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2012-03-16 2:44 PM

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Subject: Loose muscle to drop body weight
This is a weird question, but does anybody know how to drop weight by loosing muscle.  I know this goes against the grain but I'm thinking of my run times and being lighter, besides loosing the gut.


2012-03-16 2:49 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight
stop strength training?
2012-03-16 2:55 PM
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2012-03-16 2:58 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

Why would you think to lose the muscle and not just more fat?  (No saying you're fat, just trying to understand why you wouldn't make that the focus).

As mentioned above, you stop lifting (if you are), then you'll lose some of that muscle anyway.

2012-03-16 3:02 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

We lose weight to increase our power-to-weight ratio, yes? Wouldn't losing muscle defeat that by decreasing the weight-side of the ratio?

2012-03-16 3:03 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

When you lose weight, you lose both fat and muscle.  One of the reasons many lift weights while trying to lose weight is to offset part of the muscle loss that would otherwise occur. 

You don't need to try to lose muscle.  Just focus on losing weight, and keep doing the S/B/R.  If you are carrying extra muscle not necessary for S/B/R, you will lose it naturally as you lose weight. 

 



2012-03-16 3:19 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

The human body is an amazing maching developed over millions of years to survive.  Inorder to survive we need to be able to store calories durring times of plenty and conserve durring times of famine.  To that end the body wants to minimize the amount of muscle that it has to support.  Muscle is chloricaly far more costly than fat.  Because of that the body will only conserve muscle that it is actively useing.  When you loose weight, especially if your doing it quickly the first thing your body wants to do is start breaking down muscle.  The more it can get rid of the longer it can make the fat last.  If your driving a V8 and you need to make that tank of gas last as long as possible, start blocking off cylinders!  The only way to hang on to muscle durring weightloss is to convince the body that that muscle is necicary by using it to its maximum capibility on a consistant basis.

So the short is that if you just loose weight without worrying about what kind of weight your body will automaticaly scale back the amount of muscle you carry around to only that that is necicary to maintain the activities you do on a regular basis. 

Exactly to what extent muscle retention occurs durring weight loss is one of the great debates.  Can you loose weight without loosing any muscle? Many say no.  Can you actually gain muscle while loosing weight?  Many say yes.  Where is the truth?  Who knows its probably different for different people and BF measurement isnt all that exact in the most common forms of measurement.



Edited by 2453V 2012-03-16 3:22 PM
2012-03-16 3:34 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight
There was this bike racer from Texas that figured out how to win one of those big races in Europe by dropping a bunch of upper body mass. Chemo worked for him...
2012-03-16 3:44 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

I have some extra muscle weight from my weight lifting days, not Arnold S type stuff but maybe 20 -30 pounds worth.  I was also curious how the elites drop to be skinny or the pro cyclists loose fat and upper body muscle.  I don't lift weights, since Tris, but gain muscle from normal swimming and biking, especially biking...has slowed my run down having heavier bike legs.  I thought maybe just riding in low gear high RPMs might shed this extra weight, but then you loose power. 

Allot of good points made so far... keep the muscle to trick the body to loose the fat.  

2012-03-16 4:23 PM
in reply to: #4099827

Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight
moneyman - 2012-03-16 10:03 AM

When you lose weight, you lose both fat and muscle.  One of the reasons many lift weights while trying to lose weight is to offset part of the muscle loss that would otherwise occur. 

You don't need to try to lose muscle.  Just focus on losing weight, and keep doing the S/B/R.  If you are carrying extra muscle not necessary for S/B/R, you will lose it naturally as you lose weight. 

^^^THIS^^^

 

2012-03-16 4:25 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight

briderdt - 2012-03-16 1:34 PM There was this bike racer from Texas that figured out how to win one of those big races in Europe by dropping a bunch of upper body mass. Chemo worked for him...

Yet that same bike racer is still a pretty damn fast swimmer and a half decent runner.  Anyone throwing down a 3:50 HIM is impressive, especially considering he is 42 years old.



2012-03-16 4:35 PM
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Subject: RE: Loose muscle to drop body weight
PeteDin206 - 2012-03-16 5:25 PM

briderdt - 2012-03-16 1:34 PM There was this bike racer from Texas that figured out how to win one of those big races in Europe by dropping a bunch of upper body mass. Chemo worked for him...

Yet that same bike racer is still a pretty damn fast swimmer and a half decent runner.  Anyone throwing down a 3:50 HIM is impressive, especially considering he is 42 years old.

His physique is not the same anymore - he weighs more, and has a lot more upper body mass thanks to swimming.  Some muscle can't/shouldn't be avoided.

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