Lose Fat, Keep Muscle with Top Rated HMB Products
HMB may be a supplement that you’ve seen on the market for a while now, but what exactly does it do? When should you be taking it? And who is it for?
One of the most tested supplements for fitness and performance is HMB. This supplement is often sold to aid muscle growth, but can also have benefits for fat loss too.
It is a supplement that has been circulating the bodybuilding industry for a while as an additional way to cut fat and gain muscle.
Maintaining a healthy diet and strength training is required for fat loss. On top of this, supplementation such as HMB can also help to increase your chances of getting the best results. In this article we are going to give you some insight into HMB and how it contributes to fat loss.
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Overview
Beta-hydroxy-beta-methyl also known as HMB is a chemical made when the amino acid leucine is broken down.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein which is essential for muscle growth and maintenance. Although HMB is made in the body, leucine is not, which is why it’s an essential amino acid. Leucine has traditionally been known to help the growth of muscles in the body. It is often found in high protein foods such as:
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Meat & Poultry
- Fish
- Spirulina
What does HMB do?
HMB is well known in the fitness industry for protecting and repairing the muscles. It does this by slowing down the process of muscle protein breakdown and also speeding up protein synthesis, which is how muscles are built.
When you are going through a fat loss phase, if you are not consuming a lot of calories, your body may turn to protein as a source of energy. This is as opposed to fats and carbohydrates. This can have a detrimental effect on muscle growth as protein is essential.
If the HMB in your body is low as a result of not consuming enough high protein foods then it cannot be as efficient. Especially when it comes to protein synthesis and slowing down muscle protein breakdown. So, by supplementing HMB, we can maintain a healthy level without the need of the amino acid leucine.
Fat loss vs weight loss
There is often a lot of confusion and mix up between the terms fat loss and weight loss, when they both have separate meanings.
When we talk about weight loss, this is the total weight that you have lost and there is no separation between fat and lean muscle mass. Fat loss on the other hand is exactly what it says, the total amount of fat that you have lost.
When we refer to fat loss, this means that you are looking to lose fat and maintain lean muscle mass. This can be defined as body recomposition, which is popular among bodybuilders and those looking to ‘shred’. HMB is often recommended for fat loss and it will also help to retain and build lean muscle mass. This is rather than contributing to overall weight loss, which is not ideal if you want to maintain strength.
HMB for fat loss
Although the main reason for supplementing HMB is for muscle gain, this could indirectly have an effect on fat loss too.
HMB is a supplement often taken by bodybuilders going through a fat loss phase and generally when they are fasting. This is because when you reduce your calories, your body may increase muscle catabolism (breakdown) which leads to a decrease in muscle mass.
Through the supplementation of HMB, there is increased protein synthesis and reduced protein breakdown in-order to protect the muscles. This in turn may promote the use of stored fat for energy, instead of protein.
Doseage
As HMB is primarily used for building muscle, it is often best to supplement around your most intense training sessions. It is recommended that you take 1g, 3 times daily, making it a total of 3g per day.
People often take HMB around 1 hour before training and immediately after. That being said, if taken with a high carbohydrate meal, it is possible that it will take longer for the HMB to become available. Therefore, it may be better consuming 2 hours before training if you are supplementing HMB with a meal.
Research is beginning to highlight that taking HMB before a workout might prevent muscle damage and in turn, increase the chances of muscle growth as opposed to depletion.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a supplement that will provide an initial push for building muscle mass and therefore fat loss as well, then HMB is definitely a supplement that you should be paying attention to.
When going through body recomposition, the main concern for most is not being able to retain muscle mass whilst losing fat. However, hopefully with HMB your body’s ability to synthesize protein will increase. This will then result in the muscles being protected.
