Am I losing muscle or fat??

[rash_decision]

Hi all. I've been doing a lot of training for the past few months as I've noticed I can't eat or drink what I want anymore, without the pounds piling on!! I love being mid thirties!!! Lol. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone can answer my question? I have managed to get my muscle definition/shape back and look and feel good again! My regime consists of day 1, weights for chest and back, day 2 weights for shoulders and arms, day 3 a run of between 5 and 10k depending on how I feel, and how soon boredom kicks in! What am I likely to be burning off on my run? Will I just burn fat or will my body be shedding muscle as well, to reduce weight for running purposes? I plan on maintaining my physique now, so want to find a happy medium to retain muscle and definition but keep the fat off.

[ShadownINja]

IIRC, if you keep the heart rate at between 60% and 80% of your max (220-age) then it should burn fat after the first 20 minutes. Bit hazy on it so hopefully someone can confirm.

Apparently, eating caffeine tablets (or just drinking a strong coffee) before training can encourage the body to use the fat. Again, IIRC, the caffeine encourages the fat to break down which can be used as fuel for the run.








No doubt, someone will ask the same question in 5 days.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Your body will only ever "burn" muscle in the event that it has no other energy stores. The means all the glycogen stored in your muscles has been used, all the food in your stomach has been used, and the majority of your stored body fat has been used. This is not what is happening to you. If you are running regularly and doing weights you will be building muscle mass. It just takes time to see it sometimes, particularly if you have an insulation layer over the top.

[rash_decision]

That's kinda what I thought! Someone told me I'd be burning muscle off as well!!?? I couldn't see that! I have managed to get rid of all but the thin layer of unwanted fat over my abs, need to keep at it then!!! Hey ho!!

[LordGrover]

Muscle - use it or lose it. So long as you keep up the weights/resistance training and don't do excessive cardio you should be fine.

[E21_Ross]

what rocksteadyeddie says is true. highly unlikely doing a regime like that you are getting through all your glycogen stores, unless you are eating very little in carbohydrates sense. if you want to gain definition/muscle bulk it's probably worthwhile doing more cardio for a couple of months (still doing some weights) before moving onto more strength stuff. 5-10k, depending on your pace, isn't really long cardio, particularly the 5k.

the time it takes to start burning fat varies from person to person also, fitter people start quicker. and you won't burn any fat doing a weights work out, weights simply do not require the calories like a good cardio work out.

[Rocky Balboa]

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

[E21_Ross]

Rocky Balboa said:

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

muscle atrophy takes place after just a few days of lack of use. with no training at all there will be significant muscle atrophy in a month or 2.

[E21_Ross]

swerni said:

ShadownINja said:

IIRC, if you keep the heart rate at between 60% and 80% of your max (220-age) then it should burn fat after the first 20 minutes. Bit hazy on it so hopefully someone can confirm.

Apparently, eating caffeine tablets (or just drinking a strong coffee) before training can encourage the body to use the fat. Again, IIRC, the caffeine encourages the fat to break down which can be used as fuel for the run.








No doubt, someone will ask the same question in 5 days.

The theory is you are in an alleged "fat burning zone"
What they proved was that the ratio of fat you burned at that workload was higher then if you trained at a higher intensity.
Most magazine only really quote that finding.

However what they also found was with a higher heart rate you burned more overall calories (including fat) but the ratio was lower.

The conclusion was that this "fat burning zone" was a red herring and you should sweat your tits off for the best results

HTH

because at higher intensity using fat as an energy source is no good as it can't supply the energy fast enough.

[Rocky Balboa]

E21_Ross said:

Rocky Balboa said:

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

muscle atrophy takes place after just a few days of lack of use. with no training at all there will be significant muscle atrophy in a month or 2.

Well it obviously differs from person to person. I've built up alot of muscle over a 2-3year period, almost 6months not doing anything i can barely notice a difference which i was suprised about!

[ShadownINja]

Rocky Balboa said:

E21_Ross said:

Rocky Balboa said:

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

muscle atrophy takes place after just a few days of lack of use. with no training at all there will be significant muscle atrophy in a month or 2.

Well it obviously differs from person to person. I've built up alot of muscle over a 2-3year period, almost 6months not doing anything i can barely notice a difference which i was suprised about!

Out of interest, in terms of bulk (could it be fat sitting on muscle?) or in terms of power? I ask this because, if I stop climbing for a couple of months to recover from injuries, the first session takes several days to recover and I cannot climb to the same level.

[E21_Ross]

Rocky Balboa said:

E21_Ross said:

Rocky Balboa said:

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

muscle atrophy takes place after just a few days of lack of use. with no training at all there will be significant muscle atrophy in a month or 2.

