How You Can Build Lean Muscle With The Help Of A Healthy Diet

We often hear the phrase 'build lean muscle', but what exactly does that mean? Quite simply, the process of building lean muscle mass is nothing more than adding muscle to certain areas of your body while minimizing fat storage. This will give your body a 'lean' muscular appearance in areas such as your legs, arms, chest, back and even around your midsection.

If you want to build lean muscle, there are certain things you should do on a regular basis, and certain advice you should ignore. First of all, you'll need to change your diet, but the changes that we recommend here in this article might be different to what you’ve heard before. Secondly, you’ll need to create a strength routine that aims to build lean muscle while boosting your metabolism to help your body fight fat storage. Here, we will focus primarily on the first step to building lean muscle - your diet.

Building lean muscle begins with the food that you eat and the way you eat it. Unlike other diets - low carb, no-carb and starvation diets - that aim to promote rapid weight loss while ignoring the effect it will have on the body, the diet we will describe here is aimed to help the body function properly so that it can burn fat and perform at an optimal level.

When you're looking to build lean muscle, it's important to eat the right amount of lean protein as well as a mix of healthy carbohydrates and fat. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grain bread, pasta, rice and potatoes are not the enemies that most diet plans will have you believe. Your body needs carbohydrates for energy and a host of other functions that keep it working properly. The same is true of healthy fats. Healthy fat, which can be found in sources like nuts, avocados and olive oil, help to regulate your endocrine system and trigger your body to burn fat. So paradoxically, avoiding fat altogether can actually lead to increased fat storage.

The two enemies you must avoid at all costs are trans-fat and high fructose corn syrup. Both of these substances, which are commonly found in packaged and processed foods like potato chips, crackers, pretzels, candy, packaged desserts and soda have no viable function in the body and will only lead to increased fat storage. By simply replacing these quick snacks with healthy alternatives such as fruit and vegetables you will quickly begin to see a miraculous transformation in your body.

If you want to build lean muscle, you’ll need to think of your body as an engine - an engine that needs the proper fuel to function properly. When you begin to take away that fuel, or add substances which are foreign and detrimental, the engine will begin to falter. Your body needs protein to build lean muscle, but the process it goes through to build that muscle would be impossible without adding healthy carbohydrates and fat into the “fuel Mixture.” Without eating these substances or by constantly adding foods which are high in trans-fat and sugar, your body will not run at it's optimal level.

By: Dean Carter

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Dean Carter is a keen fitness fanatic and loves to share his knowledge and experience of health, fitness and, in particular, muscle building. You'll find lots more information and advice on how to build lean muscle at his site, www.BurnFatGetMuscle.com.