Exercise and maintaining muscle mass

missblondi2u

This might be a completely ridiculous question, but here goes--

I know that it is good to exercise during weight loss in order to maintain muscle mass. My question is whether you have to exercise each muscle group to prevent loss in that area, or whether just generally exercising will prevent loss of muscle mass throughout your body.

Example: The only exercise I'm currently doing is walking and jogging. Will this prevent me from losing muscle mass in, say, my arms, or do I need to be lifting weights to prevent muscle loss in my arms due to eating at a deficit? [Disclaimer--I do plan on doing weight training soon, but I know nothing about form or anything and would like to get help from a trainer due to lingering back issues. My plan is to join a gym at the beginning of the year.]

Your responses are appreciated!

DeguelloTex

You need to exercise the muscles you want to maintain. Working your legs won't save your arms.

malibu927

Strength/resistance training will help preserve muscle mass. Look up Stronglifts 5x5, Starting Strength, and New Rules of Lifting for Women. They're all excellent beginner lifting programs that will help you with form and progression.

cwolfman13

a good full body weight training program that has it's foundation in compound movements is all you need...any program worth its salt is going to have its foundation in compound movements.

New Rules of Lifting for Women is a great place to start if you're looking for a general fitness lifting program. Stronglifts and Starting Strength are excellent programs that are geared more towards building optimal strength than general fitness. Your programming is going to be dependent on what your goals are.

I have a coach who puts my program together...if you have a good trainer, you can just let them program your routine.

missblondi2u

Thanks! I'll look into your suggestions.

VintageFeline

It's the resistance part that is key. Walking and jogging offer very little in that way.

I do mostly bodyweight and some fairly low dumbbell work as I do it at home and don't have space for full kit, that can be a great place for a beginner to start.