Are You Losing Fat Or You Are Losing Muscle?

You know what the difference is between weight loss and fat loss. The firs one means you’re losing weight – fat and muscle. The second one means you’re losing fat, but keeping your muscles. And the second option is the one you should be aiming at.

But, how can you tell if you’re losing both fat and muscle or mainly fat? There is a way. Before you start you need to know not only how much you weigh, but also how much you lift and for how many reps in the basic, multi-joint moves.

Here is how it works. Take bench press for example. Say you weigh 200lb and you bench press 235lb for 10 reps. Now, take the bench press number and divide it by your body weight. Write down this result.

As you are losing weight keep recording what weight you use to bench 10 times. To check if your weight loss comes from mainly fat loss or fat and muscle, divide the 10 reps bench press weight by your body weight just like you did in the beginning. If this number is dropping – you are losing muscle tissue along with the fat.

This means you need to correct your meals and exercise. In regards to the exercise you need to lift heavy weights to challenge the muscles, which in turn means they need to stay as big as they are in order to be able cope with this weight next time they experience it.