Why is it so easy to gain fat and so difficult to build muscle?
Why is it harder to build muscle than lose fat? Your body, naturally designed for survival, finds it easier to store fat and conserve energy. Let's dive deeper...
Understanding Our Body's Priorities: Survival Over Aesthetics
Our bodies, true to their survival instinct, are energy conservators. This characteristic can be traced back to our early human ancestors who often faced food scarcity. As a result, our bodies have become experts at storing energy in the form of fat—a less metabolically demanding tissue. This fat acts as an energy cushion during periods when food is sparse and doesn't need as much energy to maintain compared to muscle.
our bodies have become experts at storing energy in the form of fat—a less metabolically demanding tissue.
The Uphill Battle: Gaining Muscle
On the flip side, muscle gain is a resource-intensive process. It demands a consistent surplus of calories, regular and intense physical training to stimulate growth, and consistent progressive overload to encourage your body to adapt and grow stronger.
What's more, muscles, being more metabolically active than fat, are calorie burners. They burn more calories even while you're resting. Therefore, without regular and proper stimulation through training, our bodies tend to discard muscle.
without regular and proper stimulation through training, our bodies tend to discard muscle.
The Muscle-Fat Dilemma Decoded
In essence, gaining muscle is harder than losing fat due to our body's survival instincts, the rigorous process of muscle-building, and the higher energy costs of maintaining muscle mass. To effectively build muscle, you must:
Maintain a calorie surplus.
Adopt progressive overload in your workouts.
Emphasise proper recovery and hydration.
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