Does Aerobics Make You Lose Muscle?
Yes, it’s true. It’s a scientifically proven fact that muscle proteins are broken down and used for energy during aerobic exercise. However, you are constantly breaking down and re-building muscle tissue anyway. This process is called “protein turnover.” Your body is constantly alternating back and forth between anabolic (building) and catabolic (breaking down) cycles. That’s just a normal part of life. Your goal is simply to tip the scales slightly in favor of increasing the anabolic side and reducing the catabolic side just enough so you stay anabolic and you gain muscle (or at least maintain it).
This fact of human physiology has often been taken out of context and used to scare people into not doing cardiovascular exercise for fear of losing muscle. When you fast overnight as you sleep, you lose muscle too, but that doesn’t mean you should stop sleeping!
Sure, it’s possible for you to lose muscle from doing too much cardio, but it’s highly unlikely. Shying away from cardio completely because you think you’ll lose muscle is a huge mistake. Only excessive amounts of cardio would cause you to lose muscle. Extreme amounts of aerobic work, such as the type of training done by competitive endurance athletes, could be considered over-training. Over-training tips the scale towards the catabolic side. Just look at the slight, wiry physiques of any distance runner or triathlete if you need proof of that. It’s difficult to generalize and pinpoint one specific amount as too much, but a safe maximum guideline would be 45 -60 minutes of cardio a day, 6 to 7 days a week. Within these limits, you shouldn’t worry about losing any muscle – as long as the proper nutritional support is provided. Beyond 60 minutes a day, you hit a point of diminishing returns and you may increase the chance of injury, over-training and muscle loss.
Trainer John Parillo has always been an advocate of lots of aerobics, even for his bodybuilder clients who are trying to gain muscle mass.
“Aerobics can enhance your recovery from weight training by promoting blood flow and oxygen transport to your muscles,” says Parillo. “Aerobics forces oxygen through your body, increasing the number and size of your blood vessels. Blood vessels are the ‘supply routes’ that transport oxygen and nutrients to body tissues, including muscles, and carry waste products away for muscular growth, repair and recovery. The expansion of this circulatory network is called ‘cardiovascular density.’”
So, according to Parillo, aerobics can actually enhance recovery from weight training and increase muscular growth by developing the circulatory pathways that provide nourishment to the muscles. Cardiovascular training is important for good health, for fat burning, and for muscle-building.
Losing muscle has more to do with inadequate diet than with excessive aerobics. If you suspect you are losing muscle there are four likely causes:
You are not eating enough protein. Protein is the only nutrient that can be used to build muscle. To stay on the anabolic side you must eat five to six protein containing meals every day. Each meal should be spaced out approximately three hours apart. Research has proven that if you are physically active, you need a minimum of .8 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Bodybuilders may need even more. Your carbohydrates are too low. Low carb diets are often used for fat loss, but it is a mistake to cut your carbs too drastically. Carbohydrates are protein-sparing, so even if you are eating large amounts of protein, you can still lose muscle if your carbs are too low. You are not eating enough calories to support muscle growth. This is actually the most probable cause of muscle loss. When your calories are too low, your body goes into “starvation mode.” Your metabolism slows down and your body actually burns muscle tissue to conserve energy. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, requiring a great deal of caloric energy just to maintain it. That’s why your body will shed muscle if it thinks you are starving. You are not training with weights. It is a common misconception that if you want to lose weight, you should start with cardio only and add the weighs later – another big mistake! The weight training helps keep you from losing muscle while you are dieting.
You are much more likely to lose muscle from not eating enough than you are from doing too much cardio. All too often, people are afraid to eat a lot and do a lot of cardio at the same time. It doesn’t seem to make sense. Logically, it appears that the two would cancel each other out, but the opposite is true. Many people believe they must “starve” the fat by drastically lowering calories. Unfortunately, this approach can cause you to lose muscle along with the fat. The only way to maintain your lean mass while losing fat is to feed the muscles with plenty of protein and nutritious calories while at the same time, burning the fat off with lots of cardio.
Whether your goal is muscle development, fat loss or both, you should always include some form of cardiovascular activity as part of your training program. Unless you’re talking about some kind of ultra-endurance regimen, AEROBICS WILL NOT CAUSE MUSCLE LOSS. In fact, aerobics supports the pathways that help you build muscle!
