Lean Muscle Development

Nutrition is undoubtedly the most important aspect of fat loss.  The second most important factor involved in fat loss is working out to develop more lean muscle mass.  What is "lean muscle mass?"  Simply put, lean muscle is MUSCLE.  It's a fancy way of saying you are going to have to start working your muscles to make them stronger and bigger.

Now before you start freaking out and screaming...

I'm not saying you have to become a bodybuilder or start living in a gym. You can build lean muscle without even owning weights.   Many women don't want to lift weights for fear of becoming "muscular" and less feminine.  Don't worry.  You can adjust your workout to tailor it to your goals - you can lift weights in many ways and not get bulky and muscular.

The question you may be asking is "why is lean muscle development important?"

The answer is easy - the more you train your muscles, the more calories they will burn all throughout the day!  And if you remember from the Nutrition page, the key to fat loss is burning more calories than you eat.  This means that once you begin using weights in your workouts, you will be causing your muscles to grow and heal, and they will start to consume calories all day long - even when you are sleeping!  Pretty powerful stuff, because when you combine the weight training with the nutrition tips you begin to attack your body fat on 2 fronts... and you will see the fat begin to melt away!

Another reason to use weights in your workouts is simply for the health benefits - you will actually start to feel better as your joints and muscles begin to strengthen.  Besides, who doesn't want to get stronger and more fit?

Recommended Exercises

There are 3 exercises that need to be the core of your fat loss workout.  These exercises are:

• Pushups
• Deadlifts
• Squats

These 3 exercises are very important for fat loss.  The reason they are so important is because they use the largest and most complex sets of muscles in the body.  Muscle size and complexity is important when it comes to burning fat. 

Think about it like this - you can chew a piece of gum vigorously for hours but you don't start breaking a sweat...because your jaw muscle is TINY compared to the rest of your body.  It's only when the big muscles of the body start getting used that the calories and fat start to get consumed.  When you do pushups, deadlifts, and squats, not only will your workouts be more intense but as the muscles heal and grow between workouts they will begin to ravenously consume calories.

These exercises are also important because they develop some of the support muscles in your lower back, abdominals, and torso, and this improves your posture, health, and relieves back pain. If you own your own weight set, you can find a complete list of weight exercises here.

Types of Workouts

How you work out really depends on what your goals are.  Do you want to get big muscles?  Do you want to get that "ripped" appearance? Or do you just want to lose weight and be slim?  There are too many methods of training to list here.  However, I recommend you read Tom Venuto's website - he knows how to tailor workouts to meet individual goals, as well as how to use natural weight lifting methods to maximize muscle growth in the shortest amount of time while burning huge amounts of fat.  His site is found Here