Macros and Muscles

Macros and Muscles

MACROS

  • Macro is short for Macronutrients. They’re the three categories of nutrients you eat the most and provide you with most of your energy: protein, carbohydrates and fats. So, when you’re counting your macros, you’re counting the grams of proteins, carbs and fat that you’re consuming. Counting macros can help you: Lose stubborn fat, maintain lean muscle mass, and keep your body satisfied.
  • Those foods contain more of that specific macronutrient than the others but macros are just the individual elements, and most foods are made up of a blend of all three pasta actually contains a little protein, and meat definitely has fat!  Understanding macros can help you lay a solid foundation for a balanced diet.
1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates include sugars, starches and fibres. Carbs provide 4 calories per gram and typically make up the largest portion of people’s calorie intake. Carbohydrates are found in foods like grains, starchy vegetables, beans, dairy products and fruits. Most types of carbs get broken down into glucose, or blood sugar, which your body either uses for immediate energy or stores as glycogen the storage form of glucose in your liver and muscles.

2. Fats

Insulates and protects your bones and organs, acts as backup fuel for energy, and helps in brain development. Healthy, unsaturated fats are found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish, like salmon, sardines, and mackerel. Unhealthy saturated fats are found in high-fat beef, pork, butter, full-fat dairy, and processed foods, like cookies and doughnuts.

3. Proteins

Proteins are vital for processes like cell signalling, immune function and the building of tissues, hormones and enzymes. However, protein recommendations vary depending on body composition goals, age, health and more. protein-rich foods include eggs, poultry, fish, tofu and lentils. Healthier proteins include Soy, Beans, Nuts, Fish, Skinless poultry, Lean beef, Pork, and Low-fat dairy products. Unhealthier proteins include Fried meats, Processed meats, sugar yoghurts, Processed protein bars, and Many kinds of cheese.

4. Daily Calorie Needs

The number of calories a person needs to consume daily is mainly based on several factors including height, weight, age, and activity level, along with whether the person wants to maintain, lose, or gain weight. As carbohydrates, proteins, and fats provide nearly the entire energy needs of the human body, their daily needs can be calculated based on their daily caloric needs.

MUSCLES

  • Muscle is contractile tissue grouped into coordinated systems for greater efficiency. In humans, the muscle systems are classified by gross appearance and location of cells. The three types of muscles are striated, cardiac, and smooth. Striated muscle is almost exclusively attached to the skeleton and constitutes the bulk of the body’s muscle tissue. The multinucleated fibres are under the control of the somatic nervous system and elicit movement by forces exerted on the skeleton similar to levers and pulleys.
  • These muscles can contract rapidly and with a lot of force. Contraction is strong but short-lived. This type of muscle is responsible for most of our muscle strength, and our increase in mass after periods of weight training. It is the least dense in myoglobin and mitochondria.

TYPES OF MUSCLES

Humans and other vertebrates have skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles.

1. Skeletal muscles:

Skeletal muscles move the external parts of the body and the limbs. They cover the bones and give our bodies their shape. or every skeletal muscle in the human body there is an identical one on the other side. There are about 320 pairs of identical bilateral muscles. When one muscle contracts, the other expands, and this allows movement. Skeletal muscles are continuously making tiny adjustments to maintain posture. The bones need to be kept in the right position so that the joints do not dislocate. The skeletal muscles and tendons do this.

Skeletal muscles are divided into different types:
  • Type I, red, or slow twitch muscles: These are dense and have capillaries. They are rich in myoglobin and mitochondria. This gives them their red colour. This type of muscle can contract for a long time without much effort. Type I muscles can sustain aerobic activity using carbohydrates and fats as fuel.
  • Type II fast twitch muscles: These muscles can contract rapidly and with a lot of force. Contraction is strong but short-lived. This type of muscle is responsible for most of our muscle strength, and our increase in mass after periods of weight training. It is the least dense in myoglobin and mitochondria.
2. Striated muscles

Skeletal muscles are striated muscles. They consist of thousands of sarcomeres, or muscle units. Smooth muscles are not striated. A striated muscle looks striped under a microscope because each sarcomere is made up of parallel bands of different materials. Different bands within each muscle interact, allowing the muscle to move powerfully and smoothly.

3. Cardiac Muscles

This is found in the walls of the heart and is also under the control of the autonomic nervous system. The cardiac muscle cell has one central nucleus, like smooth muscle, but it also is striated, like skeletal muscle. The cardiac muscle cell is rectangular in shape. The contraction of cardiac muscle is involuntary, strong, and rhythmical. Smooth and cardiac muscle will be discussed in detail concerning their appropriate systems. This unit mainly covers the skeletal muscular system.

4. Smooth Muscles

Smooth muscle or “involuntary muscle” is found within the walls of organs and structures such as the oesophagus, stomach, intestines, bronchi, uterus, urethra, blood vessels, bladder and arrector pill in the skin (in which it controls the erection of the body hair). Unlike skeletal muscle, smooth muscle is not under conscious control.

MACROS FOR BUILDING MUSCLE

When it comes to building muscle, your macronutrients need to be dialled in to maximize the efficiency of muscle growth. Macronutrients are the 3 most prominent numbers on the back of any nutrition facts panel. They are comprised of carbohydrates, fats, and most importantly for building muscle protein.

CAN YOU CUT FAT AND BURN MUSCLE AT THE SAME TIME?

