Adding muscle but don't want to give up running

ndj1979

At what bf% do you need to start being really concerned about this? I lift 3 days a week and then spin for an hour afterwards. My bf% is somewhere around 25-26%. I think I have enough bf to not have to worry about this yet. Right?

Being concerned about what specifically? OP is trying to add muscle which I am assuming at this point in time you are not?
Do you mean you are worried about losing muscle as well as fat when running? If so, as long as you are eating adequate protein, and lifting, your muscle loss will be limited

I guess what I'm confused about is what level of cardio is too much and then starts to eat at muscle. I'm in a deficit so no muscle gains but don't want to take away from what I have. A girlfriend of mine thinks I could add more while a pt thinks what I'm doing is taking away from strength training.

way to de-rail the thread...

ndj1979

I would think that marathon training and building muscle are pretty much opposed to another...as they both require a lot of energy, so if you are trying to do both, one will suffer at the expense of the other...but that is just my opinion...

someone provided a picture of an Olympic runner but that guy is going to be training and eating 100% of the time...is the average person going to be able to put in that much dedication...I would say no, so that example is a slight outlier...

I would say run a little less, eat more, hit macros, and keep lifting..

what does is your current lifting regimen like?

Springfield1970

Do the marathon first. Keep your body weight low to go faster. Are you going over lactate threshold? Then fuel 2-3 hours before with low fibre (less gastric distress) different speed releasing carbs and some fat and protein. Fruit, oats, etc. expect to run out of fuel after about 90 minutes and get those gels and stuff in a little bit before.

If you're purely aerobic, then you can teach yourself to burn more fats for fuel so you can eat a selection of fuels. Just calculate your burns and keep at maintenance. I put on lots of fat during tri training from overeating because of the hungries from cardio. I lost muscle from under eating and not fuelling my over lactate threshold workouts. Only strength training and surpluss built the muscle I needed. But I had to recover from the workouts so no cardio. Cardio also complicates the maths, making it hard to hit the right bulking numbers of calories.

High fibre and running doesn't go hand in hand. Nor does muscle repair from bulking and running. Nor do deficits and running. Nor does fat from bulking and being able to run fast as you have to oxygenate the fat and you are heavier and slower.

I've had a well known personal trainer refuse to take me on to weight train and lose body fat because I was tri training.

In my experience it's best to bulk in the off season, and endurance train and maintain muscle in the race season. I'm not an expert at all, just had a few years experiences.

Springfield1970

Do the marathon first. Keep your body weight low to go faster. Are you going over lactate threshold? Then fuel 2-3 hours before with low fibre (less gastric distress) different speed releasing carbs and some fat and protein. Fruit, oats, etc. expect to run out of fuel after about 90 minutes and get those gels and stuff in a little bit before.

If you're purely aerobic, then you can teach yourself to burn more fats for fuel so you can eat a selection of fuels. Just calculate your burns and keep at maintenance. I put on lots of fat during tri training from overeating because of the hungries from cardio. I lost muscle from under eating and not fuelling my over lactate threshold workouts. Only strength training and surpluss built the muscle I needed. But I had to recover from the workouts so no cardio. Cardio also complicates the maths, making it hard to hit the right bulking numbers of calories.

High fibre and running doesn't go hand in hand. Nor does muscle repair from bulking and running. Nor do deficits and running. Nor does fat from bulking and being able to run fast as you have to oxygenate the fat and you are heavier and slower.

I've had a well known personal trainer refuse to take me on to weight train and lose body fat because I was tri training.

In my experience it's best to bulk in the off season, and endurance train and maintain muscle in the race season. I'm not an expert at all, just had a few years experiences.

Edit double post

RoyalMoose11

I'm only doing the strong lifts program at this point as my way of breaking back into the free weight world and three days a week fits my schedule.

mrslcoop

In. Not because I want to gain muscle while training for a half, but I don't want to lose it either.

Chain_Ring

For the love of God, why would you have to give up running?

Springfield1970

In. Not because I want to gain muscle while training for a half, but I don't want to lose it either.

Can I suggest that you calculate your exact burns and eat them all back to maintain, eat 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass, and strength train UPPER BODY twice a week to maintain your muscle, not progressively heavier weights ( that's if you already are lifting) or even do all body weight strength training like yoga so you don't give your muscles the message that they aren't needed and can shrink now.