There is no disputing the mathematics of losing weight: you must burn off more calories than you consume. For most men who are successful at the game, that entails an aggressive regimen of metabolic-based exercise and an obsessive restriction on both calories and carbs.

Does this work? It sure does!

But all that training and calorie cutting does come fraught with their own perils.

First, that kind of torture is hard to maintain. And any diet that you can't maintain is a bad one.

Secondly, when you focus on shedding fat as fast as possible, it is inevitable that you will shed some muscle as well.

But math is math, right? What can you do?

Stop emaciating yourself, and start focusing on building muscle instead. Not only will increasing your strength help you to live longer, the additional muscle mass will help you – passively – keep the fat off. (After all, it takes no small amount of energy just to maintain muscle mass.)

The strategy is to implementmulti-joint, compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses with low to moderate repetition (3 to 6 reps). In so doing, you discourage your body from shedding muscle mass. Low rep ranges tend to target more of the actual muscle fibers themselves in addition to providing the neural stimulus needed for the central nervous system to maintain strength levels. Higher rep ranges targets endurance more.

This type of exercise regimen is more difficult to maintain when you are operating at that low-calorie deficit that the typical American dieter tends to favor. Exercise, particularly when it is done the right way, is work, and work needs a ready source of fuel. You need to eat – properly – to improve your balance, power and conditioning.

Many men are intimidated by the deadlift because it's so hardcore, but hardcore is what you want your musculature to be, so get started!

• Walk to the barbell and stand with your mid-foot under the bar. Don’t touch it with your shins yet. Set a hip-width stance, toes out about 15 degrees.
• Grab the bar, with your arms about shoulder-width apart and vertical from the front-view, hanging just outside your legs.
• Bend your knees, until your shins touch the bar. Keep the barbell over your mid-foot.
• Lift your chest and straighten your back – all without moving the bar. Don’t drop your hips, and don’t squeeze your shoulders-blades.
• Pull. Take a big breath, hold it and stand up, all while keeping the bar against your legs.
• Consider your deadlift complete when you have locked your hip and knees.
• Return the barbell to the floor by pushing your hips back first. Bend your legs once the bar reaches your knees. (Don’t bend your knees first or you’ll hit them with the bar.)
• Rest one second then do your next rep. Don’t bounce the weight off the floor, pull each rep from a dead stop.

Again, you're only doing 3 to 6 of these lifts, so make every one count, and by that we mean that form matters!

Most important of all – eat something!

Sources: Men's Health