cardio and muscle mass

light_bloom

I'm pretty lucky in that I've always had a pretty decent body fat percentage (I'm female and it's around 21) not because I have huge muscles but because my weight tends to hang out around the lower end of healthy.

That said, I have been doing some cardio lately both for the purpose of cardiovascular strength and to help me reach my goal of losing about 5-10lbs. But really I have no idea what I'm doing; I had an eating disorder in the past so am very paranoid about muscle wastage.

So obviously I want to prevent that, but I also have the worry in the back of my mind that when you do lose weight, even if it's mostly fat, some muscle goes with it. Is this true? And if so, is there a way I can prevent it? I do quite enjoy running, but I'm too poor for a gym membership right now so I can't do much in terms of weight training. If I eat loads of protein, will this prevent muscle loss? What if I eat a tonne of carbs before a run?

Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm hoping some of you can shed some light on how I could best take care of my body.

light_bloom

Oh and an added note I have some dumbells at home. Will they help?

Sumiblue

Eat enough protein but you don't need to overdo it. I shoot for 30% for protein macro, 40% carbs 30%fat.
You could do body weight exercises or work with dbs or both.
Yes, a little muscle goes with the fat. Adequate protein & resistance training helps retain muscle during weight loss.

NorthCascades

light_bloom wrote: »

So obviously I want to prevent that, but I also have the worry in the back of my mind that when you do lose weight, even if it's mostly fat, some muscle goes with it. Is this true?

Yes, sadly, it's true.

light_bloom wrote: »

And if so, is there a way I can prevent it?

Not really prevent, but you can make it way less bad. Well, maybe prevent, depending on a lot of variables like your genetics and athletic history and a lot of other things we don't know. But if you're trying to lose weight, it's safe to say you'll probably lose some muscle along with it, and your goal is to minimize that.

light_bloom wrote: »

I do quite enjoy running, but I'm too poor for a gym membership right now so I can't do much in terms of weight training. If I eat loads of protein, will this prevent muscle loss? What if I eat a tonne of carbs before a run?

Eating enough (doesn't necessarily have to be "loads") protein and doing weight training will help. A lot. Protein because your body is basically in an austerity program; weight training because your muscles won't stay big unless they need to.

Carbs before a run is a good idea (if it's a long or fast run), but it's not related to muscle mass. It's for muscle glycogen which is also important, but it's a different thing.

light_bloom wrote: »

Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm hoping some of you can shed some light on how I could best take care of my body.

No you're doing great. Learning what you need to know to make decisions that are relevant to you, if more people did that we'd all be in better shape.

NorthCascades

Sorry I forgot to say you can do body weight exercises like pushups and dips, or you can invest around $15 into a set of resistance bands, if you'd like some non-gym options for strength training.

Azdak

Protein intake can play an important role in muscle sparing, even with higher volumes of exercise and little resistance training.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/hamilton/news/how-to-lose-weight-and-gain-muscle-fast-new-mcmaster-study-1.3423359

light_bloom

That's an interesting experiment, although I don't particularly feel like being as miserable as those guys for four weeks LOL. But I think I will do what NorthCascades suggested and invest in some resistance bands for the time being. I like the idea of them because they're compact and I can take them with me when I travel.

Sumiblue wrote: »

Eat enough protein but you don't need to overdo it. I shoot for 30% for protein macro, 40% carbs 30%fat.

I'm going to shoot for 45-50g each day. I learned in a nutrition class I took looong ago that a gram for each kilogram of body weight is a good start. Plus protein shakes are easy for those days when I'm too busy to eat.

NorthCascades wrote: »

Sorry I forgot to say you can do body weight exercises like pushups and dips, or you can invest around $15 into a set of resistance bands, if you'd like some non-gym options for strength training.

I did some googling and also found a blog called Body by Fish that has a few bodyweight-based workouts that look kinda hard, but might be fun. I like your resistance band idea though. Do you have any resources on how I might get the best use out of them?

