The world of physical fitness centers itself on muscle building for weight loss. Men are constantly fed more and more information telling them that them ore muscle you build, the more weight you will be able to lose. But, how accurate is that statement really? Does muscle really effectively burn fat from the body without any extra effort?

Studies have been conducted on many occasions related to the amount of calories burned for every pound of muscle built. These studies have concluded on several occasions a range of 30 to 50 extra calories a day from every pound of muscle that is added to the body. With that fact being said, how long does it take to build a pound of muscle?

For the male species, a pound of muscle takes approximately one month to build. For the female species it can take twice that long or more. Muscle building, without external supplementation, is a slow process of tearing the muscles and allowing the muscle to rebuild. When trying to build muscle to lose weight and burn fat, this tearing and repairing process is the only way to truly see the effects of your workout over an extended period of time.

The Best Way To Build Muscle to Burn Fat

If building muscle is on your short list for your weight loss program, there are tried and true ways to do just that. But, there are also necessary actions that need to take place in order to maximize muscle build and minimize the pain associated with the tearing of the muscle.

When a muscle is worked with weights, the muscle will reach a point where it can not longer lift the amount of weight being pressed. This is called lifting to failure. When the muscle is pushed to this point, tiny tears in the muscle occur. These tiny tears will rebuild over a 48 hour period of rest and gain muscle mass in the process. This is the same muscle that will burn more fat on the body and thus burn more calories.

The key to keeping muscle building a safe and painless (mostly) process is the stretching. After the muscle is torn, lactic acid will rush in and start the healing process. This lactic acid, if left to settle in the muscle, is the reason for pain after a hard workout. Stretching the muscle can help to dissipate the amount of lactic acid in the muscle and lower the chance of that extra, day after, pain that is felt during recovery.

When building muscle to lose weight, it is important to work the one day on, one day off program. While some muscle groups, such as abdominals and triceps, are okay to working on a daily basis, all others need at least 48 hours to recover and rebuild before tearing the muscle again with a workout.

As time passes, the muscles will grow stronger and add bulk. This bulk will be the extra muscle needed to burn those extra calories while watching TV, surfing the Internet or sitting at that business meeting.

How Many Pounds Can Be Lost?

If every pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories per day, that will add up to 1500 calories a month. An extra 1500 calories burned with no extra effort. And, if the muscle training program continues and within a years time, 10 extra pounds of muscle are added to the frame of the body, that means an extra 15,000 calories burned every month. Not bad for a little tearing and repairing.