OK, you are not interested in theory, but the top muscle builders and the strongest men understand the theory behind their training. In fact, if they did not then they would never have achieved what they have. If you want to build muscle it is of prime importance that you understand the balance between eating and exercise in order to gain muscle in the way that you want to.

Let's face it. If you want to build muscle, you just can't pump iron all day and expect your whole body to develop at the same rate. You can actually pump iron all day in theory and lose a lot of weight, ands your muscles will diminish and you will turn into a 7 stone weakling getting the sand kicked in your face. So let's discuss why.

I will use a term that many people do not properly understand: the calorie. It is not a measure of food intake, but technically is amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one cubic centimeter of water by one degree Celsius. However, let's just call it a unit of energy. There are those that don't accept the calorie as being related to weight loss or gain, but it is valid as a unit of energy, and is certainly more accurate than any other.

The equation is simple: If the energy you take in exceeds the energy you use in exercise then you will put on weight. Hence, if you eat more calories than you use, you will put weight on, and if you use more calories than you eat, you will lose weight. If you consider that equation carefully, you will see that there could be more than just the two outcomes.

The main two might be weight on or weight off, but to what part of your body is that weight added, or from what part is it removed. The answer is simple, and the basis behind all of the supplements use by bodybuilders around the world, and all of the exercises that people carry out, whether they are dieters wanting to lose weight, or bodybuilders wanting to gain muscle.

The basic equation is:

A. Calories in are greater than Calories used in exercise = added weight

B. Calories in are fewer than Calories used in exercise = lost weight.

When you exercise in order to lose weight you should work those parts of your body from which you want to lose fat. You must exercise sufficiently to use more energy than you take in or you will find it impossible to lose weight. When you exercise, once your body has used up the glucose metabolized from the carbohydrates in your diet, then it will start to use up muscle tissue. That is the time to stop trying to lose weight.

is how anorexics become so skinny: They first lose their fat tissue, and then they lack the food needed to maintain the basic life functions such as the general metabolism, breathing, digestion and circulation so the muscle tissue is used up for that with an eventual wasting away.

If you exercise to gain muscle, you are eating more calories than you can use in energy. As you exercise your muscles, the fat tissue also gets used up and the protein in your diet is converted to muscle tissue. That is why a high protein diet is essential to bodybuilders: you need protein to build muscle tissue. Without that protein, you would simply put on fat in spite of your exercise.

So there you are: the simple equation that decides whether you gain weight and build muscle or lose weight and lose fat and ultimately muscle. Both bodybuilders and women doing their aerobics are using exactly the same basic weigh loss/weight gain formula in their quest to lose weight or gain muscle - the easy way or the hard way!