Fat loss solely depends on being in a calorie deficit. However, many people try to cut calories drastically to fast-track their fat loss results. While this strategy works for weight loss, it often leads to higher muscle loss. A severe calorie deficit is unsustainable and unwise if you want to achieve a toned physique.
You cannot maintain muscles during fat loss through a high caloric deficit. A moderate caloric deficit is the best way to burn fat without muscle loss. During a diet phase, try to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs of total body weight per week, as anything faster than that will result in losing muscle tissues.
You must maintain a moderate calorie deficit to preserve muscles while burning body fat. Start with an average deficit of 500 calories in the first week while monitoring your overall weight loss. If you lose fat within the acceptable range, hold the calories there and repeat for another week.
5. Drink BCAAs
Drinking BCAAs immediately after an exercise or between workouts in place of protein contributes to your calorie deficit. They can also function as fuel during high-intensity activities, which greatly speeds up fat loss. Consuming 10 grams of BCAA before exercise provides energy for your workout and prevents unwanted catabolism.
You can consume the BCAA supplements in place of your protein intake to reduce calories. It can help prevent muscle breakdown and enhance fat burning. After an intense exercise, your muscles break down and need repair to rebuild so you can exercise again. The BCAAs provide your muscles with all the ingredients required to grow and repair. They are virtually calorie-free despite being a source of protein.
Bottom line
You need to work out frequently for fat loss; however, exercise causes catabolism, where muscles can break down. If you own a lot of muscle and fat, the body fat percentage will not change, and you risk getting skinny-fat. However, as mentioned in this article, there are numerous ways to ensure you preserve mussels while burning fat. Besides, experts recommend lifting weights rather than doing cardio to maintain muscle mass. Strength training with heavy weights is the best exercise to challenge the fast-twitch type 2B muscle fibers.
