Re: Muscles, protein and fat
- From: Bill Eitner <kd6tas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:04:18 GMT
The Litwaks wrote:
I joined a health club last week because bike riding is not getting my weight down. I'm trying to mix cardio exercise and strength training. I have a specific fitness goal to lose a lot of pounds by a specific date, which will be hard to do.
That's not a fitness goal--it's a vanity
goal. Inevitably, a lofty scale-weight
goal drags you into a situation where
you're forced to do a lot of cardio and
crash diet. That results in more lost
muscle than you would experience with a more
conservative approach. It also sets you
up for failure, depression and rebound
fat gain. I hope that whatever you're
preparing for is worth the risk.
I've been told three thins by trainers at the health club that I find hard to believe.
1. If I don't eat enough carbohydrates, I will burn muscle during exercise.
Low carb dieting flies in the face of that.
The established medical industry doctrine
pushes carbohydrate-rich diets when around
here it's pretty much common knowledge that
low carb is best for sparing muscle while
losing fat at the highest possible rate.
While it is true that I need carbs for Glycogen,
There's no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.
Glycogen can be made from protein.
if I have excess fat, my body should burn fat before it burns anything else, no?
The body uses all three macronutrients to produce
energy expressed as physical and mental work.
Exercise and diet can effect the average percentage
of each that is used. In general, having excess
fat tends to increase the fat portion of the equation.
Low carb (or high fat) dieting tends to increase the
fat portion as well. Again, that flies in the face
of the commonly taught high carb/low fat diet.
2. If I do too much cardio work, I will burn muscle rather than fat.
I agree with that. I see cardio for weight loss (as
opposed to cardio for cardiovascular conditioning)
as an optional component that's something of a
necessary evil for those who can't reach their goals
without it. I believe in weight/resistance training
to build/spare muscle and dieting to become lean.
If ones goals are such that weight training and diet
isn't enough, then cardio becomes necessary.
Again, if I have excess fat, my body is going to burn fat first, as long as I have enough protein in my diet to form new muscle, right?
Again, your body is always using some of each (carbs,
protein, fat). The percentages of each can be expressed
as a ratio. What I'm trying to convey is that exercise
and diet choices influence that ratio. I believe that
weight training and low carb dieting shift the ratio
more toward fat burning and muscle sparing than cardio
and a low fat (high carb) diet.
3. IF I do the same strength training regimen weekly, I will have a problem because I will get muscle memory and it won't do any good any more.
There may be some truth to that. However, I also see
cases of that as being fairly extreme in that it's
pretty easy to prevent.
I have to hire a trainer to guide every workout.
Or learn enough so that you can produce your own
routines.
At one time, I went into doing triathlons and got into great shape for my purposes with little weight lifting and besides that, weight lifting is weight lifting. It will still take energy and develop muscle no matter how many times I do the same workout, no?
When the workout no longer stimulates a physiological
response, progress will halt. Your job is to keep it
fresh, challenging and progressive enough to prevent
that.
--
.
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