Loseing Fat but keeping muscle

[com34x]

I just wanted to ask this simple question. I really would like to gain mass but at the moment focus is lowering body fat percentage to the point where I can have some nice abs coming through. I understand how to lose fat but I wanted to know what one should do to keep the muscle. If I do moderate strength training along with a aerobic routine will the body realize that I am still using muscles and turn to fat instead of muscle?

Also, on the opposite end of things, if someone was to want to gain lean muscle, would the body turn the fat stores into calories the muscles would need to grow or do you have to use "Fresh" calories from food you have recently eaten.

[swanso5]

use this progression, trying each stage for 4 weeks each, not all at once:

1 - clean up your diet properly (carb timing, healthy fats, correct calorie amount etc)
2 - look at training (split, exercise selection, set/rep parameters, intensity, volume, rest etc)
3 - look at energy systems work (sprints, intervals etc)
4 - look at incidental exercise

- depending where you are now will depend what you need but you need to be really honest with yourself on the above points...DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, so if you're still doing arm work read the bold letters again...

- for muscle preservation the least that you need to do is 2 x 3 - 5 for each exercise x 1/week but it also depends on your body type...a "hardgainer" might need more sets than this but a naturally muscles speciman can get by with 1 set...do you build muscle easily?...basically as long as you keep increasing wt each session like you should you should be alright in the muscle preservation part...oh also you'll need to keep your cal's up too for that

- unless the first 2 points are addressed fully than cardio won't make much of a difference

- fat doesn't turn to muscle or muscle turn to fat...muscles turns into bigger muscles so fresh cal's

[milly]

[quote="swanso5"] .....
1 - clean up your diet properly (carb timing, .....

Can you explain the importance of carb timing and why? Thanks.

[ElectricSledge]

What has worked for me is trying HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for cardio, it has helped me out because you are constantly exercising at different intensities you don't allow your body to slip into a steady state. I have done HIIT (jogging for 90 seconds and sprinting for 30, and repeating), all the while watching diet and weight lifting and resting - and the cardio workout hasn't hindered muscle efforts. its definately worth a try.

[milly]

ElectricSledge..not sure if your post was in reference to query.

But am wondering what the importance of timing is in relation to consuming carbs and why?

Any ideas what Swanso5 means per his post above.

,

[Christopheel]

Timing carbs can be explain simplimy (as I will do )

your first three meals, espescially your breakfast need it, eat fruit(s) before or 30 mins after your meal ... for the lasts meals, eat veggies/salads ... after workouts always more carbs, some simples to refresh you I guess and complexe to replinsh muscle glycogene store ! Before bed too you better keep, even complex one, carbs low ... That's what he mean't by there ! Hope that helped

[swanso5]

glyceamic index (gi) numbers which you may have seen before...the higher the gi rating is the quicker the sugar goes into the blood stream so you only want high gi rated foods for breakfast and after training...common high gi foods are rice, bread, pasta and cerial are probably the main ones you want in these times and no other...all other meals shouldcontain fruit, veg, salad but i like to limit fruit to the first 2 - 3 meals of the day...fruit can have moderate gi ratings but are full of nutrients that the body requires so they can still be had

[milly]

[quote="swanso5"] ...the higher the gi rating is the quicker the sugar goes into the blood stream so you only want high gi rated foods for breakfast and after training

1.What is the importance of sugar getting into the bloodstream.

2. And why is the timing of this important e.g. breakfast and after training?

3. What happens in the body that the term "burn" for calories is used, does this have something to do with heat/energy?

again.

[swanso5]

sugar is energy...when you have a lot of sugar in the bloodstreamat one time such as eating a plate of pasta or rice, it needs to be stored in the muscles or used for activity...if you haven't just exercises then your glycogen / sugar stores are more than likely full so then it will store as fat...if you did just exercise then your glycogen / sugar stores are probably depeleted so thren it will store itself in the liver and muscles...this is why simple sugars need to be eaten at breakfast as tyou haven't eaten for hours and after training otherwise fat gain will insue

we tried to answet the calories / heat thing a while back...i'm not real sure on it but calories are heat and as you exercise you get hot / sweat which is an increase of heat or "burning of cal's although it's not as simple as that...you may need to research that one...in the end it's not crucial to know exactly what it is so long as you know how to burn them (intenbse exercise etc)

[com34x]

Swanso, I honestly thought what you said was rather confusing but I appreciate your help and everyone else's as well. I just wanted to ask this follow up question. Once you have increased your calorie intake and built more mass, do you have to continue to eat so many calories? Or is this necessary only when in the growth stage? I am not a big eater and would not easily be able to continue a high calorie schedule. If I had to keep the eating up I would be better off just staying thinner but ripped rather than big.

[swanso5]

to maintain the muscle you've built, you'll need to keep cal's up there as your metabolic rate will increase so your maintanance calorie level will also increase...you should actually be hungrier by default as your body needs food and will tell you so in the form hungerness...so if you're not a big eater than the med sized but ripped form may the one for you...

bear this in mind though...

say you were 150pds with a maintenence cal intake of 2500 cals/day...you wanted to increase muscle so you increased to 3000 cals/day...this worked a treat and you did gain 10pds at this level...because you have now built more muscle, you need more cals to sustain it so now your mainenence cal level might be 3000 instead of 2500...for another bulk you might need 3500 cals/day...so whatever your esating now will be probably be around your maintance level if you have muscled up a little

[Rabger]

What has worked for me is trying HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for cardio, it has helped me out because you are constantly exercising at different intensities you don't allow your body to slip into a steady state.

I just read about that in a mag. Its supposed to increase the amount of fat lost and decrease the amount of muscle lost. I wanted to try it but am forced to do distance running because of a physical exam I need to take, where I have to be able to run 1 1/2 miles in 13 minutes. I'm afraid its going to leave fat where it is and take away muscle.