5-tips on how to improve your fitness and lose weight
Today, most of the population in developed countries is living sedentary way of life during occupational or even leisure activities. This has resulted in constantly increasing percentage of over-weight and obese people which in turn has negative effects on overall fitness and health.
Losing weight and improving overall fitness should be the number one priority if you want to live a long and healthy life.
The main reason for getting over-weight is the amount of calorie intake. If you consume more calories than you spend you are slowly gaining weight and start to accumulate fat.
The solution for the problem seems relatively simple and that is to consume fewer calories than you spend. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. If you consume that much less you will lose one pound of fat. Take good care when lowering your daily calorie intake. Consuming too little calories can have negative effects on your body and overall health. You should start with the amount of 500 calories. Consume 500 fewer calories daily then you spend, and you will lose 1 pound of fat every week.
Here are some tips that will help you to overturn your daily calorie intake.
- Build muscle – The more muscles your body has the faster your metabolism is which in turn burns more fat. Having more muscles burns more calories even when you are at rest because it needs more calories to maintain muscle tissue. You can indulge yourself in many exercises to build muscles and weight lifting or high intensity cardio training (HIIT) is one of them.
- Eat less, but frequently – Eating 4-6 times per day revs up the metabolism. Each time you eat your body burns more calories just to digest the food. Don’t skip your meals and don’t merge the meals.
- Cardio workout – Cardio exercises that range from simple ones as walking to a more intense like running, swimming or cycling are perfect for burning calories. Thirty minutes per day is a minimum to experience health benefits in as little as 4-6 weeks.
- No need for dieting – Avoid low calorie diets and supplements because they are of no use when you are trying to burn calories. This technique only makes you lose water weight or even worse, muscle weight, and soon as you stop your diet you gain weight faster than you lost it.
- Consume foods that help you burn fat – Eating healthy food like whole-grain food, green vegetables, fruits and food rich in protein (important for building muscles) are very helpful in reducing the amount of fat contained in your body. Try to avoid processed food like white bread, pastas, cookies, biscuits, etc.
These are five important tips that will help you to return your body to a mint condition. After only a couple of weeks you will start to see real improvements to your body shape, weight, muscle strength, you will have more energy and be in a better mood. Don’t starve yourself out, but rather be responsible to your body.
SIGN UP WITH YOUR FACEBOOK LOGIN
You could now sign up with your Facebook profile. Click on the tab “Facebook Login” or the “Facebook Login” button. From Dating Factory newsletter:
Facebook connect/registration plugin was officially launched on Dating Factory platform last week. It’s a great tool for over 500 million active Facebook users that allows them to register on your sites using their Facebook profile information. Dating application will gather all the available data, and request to fill out rest of the information after confirming their email address. (DatingFactory.com, March 11, 2011.)
THE WISDOM OF MIKE MENTZER
I recommend you to check out The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend by John Little and Joanne Sharkey.
SUPER BERRIES SMOOTHIE
Do you drink smoothies? Here is a recipe with super berries:
- 1 deciliter of pure Acai juice.
- 200 gram of blueberries.
- 1 piece of preserved ginger.
- 1 banana.
- 2 deciliter of mild light yogurt with vanilla flavor.
- (Ice cubes, optional if you want it very cold.)
Mix everything in a juice mixer.
Related: Des Moines woman puts goji berry cookies on area shelves.
VALENTINE’S DAY
How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
DOES ONLINE DATING WORK?
How is the online dating working for you? What do you think about specialized niche sites like Fitness Date Club?
Here is an excerpt from Cristen Conger’s post, Does Online Dating Work? [via Holy Kaw! @ Alltop]:
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Match acquired competitor OkCupid for that sizable cash sum. The acquisition indicates that the online dating industry is successful not only romantically, but also financially when it brings together business relationship seekers.
In fact, the Internet has become one of the most popular places for people to meet, according to the 2010 large-scale survey How Couples Meet and Stay Together.
