Maintaining muscle

becknomad
becknomad Posts: 63 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone, new to MFP and have a question about maintaining muscle. I am learning to like exercise.....SLOWLY... Lol, I am having some back pain due to picking up my active 2 year old so I'm starting with water aerobics. I keep reading posts that you can't gain muscle when you are in a calorie deficit which makes sense. If I add weight training is the goal to keep my current level of muscle? (which is high from carrying around my lovely chubby body?? And why do I want to do this? Does this help me burn more calories per day? Or is it more to just look more toned once the layer of padding hiding my muscles is less?

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    YEs, for the most part you always want to keep as much muscle as you can for all those reasons.
  • tank1539
    tank1539 Posts: 55 Member
    edited September 2015
    You may gain some muscle or in most cases gain lost muscle back in a deficit if you either new to training or coming back to training. It won't be significant though. You will strengthen your tendons and ligaments for when you're ready to go into a surplus and hit it hard. Also you will get stronger by training your central nervous system to contract your muscles harder and harder, you'll change your "muscle memory" from sediment to active. As for maintaining your muscle, watch your macros and keep your protein up. There are also some supplements out there that are supposed to help keep your body from going catabolic. Carnitine comes to mind. But until your down to around 10% BF, you shouldn't loose much muscle while cutting.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited September 2015
    You should be lifting heavy weights (relatively) to maintain muscle mass. Whenever you go on a cut, it's inevitable that you'll lose some amount of muscle mass. However, lifting heavy weights and eating adequate protein will make a large majority of your weight loss be fat.

    Some good beginner programs are;
    • New Rules of Lifting For Women
    • Strong Curves
    • ICF 5x5
    • StrongLifts 5x5

    You should be fueling your body properly as you need to recover from training;
    • 0.6-0.8g of protein per lb of body mass
    • 0.4-0.45g of fat per lb of body mass
    • fill rest of calories with carbs

    It is possible to gain muscle while in a caloric deficit. It's just really hard. There are certain variables which can affect it such as age, gender, body fat percentage, whether you're new to lifting or not, training program, nutrition and progressive overload.

    Having more muscle mass will raise your BMR as muscle is more metabolically active compared to fat. Is it enough to have a significant affect in weight loss?

    Is it worth it to lift heavy to maintain muscle mass? Yes. Muscle mass growth is a slow process... you're best to keep hold of what you've got now.

    tank1539 wrote: »
    You may gain some muscle or in most cases gain lost muscle back in a deficit if you either new to training or coming back to training. It won't be significant though. You will strengthen your tendons and ligaments for when you're ready to go into a surplus and hit it hard. Also you will get stronger by training your central nervous system to contract your muscles harder and harder, you'll change your "muscle memory" from sediment to active. As for maintaining your muscle, watch your macros and keep your protein up. There are also some supplements out there that are supposed to help keep your body from going catabolic. Carnitine comes to mind. But until your down to around 10% BF, you should loose much muscle while cutting.

    No need for supplements to keep you from going into a state of muscle catabolism. At all.
  • tank1539
    tank1539 Posts: 55 Member
    Edit, I meant to say, "... Until your around 10% BF, you SHOULDN'T loose much muscle"

    As for supps, sorry if you're against them. That's a personal choice. https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/carnitine-lcarnitine
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    tank1539 wrote: »
    Edit, I meant to say, "... Until your around 10% BF, you SHOULDN'T loose much muscle"

    As for supps, sorry if you're against them. That's a personal choice. https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/carnitine-lcarnitine

    Not against them... they're just not needed to prevent catabolism. Sure they might help.. but to what extent?
  • becknomad
    becknomad Posts: 63 Member
    What is muscle catabolism?
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    becknomad wrote: »
    What is muscle catabolism?

    Wasting of muscle tissue, as far as I understand.
  • tank1539
    tank1539 Posts: 55 Member
    Who really knows to what extent anything works? Body chemistry is different for everyone. Depends on your workout too. I do a fasted workout (for the low insulin) 6x a week so I take b-alanine, creatine, BCAA's, HMB and dextrose amongst others in hopes to use as much stored energy as possible during workouts and hopefully protect my muscle till I get that first shake in post workout. So I hope it works good and I seem to be retaining awesomely, even in a 1k deficit. But I mean, I don't know what to say, I was just throwing it out there.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    becknomad wrote: »
    If I add weight training is the goal to keep my current level of muscle? (which is high from carrying around my lovely chubby body?? And why do I want to do this? Does this help me burn more calories per day? Or is it more to just look more toned once the layer of padding hiding my muscles is less?

    And perhaps most importantly, you want to maintain your current level of muscle in order to Do Stuff in everyday life.

    You mention back pain from picking up your 2 year old . . . if you lose muscle, picking up that sweet but lively child will be more difficult, and perhaps more injury-provoking, as just one example. Not a good thing, right?
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Catabolism is a state in which your body breaks down larger molecules into smaller ones. In the case of muscle tissue, it is the breaking down of the proteins into aminos acids, which are then used to support gluconeogenesis.

    Gluconeogenesis is where the body creates glucose ( energy source ) from non carbohydrates.

    The eating of sufficient protein helps to mitigate this process when your blood glucose levels are low due to calorie deficiencies, as well as support the protein needs for the normal replacement/rebuilding process of muscle tissue.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You want to maintain muscle so you ose muscle. Losing muscle can have long term negative effect oh your health snd well being. You want to build strength, which uou cxn do ehe eating deficit. There's a diff between gaining strength snd gaining muscle mass. Strength helps prevent injury and maintain agility, balance, and functionality throughout your life.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Aqua fit does have an element of resistance work in it as you are constantly working against the water. So good for you for choosing a starting programme that will benefit you numerous ways.

    Cardio benefits your heat and lungs; strength training benefits your muscle and bone.

    While you are losing, doing some kind of resistance/strength training will help you retain the muscles you have, and strengthen them.

    You will find lifting your 2 yr old easier as you gain strength. Got to look ahead to having a 3, 4, 5 yr old to throw around.

    If you don't feel you are ready for the lifting programmes IsaackGMOON recommended, start with adding some bodyweight exercises.
    You Are Your Own Gym
    Convict Conditioning
    Nerdfitness.com
    Are all good programmes.

    Yes, your body will feel and look better too.

    Cheers, h.
  • becknomad
    becknomad Posts: 63 Member
    Thanks everybody! :smiley:
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