5 fitness tips to lose fat and gain muscle mass

One of my challenges for the month of May is adding a decent amount of muscle while losing fat. I have not made any measurements. I weigh myself once a week or less and I look in the mirror a lot. I am also very aware of my energy levels throughout the day, as well as my physical progress.

About a week and a half ago I did 14 pull-ups in a row. I will be tested again in June. If I can do 20, I would say that it is pretty clear that I have gained a good amount of muscle while losing fat. If I beat my time of 8:33 on the Primal Blueprint Fitness Challenge, then I’ll be sure my fitness capacity has expanded.

The following tips are my personal fitness tips for gaining muscle and losing fat. I do A LOT of reading. This includes The 4 Hour Body that I immersed myself in last night. I am not an expert, but I am progressing at a reasonable rate while loving life.

1) Exit Cardio

It is completely unnecessary. Two summers ago I thought he enjoyed running. I ran 9 5K races over 2 summers in shoes. My best time was 9:03 pm, which is a 6:47 mile pace. He actually hated it. I love racing but running sucks my ass. I love walking and jogging barefoot or on my Vibram Five Fingers. I will run 5 kilometers in the future, but will gladly take a 30 minute finish time while running barefoot.

When you do long and intense cardio, you are hungry. Then you eat to make up for it. This is the main reason why most diets fail. Unless you want to starve yourself, stop doing cardio. It does nothing but harm you.

A brisk walk, jog, walk, or any other activity that makes you move frequently at a slow pace is perfect.

2) Don’t go to failure

When lifting heavy things, like your body, get as close to failure as possible without actually failure. Why do I advise you not to go 110%? Because you will be sore the next day and you will hate it. At least this is where I am. I participate in a very intense primary fitness challenge once a month. I am sore for the next 2 days. I would literally hate my life if this was the case after every intense strength training I did.

Go intense. Be smart. Enjoy the workout. Feel awesome.

3) focus on the right way

I’ve been concentrating a lot on form this month. Ten perfect lizards in one picture is way better than twenty quick, half-hearted lizards. Go slow and focus on what you are doing.

I also think about symmetry. For a pull-up, most of us get up and then go down as quickly as possible. I have been slowly descending. Guess what? I can do LESS pull-ups this way and I think I’m working more muscles. It’s called efficiency. I am doing LESS but I can gain MORE muscle in LESS time.

4) Rest and relax

Don’t we all like a little rest and relaxation? We are sure to do.

Again, this is why you should NOT do cardio. Your body loves to rest. If you want to build muscle, only do strength training when you’re ready for it. Rest the other days.

This includes getting enough sleep. Quality is far more important than quantity. Lately I have been gaining about 7 hours max and I have been thriving. This is because I sleep like a baby.

5) Sprint once a week

I still have to do speed intervals this year. I will be doing my first session this week and will repeat this 1-2 times a week most of the time.

Feel free to do tabata sprints. A session is a 20 second sprint followed by a 10 second walk. Follow this for exactly 8 sessions total and possibly have your most productive workout in just 4 minutes. I prefer to run and walk as I please without counting.

Take these tips for what they’re worth. They work if you take action.