Weight Lifting For Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

If your dream is to have a muscular and lean body, you need to think about investing money into getting a gym membership, or about purchasing free weights and setting up your own home gym. Weight training (also known as resistance training) is the most effective way to build muscle without illegal means, and it is also an excellent calorie burner, and will help you burn fat more effectively than other forms of exercise.

When you workout and lift weights, many things happen to your body at once. The breakdown of muscle proteins due to stress causes them to later use dietary protein and excess calories to rebuild them stronger and bigger than before, and over an extended period of time, can cause you to gain significant muscle mass. On the other hand, when you are trying to lose body fat, lifting weights makes your body try to conserve muscle mass even when in times of energy deficit, and this leads to a greater percentage of fat loss when you are losing weight. Weight lifting also improves your immune system and your insulin sensitivity, which helps your nutrient portioning, and lessens your chance of developing diabetes.

When training it's important to work out the biggest muscle groups first. This means spending the majority of the time you are the gym performing lifts such as the dead lift, the squat, the bench press, the military press and the barbell row. Secondary exercises such as bicep curls, pull-ups, shoulder raises and skull crushers are to be used as mere accessory to the bigger lifts. This is because the bigger lifts give you a much larger return on your time and energy investments than smaller lifts do, and will help you reach your goals more efficiently.

If you are looking set up your own home gym, you should invest in an Olympic sized barbell that can safely hold up to 320kg / 700lb, as well as at least 100kg / 220lb of Olympic weight plates. A weight bench is necessary, and a sturdy squat rack will round out your home gym, allowing you the freedom to work out in your own home without yearly gym fees or having to wait to get on the equipment. If you do plan on setting up your own home gym, invest in only the highest quality products that are available, and don't risk your own health and safety just so you can save a few bucks.

It's also important to get enough quality food and rest to allow your body to rebuild itself properly after your work outs. A proper diet and enough sleep is essential if you are serious about muscle gain and fat loss. Ensure that you eat enough dietary protein, as this is the basis for muscle growth!

So, if your fitness goal is to be incredible muscular at a low body fat, why not consider starting to work out at a gym, or set up your own home gym. Maybe 2010 is the year where you reach the body of your dreams.

Kim Hanna is an athlete and web designer. When he's not lifting weights and eat to gain muscle, he's busy making product based sites such as weights for sale and olympic weights for sale.