Activity level and loss of muscle mass question.

kam3190

So I have a question for all the science types and people who have been there before...

I know in order to preserve as much muscle mass while in a deficit you should keep protein intake at good levels, lose at a steady rate and get as much weight resistance/weight training as possible. Now my question is if you do not do any weight lifting but have a very active lifestyle like lifting decent weight continually at work (construction workers heavy manual labor etc) with lots of activty (high neat) would you lose less muscle mass than someone else with similar stats and rate of loss who is very sedentary?

psuLemon

kam3190 wrote: »

So I have a question for all the science types and people who have been there before...

I know in order to preserve as much muscle mass while in a deficit you should keep protein intake at good levels, lose at a steady rate and get as much weight resistance/weight training as possible. Now my question is if you do not do any weight lifting but have a very active lifestyle like lifting decent weight continually at work (construction workers heavy manual labor etc) with lots of activty (high neat) would you lose less muscle mass than someone else with similar stats and rate of loss who is very sedentary?

If you are consistently lifting, than its better than one who is sedentary. But there will be some limitations if its not progressive in natrue, meaning lifting greater weight over time.

usmcmp

Probably, but it depends on the type of active lifestyle. If all the lifting is with your arms (like my job) then you're leaving legs vulnerable to loss. If it's all in one plane of motion you're risking muscle loss in muscles that work other motions. If it's overall upper and lower in a variety of movement patterns it's better than being sedentary.

Overall a construction or manual labor type worker would benefit more in their job and protect them from injury if they added resistance/weight training.

djeffreys10

There would be less muscle loss in the muscles that they use, and likely about the same muscle loss in the muscles they don't specifically use for their job as a sedentary person. A good weight training program is going to work your entire body.