Building muscle mass is going to require you to take in a surplus of calories because, well, let's face it, you can't build muscle out of nothing (unless of course you have some chemical help going on). Losing fat mass on the other hand is going to require you to be in a negative calorie balance because that is what will get your body burning off additional body fat as fuel for its tissues.

You can't do both of these things at the same time as obviously, one counteracts the other.

If you want to increase your muscle mass, you have to accept the fact that there must be some weight gain, although exactly how much is the factor that you can control.

So can you really gain weight without getting fat? When adding muscle mass there are two approaches you can take...

Many people take the first approach of increasing their calorie intake by simply stuffing their faces with food at all hours of the day and night! Their belief is that the more they eat, the bigger their muscles will become.

This thinking is heavily flawed. The body can only assimilate so much muscle tissue at once and after it has done so, any remaining calories are simply going to be stored as body fat. Plain and simple. You my friend, are no exception to the rule.

Most people begin their mission to 'bulk up' by increasing their calorie intake, some taking in five thousand plus, on a daily basis. And this over a period of, say, three to six months. This is far too much, and will result in a large amount of body fat weight.

A better option is to take in just enough calories to give you the muscle development without the whopping increase in body fat.

Now I guess you have a question...how many calories can you have, over and above what you would normally have to keep a stable weight?

There are many factors that influence how your body will react when you try to gain muscle. You see an advertisement showing that Joe Bloggs has added 20 pounds of muscle in six weeks, which is not impossible. The truth is he is brand new to weight lifting, has a fantastic genetic background, and he used a top-notch training and nutritional system. The honest truth is that generally it is very difficult to put on this much muscle mass.

The best rate of muscle growth is relatively small. A rate of half to one pound of new muscle every week is sufficient for you to get fitter in a more natural and healthy manner. As you can now see, you don't have any need to up your calorie intake to crazy levels.

The higher your intake is, the more you risk putting on additional body fat. As a general rule, keep it to about 250 to 500 calories above maintenance in hopes of putting on mostly muscle without too much body fat. Keep track of your current body fat levels and appearance and if you see that too much of your weight gain is coming on as fat mass, reduce your calorie intake slightly.

Don't take any notice of articles that tell you how many calories a day you should be taking, as everyones metabolism is different so your body will react differently to someone elses. Stick to the general guidelines as written here and you shouldn't go far wrong.

Remember that the more patient you are with your muscle gains and the slower you go, the more time you can spend adding muscle mass and the less time you have to spend dieting off the additional fat you gained - which as I'm sure many of you already know, is not a pleasant experience!