“(Online dating) definitely works,” said Reuben J. Thomas, an assistant professor of sociology at the City University of New York, who collaborated on the survey. “We estimate that 23 percent of the couples in the U.S. who met in the two years from 2007 to 2009 met online. More people meet online now than meet through school, work, church, bars, parties, et cetera.” (News.Discovery.com, February 11, 2011.)
Cycling Workouts
Getting yourself fit with cycling workouts is one of the quickest ways to lose weight and feel better about yourself – and it’s fun too. Whether you’re looking to improve your fitness or just looking to get a little bit of exercise back into your life, a cycling workout can be just the ticket for you, particularly if you’ve got a distance to travel to work or school in the mornings. In this article we’ll look at some easy ways you can build up your fitness or lose weight on a cycling for exercise programme, with a view to improving physical fitness or your speed when cycling.
Before trying any exercise for cycling or a weight loss programme, it is important to firstly consult with your general practitioner or physician with a view to establishing your current fitness levels and whether or not you are at risk of medical problems arising from beginning a course of exercise. Remember that whilst you might feel fine, underneath it is always possible that there could be a number of problems that have lay undetected until now and could be subsequently triggered by picking up the pace with your exercise programme.
Firstly, you fitness for cycling programme should begin with a few light stretches and maybe even a jog, to make sure your muscles are warmed up for physical activity. After that, climb on board your bike and get cycling. It’s important to remember that cycling might not be something you are terribly used to, with most people avoiding pedal bikes as soon as they leave their childhood years or get a car. As a result it might be a good idea to take it slowly to start with – whilst you might never forget how to ride a bike, you will certainly need a little bit of a refresher before going out on the open road for your own safety and that of other road users.
On your first day, cycle a block or cycle to work at a medium pace. Don’t try to race there – you will tire yourself out and you’ll be in no state to hit the office. Likewise its important to ease yourself in to an exercise programme, particularly if you haven’t been overly active for a few years or you’re looking to shift excess weight. With the coming days boost your intensity and your distance on your cycling regime, to start building up your fitness levels and to get you moving and burning calories and fat. Ultimately keep going up in intensity as your body can handle in order to leave you with the perfect introduction to a fitness for cycling programme.
Cycling for fitness reasons can be both fun and practical, and it can also help shift excess weight in no time at all. Try it today, after visiting your GP for a health check, and see what wonders can lie in store for you after beginning a more active, healthier lifestyle with a view to losing weight and feeling great.
Source: Free Articles
4-HOUR BODY BY TIMOTHY FERRISS
Have you read Timothy Ferriss‘ book, The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman? I am interested to read what Tim Ferriss has written about kettlebell training in this new book.
The 4-Hour Body – Official Video Trailer
Reading material:
- Tim Ferriss explains how “The 4-Hour Body” came to life with Basecamp and Highrise.
- How Tim Ferriss used Evernote to write The 4-Hour Body.
HOW TO DEVELOP A FITNESS PLAN
Developing a fitness that works for your own individual needs can sometimes be an overwhelming task. However, when you break down the components of a fitness plan you’ll be able to start slowly and come up with a fitness plan that works for you.
One of the first things that you need to do is determine where you are with your fitness level. If you’ve been inactive for a long period of time you’re not going to be able to jump into a fitness plan that is too strenuous and tiring. You’ll need to start off slowly, perhaps by doing some walking for 30 minutes each day.
You should take some time to book an appointment with your doctor so that you have a complete checkup before you start on a fitness plan. If you’ve been moderately active you can incorporate other fitness activities into your daily routine. Try biking, swimming, hiking, lifting weights, or yoga. The list is endless when it comes to increasing your physical activity.
Another part of your fitness plan is paying attention to what you eat. Make changes to your diet so that you’re consuming the amount of calories that your body needs while at the same time getting the vitamins and nutrition that is recommended. Reduce the amount of sugars and refined flours that you eat. Trim the fat from the meats that you eat and choose leaner cuts.
You can substitute chicken or fish for meat at least a couple of times a week. If you smoke you should take the necessary steps to quitting. Talk to your doctor so that you get the help that you need to succeed. Don’t try to do everything overnight since studies show that permanent lifestyle changes take time. Make small changes in your physical activity and your diet, and you’ll soon be on your way to a fitness plan that meets your lifestyle.
Source: Free Articles
About the Author
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest.
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