How to lose muscle mass

I have the same problem. I haven't done any upper body exercises in over 1 year, but I still have arms and pecs that are too big for distance running.

I have the same issue. I just didn't think I would get any serious responses on here.

Will muscle deteriorate on its own? To burn the muscle wouldn't you have to burn all the fat first?

I don't know what I am talking about. I am just asking a few questions based on very limited knowledge to start the discussion.

I'm not an expert, but I'd say knock the weights back to two times a week for maintenance. If you throw in true speed work you might be surprised how well you maintain strength without bulking up (at least that has been my experience)

the biggest thing would to be to control your weightloss. around 1-2 pounds per week and that should be pretty much coming from fat. you want to continue to try and build strength in the gym as well to maintain that stimulus. if ur losing strength ur losing muscle. nutrition is key here though, just take ur weight down slowly and u should b fine (stay on the lower end of the 1-2 lbs per week to maintain muscle better)

Get old....muscles just disappear....

Do lots of cardio, and never eat protein or lift. Muscle is a resilient tissue though, it will still take a while to leave.

eric1993 wrote:

So I recently started running again after a 3 year break. During those 3 years, I was weightlifting a lot in the gym, and gained quite a bit of muscle mass (30 lbs).

I'm looking into losing 20 lbs to run competitively again - I'm still going to the gym to workout 3 times a week to build strength or at least maintain it. Is there a way to achieve a 15-20 lbs lighter body weight while still having the same strength? (I'm at 12% body fat, so I could slim down to 8%, but then the rest would have to come out of muscles).

You can lose fat.

You can lose muscle.

If you get down to 8% bodyfat, how much will you weigh if you only lose fat? How muscle will you have to lose?

Do you think training to gain muscle mass will help you lose muscle mass?

Stop consuming protein to a degree. It must waste away.... literally. The last thing a human will burn for energy is amino acids, so once it is there, it isn't going anywhere without some drastic measures.

The issue here is really what you want to do with your running. Big chest and arm muscles will do nothing for your running--it's almost just dead weight. Large thighs and calves will slow you down, too. Do you care about getting as fast as possible in running, or do you just want to get in excellent shape and run better?

For a couple of years of my life, I wanted to bulk up, but I also wanted to run well. So for four days a week I ran 10 miles each day, and for the other three days I did weights for three hours with a medium number of reps and increasingly heavy weights. I got up to 190 lbs on my 5'10" frame, and I looked like more and more like the poster I had in my room of Sylvester Stallone shooting his machine gun in the movie Rambo. It was great being very strong, both in muscle mass and in running. But in order to run better, I would have had to drastically change my non-running workouts, specifically going to higher reps with much, much lower weights while still running long. And the only way I got back down to my ideal running weight of 150 lbs. was by doing just that, and it took a long time. I still ate as much as I wanted, but I went to straight push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups (my own body weight and nothing more), while also running a lot. Decide what you want to look like and what you plan to do with your body, and then tailor your workouts accordingly.

take advice from "xc coach":

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6071108

lots of options.

meth binger for 3 weeks.

cortisone.

vegetarian for a year.

bed rest and intermittent fasting for a month.

arms in casts for 6 weeks.

go to outerspace for a few months.

go to everest base camp for a few months.

the options are limitless, but continuing to do what you've been doing ain't going to cut it.

That is not all muscle mass. Why do people gain 30 pounds and think it's all muscle?

Even if none of it was fat, a good portion is bone mass. Then there's extra blood volume. Heavier innards from eating more. Probably a bigger brain too, distance running makes your brain shrink.

I am not too keyed up on the subject, but what I think you want to look into is working out more often and reaching a catabolic state.

But really...run more, eat less/better.

I was thinking of going just bodyweight, but I read somewhere that Alberto Salazar makes Farah and Rupp do 200+ lbs. barbell squats. Is that even possible with their frames? How do they not gain weight? Their power to weight ratio is amazing...

eric1993 wrote:

I was thinking of going just bodyweight, but I read somewhere that Alberto Salazar makes Farah and Rupp do 200+ lbs. barbell squats. Is that even possible with their frames? How do they not gain weight? Their power to weight ratio is amazing...

This is roughly equivalent to gushing over a powerlifter who runs 30 minutes a day.

And they are probably only "90 degree squats"...which really means only quarter squats.

Seriously though....

You gain muscle through eating and lifting a lot

You don't gain muscle by lifting a little

You can maintain muscle by lifting a little

You can get very strong without getting very big

If you want to lose muscle do long runs. Do not lift or do bodyweight exercises. Run long

Alan

jamin wrote:

but I still have arms and pecs that are too big for distance running.

Pics?

TAA wrote:

jamin wrote:

but I still have arms and pecs that are too big for distance running.

Pics?

I've already posted pics of my extraneous upper body mass. It refuses to go away.