  • To increase muscle, you need to fuel your muscles with nutrients. Muscle growth is optimized with overall growth. Being in a calorie surplus will ensure your muscles are not without the needed nutrients for growth, and to limit muscle wasting. To lose weight, you need to lose overall mass. You cannot lose overall mass if you have more calories coming in than are going out.
  • However, there are exceptions, especially for average day-to-day people. It comes down to timing, balance between cardio and weight lifting, and the glorious macronutrient – protein. If you are getting enough protein about 1g per pound of body weight you limit muscle wasting while also ensuring sufficient protein for muscle growth.
  • This number seems to hold true in every study we’ve read. We see no reason to set the amount below 1g per pound of body weight, in either cutting diets or bulking diets.

MACRO RATIOS

The ratio of protein, carbohydrates, and fats needed for building muscle does not vary that much. We focus less on a percentage split and more on hitting the required daily minimum of protein – 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

  • Higher Carb for building: Carb-40-60%, Protein-25-35%, Fats-15-25%.
  • Moderate Carb for maintenance: Carb-30-50%, Protein-25-35%, Fats-25-35%.
  • Lower carbs for fat loss: Carb-10-30%, Protein-40-50%, Fats-30-40%.

HOW TO COUNT MACROS FOR BUILDING MUSCLE AND LOSING FAT

Your body is fully capable of building muscle and losing fat simultaneously. To achieve the results you want, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with macronutrients and how consuming the right balance can help you accomplish your weight-loss goals. Tracking macros for muscle growth and fat loss and learn about the challenges you can expect along the way.

THE BASICS OF FAT LOSS AND MUSCLE GROWTH

  • To burn fat and build muscle at the same time, it’s important to understand the basics of how the human body addresses the two different types of mass. Your body automatically turns extra energy into fat, which it stores for use at some future point. That extra energy can come from any kind of food you consume, including excess fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
  • Your body will hold onto the fat that it has stored unless it ceases to get enough energy to keep things moving. If your body experiences a calorie shortage, it will begin breaking down fat, which it converts into the energy it can use. If you maintain a calorie deficit for long enough, you can burn fat and lose weight.
  • Consuming fewer calories can contribute to fat loss, eating more won’t necessarily help you build muscle. Instead, gaining muscle usually results from a combination of consuming the right mix of calories and engaging in regular exercise. You’ll need to pursue strength-building workouts that can damage and rebuild muscle fibres so that they’re stronger than ever.
  • Although many people approach fat loss and muscle growth as two subsequent steps, you can do both at the same time if you approach the process from the right perspective. By balancing a reasonable calorie deficit with a weight training routine, you can lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously.
  • Tracking Macros for Gaining Muscle and Losing Fat. When you have your daily calorie needs in hand, you can then convert them into macros. While your macro balance may vary slightly depending on your specific goals, a typical macro breakdown for fat loss and muscle gain is 40 per cent protein, 30 per cent fat, and 30 per cent carbs.

HOW TO BURN FAT AND BUILD MUSCLE WITH YOUR WORKOUTS

Intensity is only part of the equation, however. These strategies will help you build more muscle and torch fat more effectively.

1. Get moving early

You can blast up to 20 per cent more body fat by exercising in the morning. Your body has less glycogen from carbs if you don’t eat, so it will have no choice but to turn to fat.

2. Sleep more

Aim for at least seven hours a night. Less than that keeps your levels of the stress hormone cortisol elevated, which may sabotage the results of your workout. It may also cause the body to hold onto fat. “Stress is seen as a threat, so your body begins hoarding fat so it has energy stores, particularly in the abdomen.

3. Follow the 1:3 rule

One hour, three times a week. People who stuck to that workout schedule for six months experienced a change in their gene expression that encouraged their bodies to remove fat from the bloodstream; they also had significantly smaller waists.

4. Push harder

The best way to build lean muscle mass is by lifting weights or doing body-weight exercises until you’re tapped out. It could be five reps with a heavy weight or 15 reps with a lighter weight; whatever it takes to get you to failure.” And don’t worry about bulking up: Women are naturally less muscular than men. If you do feel your muscles are looking bigger than you’d like, though, “lift heavier weights, but don’t push yourself to failure every time. This helps your muscles grow stronger without getting as big.

HOW TO MEASURE MUSCLE GAIN AND FAT LOSS PROGRESS

  • To measure your progress more accurately, stick to a regular routine of measuring your body fat. Use a pair of body callipers to take body fat measurements from the same five sites once a week, and be sure to record them for tracking purposes.
  • To keep track of how your fat loss and muscle growth look, take photos of yourself every week, too. Make a point of wearing a similar outfit, standing in the same location, and using the same lighting and camera settings. Match each photo with corresponding body fat measurements so you can make sure you’re on track as the weeks progress.

CHALLENGES YOU CAN EXPECT DURING YOUR JOURNEY

  • Burning fat while gaining muscle is certainly within your reach, but you should still expect to encounter a few challenges along the way. Naturally, maintaining a calorie deficit while working out regularly requires a solid plan and serious dedication.
  • Measuring and tracking the macros – To get accurate results we highly recommend measuring each and every meal and tracking the portion of the meal and calories in a diet lockbox or an Excel sheet.
  • Whether you’ve set ambitious weight-loss goals or you’re planning to approach the process on a more gradual basis, you can build muscle while burning fat. Keep this guide on hand to help you set clear objectives, track macros, and follow through to achieve your goals.
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