avoiding muscle loss?

shming123 said:

when dieting, is it possible to avoid muscle loss? I train about 6 days per week, including the gym 3 days per week. Currently, I am trying to have about a 400-800 calorie deficit per day. I try to still take in enough carbs, and try to get in some extra protein. And i'm taking an amino acid supplement, I've heard this can reduce muscle loss?

shming:

Where are you at now and where do you want to be weight wise? It sounds like you're working hard and you're right about muscle loss when dieting.

Fill in some blanks for me & I might be able to help you out with some suggestions. I'm not a dietician by any means but what worked for me might work for you too.😄

Well, right now I am at 156 lbs. (5' 9.5" tall by the way) In the spring I was 146 lbs with 6.9% body fat, and I think I've gained some muscle since then. I'm aiming to be about 145-148 lbs.. once I reach 150, or upper 140s I'm going to get my bodyfat measured to see where I am..I'd like to be 5-7%.

whats the full picture here - under what circumstances do you lose muscle, how does that vary with the parameters (training volume / intensity; total deficit.. )

ebola said:

whats the full picture here - under what circumstances do you lose muscle, how does that vary with the parameters (training volume / intensity; total deficit.. )

I think going into too big of a calorie deficit (I think more than a 1000 cal/per day deficit?). The muscles can get broken down for protein or an alternate source of fuel. I'm not sure about all the details, but its something like that.

Anyone else care to chime in?, reguarding this AND my original question? Thanks.

shming123 said:

I think going into too big of a calorie deficit (I think more than a 1000 cal/per day deficit?). The muscles can get broken down for protein or an alternate source of fuel. I'm not sure about all the details, but its something like that.

Anyone else care to chime in?, reguarding this AND my original question? Thanks.

virtually anytime weight is lost a portion of that will be muscle it's just a fact. this can be partially offset by a higher (not exorbitant) protein intake and resistant training but muscle will still be lost in the vicinity of 1/4 lb per lb of total weight lost. in other words when weigh tis lost 75% will be fat and 25% muscle.

JS

is there some sort of sliding scale here, i.e. greater calorie deficit == greater loss of muscle;
'toning' == staying about the same weight but burning off fat / replacing with muscle... is that just days of (loss of less muscle & more fat) & (gain of more muscle, less fat) balancing out, with the rule 'any time weight is lost some muscle goes' still applying ?

The last time i lost weight (slow controlled rate) i did perceive an improvement in my quads .. I was sprinting up a lot of hills and religously getting a specific amount of protein (>2g/kg) spread evenly throughout the day ( was weight training upperbody too ). I could say i felt i certainly wasn't losing muscle.. maybe i was just feeling optimistic.. and I dont have any measurement to confirm that. It could just have been water distribution i guess.

ebola said:

is there some sort of sliding scale here, i.e. greater calorie deficit == greater loss of muscle;
'toning' == staying about the same weight but burning off fat / replacing with muscle... is that just days of (loss of less muscle & more fat) & (gain of more muscle, less fat) balancing out, with the rule 'any time weight is lost some muscle goes' still applying ?

from what I've read if you sit on your butt and follow a very low calorie diet then the ratio is about 50/50.

The last time i lost weight (slow controlled rate) i did perceive an improvement in my quads .. I was sprinting up a lot of hills and religously getting a specific amount of protein (>2g/kg) spread evenly throughout the day ( was weight training upperbody too ). I could say i felt i certainly wasn't losing muscle.. maybe i was just feeling optimistic.. and I dont have any measurement to confirm that. It could just have been water distribution i guess.

would have been nice if you had gotten body fat tested for and aft...

JS