Articles

from Rick Mayo

Bigger or Leaner? A Mens' Quandary

The question of whether one should add muscle or lose fat is common for men. Most guys are somewhat dissatisfied with both their level of muscle and their amount of body fat, thus the quandary.

The answer is often very simple, but tricky to get your head around. Let's take a look at guys in various stages of exercise and what they can realistically expect.

Beginners
This is the golden era, if you will. True beginners or those who are returning to a program after an extended layoff needn't worry about focusing solely on one goal or the other. It is quite possible to achieve both muscle gain and fat loss simultaneously at this stage. It is not impossible to gain upwards of 4 lbs of muscle in the first few months while also dropping or maintaining fat levels. If you are a beginner who is on the fence, simply train smart, eat well and enjoy your results.

Intermediate/Advanced
Once you have passed the beginning stages, it will benefit you greatly to choose one goal. Gaining mass, losing fat and maintaining are all legitimate goals. That's right, maintaining can be a viable goal and often can discourage frustration and confusion about which approach is best. Research supports that it is not likely an advanced trainee is going to be able to simultaneously add lean mass and lose fat.

Cycling
Can't decide? One option is to cycle your goals throughout the year. This option would resemble a bodybuilding program in which you bulk in the off-season and then cut before a competition. A real world approach may include a winter bulk, a spring cut and a summer maintenance. While this approach isn't necessarily better than maintenance, it can help those of us with exercise ADD stay focused on a goal.

Personal Preference
This where it gets tricky. Only YOU can decide what you want. In Alan Aragon's Research Review, Alan states:

One rather brutish technique for picking a focus is to ask yourself, which pisses you off more- your lack of muscle mass or that roll of fat hanging over your belt?

For some people cutting is determined by whether or not they'll take their shirt off in public (or with the lights on), while with others it's determined by whether or not their gut touches the wheel while driving. Yet for others, a 4 pack is just cause for tightening back to a 6 pack...it's that individual of a decision.

Unfortunately, outside influence can only muddy the decision making waters. Opinions are like butt holes- everybody has one. You have to be honest with yourself about what YOU want. Set your own standards and then proceed with the appropriate program.

Simple, but not easy.

Rick Mayo