Well it obviously differs from person to person. I've built up alot of muscle over a 2-3year period, almost 6months not doing anything i can barely notice a difference which i was suprised about!

chances are either

A) you have done SOMETHING to keep yourself ticking over. studies i've read have shown doing minimal efforts for over 15 weeks (i.e. no proper training for over 3months) can almost maintain strength and endurance; and this has happened to you, little training, but preservation.

or

B) fat overlying muscle, and much strength has been lost.

if you were to literally not use those muscles at all (e.g. in a cast) i can guarantee within a few weeks there would be significant loss in muscle mass.

[LordGrover]

Age, or lack thereof, will also help. I begin to noticeably lose muscle within a few weeks but I'm getting on a bit. You young'ns seem to build/maintain muscle just by breathing.

[bales]

E21_Ross said:

Rocky Balboa said:

E21_Ross said:

Rocky Balboa said:

It's actually very hard to lose muscle once you have gained it.

muscle atrophy takes place after just a few days of lack of use. with no training at all there will be significant muscle atrophy in a month or 2.

Well it obviously differs from person to person. I've built up alot of muscle over a 2-3year period, almost 6months not doing anything i can barely notice a difference which i was suprised about!

chances are either

A) you have done SOMETHING to keep yourself ticking over. studies i've read have shown doing minimal efforts for over 15 weeks (i.e. no proper training for over 3months) can almost maintain strength and endurance; and this has happened to you, little training, but preservation.

or

B) fat overlying muscle, and much strength has been lost.

if you were to literally not use those muscles at all (e.g. in a cast) i can guarantee within a few weeks there would be significant loss in muscle mass.

I'm not so sure about that to be honest I think he has a point. Most people who have built up a lot of muscle over time and who are big, even when not training tend to stay big but it 'appears' to just to turn to more fat after a while.

Personally I believe in the theory that once you have got to a certain level it is a lot easier to get back to that level after a period of no activity so your muscles must 'remember' how they were.

I don't know the physiological terms for it but I know that untrained people have quite a large proportion of 'unassigned' muscle fibres which you can convert when trained i.e to fast twitch / slow twitch etc... Once they have been converted they can't be turned back which is why sprinters etc...stay away from long slow runs.

With that in mind is it not fair to assume that a bodybuilder or weightlifter who has developed a lot of muscle mass will keep their muscle type and the ability to get strong very quickly again, so I don't think that once you have the muscle it can dissapear as such, just lose size - but retain the properties of a trained muscle....

Erm...that kind of makes sense to me at least!!

[AB]

Due to an injury I've not lifted for about 9 days and I think there is a noticeable loss in muscle mass.

[bales]

AB said:

Due to an injury I've not lifted for about 9 days and I think there is a noticeable loss in muscle mass.

9 days!!

From what I have read and been told it is supposed to be 2 weeks for any noticeable detraining to take effect!

Probably water in that case.

[LordGrover]

You may well lose definition in that time but not a great deal of mass, IYSWIM.

[Maxf]

After limping and nannying my bad leg for a few months I've lost a ton of muscle mass - so much so that my legs look completely, noticably, uneven. It definitely goes, and quickly.

[E21_Ross]

bales said:

I don't know the physiological terms for it but I know that untrained people have quite a large proportion of 'unassigned' muscle fibres which you can convert when trained i.e to fast twitch / slow twitch etc... Once they have been converted they can't be turned back which is why sprinters etc...stay away from long slow runs.

you have an assigned number of muscle fibres, with or without training the number of fibres will not change, generally, this applies to fibre type as well. however, with training the fibres will try to adapt, but the general fibre type will still be fast twitch for example. this is why genetics DO play a key role in a persons best athletic event.

bales said:

With that in mind is it not fair to assume that a bodybuilder or weightlifter who has developed a lot of muscle mass will keep their muscle type and the ability to get strong very quickly again, so I don't think that once you have the muscle it can dissapear as such, just lose size - but retain the properties of a trained muscle....

as said above, muscle fibre types are what they are, they don't actually change, but they can adapt to become more like another fibre type. it's hard to explain, but a fast twitch type can't become a slow twitch, but it can adapt to become more like a slow twitch.

muscle atrophy does occur quicker than 9 days. latest research surprisingly shows atrophy begins after just 3 days or there abouts. but yes, if you've "been there before" for fitness/strength, then yes it should be easier to get back. i don't know when capillary networks begin to break down, potentially in line with general muscular atrophy?

[bales]

E21_Ross said:

as said above, muscle fibre types are what they are, they don't actually change, but they can adapt to become more like another fibre type. it's hard to explain, but a fast twitch type can't become a slow twitch, but it can adapt to become more like a slow twitch.

Well I guess we will have to agree to differ on that point, I have read quite a bit recently about this and that you do have a percentage that are unassigned i.e do not contribute, once they have been trained to be a certain type(or be like a certain type if you prefer) they can then not be changed back.

I agree that we naturally all have a percentage of the different types which can't be changed, however it is the supposedly unused proportion that are open to change into whatever type you train them for.

I'll try and find some of the papers that I was reading about it.