Does Cardio Really Burn Muscle ??

[kevin1969]

Would like your opinion on this one Mark.

40 years old and just want to drop 10-15lbs so I can have a better strength to weight ratio. No form of diet seemed to help. I'm doing a xfit metcon wod twice a week as well as 3 strength sessions per week (5x5's).

So to try and burn off some fat I'm going to add in 2-3 45 min low intensity machine cardio session per week (elliptical, etc) and go on some 6-10 mile hikes once a week.

People keep saying I'm going to lose all this muscle by doing this. Is all this really going to burn off that much muscle as long as I'm taking in enough protein and keeping up the strength work ??

Thx !

[Mark Rippetoe]

At your age, you're trying to do something with training that must be done with diet. Perhaps John Sheaffer would entertain this question if you submitted it to him, but it's pretty repetitive at this point.

[zephed56]

40 years old and just want to drop 10-15lbs so I can have a better strength to weight ratio. No form of diet seemed to help. I'm doing a xfit metcon wod twice a week as well as 3 strength sessions per week (5x5's).

Eat less, fatty.

No seriously, it's not that the diets didn't work, it's that you ate too much. Stop eating so much and the diets will work. There's no magic occurring here.

You can do that, or you can just add more work from which you will never recover from in time. Enjoy stalling and backsliding.

[celconicuzn]

If your body can handle it, you're better off doing HIIT. Low-intensity cardio is pretty damn catabolic, meaning your body will eat up fat and muscle.

Your bodyfat will drop with more intelligent diet planning. You don't have to starve yourself but a better amount of protein and fat instead of carbs usually sorts out bodyfat problems. We've beat this to death many times..

[kevin1969]

Thanks Mark. I think I've tried just about every diet avenue there is. I'll ask John.

[ion]

Kevin,

Don't sweat it. All kinds of demanding physical activity will inevitable break down the involved muscle tissue, or "burn" it if you will. Hence the need for food and rest post exercise, right?

Whether you train for an endurance race or doing heavy singles doesn't matter. You _will_ break down your muscles and your body (if you give it what it needs) will build it back up.

Here's a little story to ease your mind:

One day in a temporary(?) stroke of madness I decided to try running a marathon. I signed up for a race, trained for it and I fucking finished it (No, time was not by any means impressive, but note the less I was happy).

During the 6 months I trained for the marathon I did _no_ strength training whatsoever. What I did do was running my ass off 5-7 hours per week (Quite frankly I wouldn't have had the energy for lifting even if I wanted to).

When I started the marathon regiment my weight was 103 kg. During the training I lost two holes in my belt! Yay! My weight after finishing? 104 kg! What? That's right, I gained lean mass during this time. While my waist got smaller my thigh circumference increased. I ate as a horse during this time to be able to recover from the training, which explains why I didn't drop any weight.

To conclude, don't sweat it, what you do for recovery will have much more bearing on losing/gaining mass than the type of work out you do, or to put in another way: the proof of the pudding is in the eating ;-)

Cheers

[Mark Rippetoe]

Most people will be skeptical of this report. I am. What training had you done prior to the marathon shit?

[Brad Davis]

It is a bit hard to believe and I put my money on measurement errors (no offense). However there could be some very favorable genetics involved. I know a guy who was about 35 lb overweight a few years ago and decided to drop weight. He did the absolute most awful plan I can imagine. 90 min. long steady cardio, high carbs, starving himself of fat and protein. No resistance training. 2-3 months later, he was 35 lb lighter, looked very muscular and was about as lean as anybody can get without really going nuts about it. I'm sure he didn't gain muscle, but he didn't seem to lose much. This guy is a naturally stocky and muscular guy. If most other people would've tried that, they would've ended up looking like a skinny-fat scarecrow.

[Jake Di Vita]

I'm also wondering what makes you think you gained lean mass?

I could be wrong, but I don't think losing an inch or two off your waistline and gaining 2 pounds equates to a lean mass gain.

[Smith K]

Kevin,

Don't sweat it. All kinds of demanding physical activity will inevitable break down the involved muscle tissue, or "burn" it if you will. Hence the need for food and rest post exercise, right?

Whether you train for an endurance race or doing heavy singles doesn't matter. You _will_ break down your muscles and your body (if you give it what it needs) will build it back up.

Here's a little story to ease your mind:

One day in a temporary(?) stroke of madness I decided to try running a marathon. I signed up for a race, trained for it and I fucking finished it (No, time was not by any means impressive, but note the less I was happy).

During the 6 months I trained for the marathon I did _no_ strength training whatsoever. What I did do was running my ass off 5-7 hours per week (Quite frankly I wouldn't have had the energy for lifting even if I wanted to).

When I started the marathon regiment my weight was 103 kg. During the training I lost two holes in my belt! Yay! My weight after finishing? 104 kg! What? That's right, I gained lean mass during this time. While my waist got smaller my thigh circumference increased. I ate as a horse during this time to be able to recover from the training, which explains why I didn't drop any weight.

To conclude, don't sweat it, what you do for recovery will have much more bearing on losing/gaining mass than the type of work out you do, or to put in another way: the proof of the pudding is in the eating ;-)

Cheers

How was your squat after all this