TavistockToad

light_bloom wrote: »

That's an interesting experiment, although I don't particularly feel like being as miserable as those guys for four weeks LOL. But I think I will do what NorthCascades suggested and invest in some resistance bands for the time being. I like the idea of them because they're compact and I can take them with me when I travel.

Sumiblue wrote: »

Eat enough protein but you don't need to overdo it. I shoot for 30% for protein macro, 40% carbs 30%fat.

I'm going to shoot for 45-50g each day. I learned in a nutrition class I took looong ago that a gram for each kilogram of body weight is a good start. Plus protein shakes are easy for those days when I'm too busy to eat.

NorthCascades wrote: »

Sorry I forgot to say you can do body weight exercises like pushups and dips, or you can invest around $15 into a set of resistance bands, if you'd like some non-gym options for strength training.

I did some googling and also found a blog called Body by Fish that has a few bodyweight-based workouts that look kinda hard, but might be fun. I like your resistance band idea though. Do you have any resources on how I might get the best use out of them?

How many calories are you eating? 45-50g of protein isn't much?

Grey_1

Here's an mfp blog covering several body weight exercises that may interest you.

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/hiit-calisthenics-common/?bb=disable

light_bloom

Thanks for the link. I did some body weight exercises this morning for the first time in ages and I swear I just about died lol.

TavistockToad wrote: »

How many calories are you eating? 45-50g of protein isn't much?

I'm on a 1200kcal plan, which I know a lot of people here don't like but I'm pretty short and it's only about 300-400 below maintenance for me. If I don't eat back my exercise calories then I get really tired, so I try to do that.

I'm honestly not sure how much protein is enough protein. Is it better to go by percentages then? I just thought that would be more difficult to work with, since 30% protein for me would mean 90g but 30% for someone larger could theoretically be double that. But somehow that amount is still appropriate for each individual?

NorthCascades

light_bloom wrote: »

I did some googling and also found a blog called Body by Fish that has a few bodyweight-based workouts that look kinda hard, but might be fun. I like your resistance band idea though. Do you have any resources on how I might get the best use out of them?

The ones I use are called Fit Spirit, and they cost about $15 on Amazon. They were the cheapest set available. The handles are coming apart but I've done 90 workouts in 6 months with them.

I don't have a link but if you Google you'll find many videos showing you different exercises you can do with them. You can mimic a lot of or maybe most weight exercises. Hold the handles and stand on the middle of the band, and you can do bicep curls; use the door attachment and you can do standing "bench" presses and butterflies. I can't recommend specific ones because I have no idea what you're going for, but I think if you look around you'll find good stuff. I've heard a lot of people like fitness blender.

cwolfman13

light_bloom wrote: »

Thanks for the link. I did some body weight exercises this morning for the first time in ages and I swear I just about died lol.

TavistockToad wrote: »

How many calories are you eating? 45-50g of protein isn't much?

I'm on a 1200kcal plan, which I know a lot of people here don't like but I'm pretty short and it's only about 300-400 below maintenance for me. If I don't eat back my exercise calories then I get really tired, so I try to do that.

I'm honestly not sure how much protein is enough protein. Is it better to go by percentages then? I just thought that would be more difficult to work with, since 30% protein for me would mean 90g but 30% for someone larger could theoretically be double that. But somehow that amount is still appropriate for each individual?

Yes...more mass, more protein required...

BrianKMcFalls

light_bloom wrote: »

I'm honestly not sure how much protein is enough protein. Is it better to go by percentages then? I just thought that would be more difficult to work with, since 30% protein for me would mean 90g but 30% for someone larger could theoretically be double that. But somehow that amount is still appropriate for each individual?

If you want to maintain muscle mass, then 30% protein, at a minimum, is what I would recommend.

mgalovic01

Muscle mass and cardio are opposed to one another, so one will take away from the other.