Lose Weight and not the Muscle...Whats the trick?

V

vinny_75

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I am 5.6, 174 with BMI of 26. Numbers indicate I am overweight. I was a fitness freak a few years back only to have a drastic change in lifestyle resulting in prolific weight gain and loss of shape.

I have a good frame to build on. But have to get rid of excess weight. Currently I do 30 MIns high intense cardio by Spinning followed by 1.5hrs of weight training. I do this 4 days a week. Supplementing it with Weight Loss Supplement (Hot Rox) and Whey Protein, MultiVitamins, FishOil and the whole enchilada.

Can experts here tell me if I should anticipate loss of muscle in the process of Weight loss. Or will this routine complement each other?

Thanks
Vin
 
I'm no expert, but check out HIIT cardio, apparently very good for fat loss/minimal muscle loss. And keep the protein intake high to try and retain the muscles throughout. And of course try to completely cut out fried/junk food.

Also, from what I hear it's best to do cardio on non-weight lifting days, first thing in the morning to maximize fat burning. Or at least 6 hours apart from lifting weights.
 
I will start by saying, nothing is more important when losing fat than your diet. This is the single most important thing. If you do nothing else, focus on that. If you dont, all your work will be completely pointless.

That being said, HIIT is good because you get an equivilant workout to medium intensity cardio in a shorter time. the less time you spend on an activity, the lower the chance to reduce muscle mass. Also try to mix up the cardio. Dont stick to 1 type. Your body will grow accustomed and it will lose effectiveness.

Also, make sure you are doing cardio 5-6 days a week. You can do cardio on weight lifting days, just make sure, if you are going to do both in 1 gym visit, to do the weight training first. If you do your cardio first, you wont have the energy left to get the fullest from your weight training.

1.5 hours of weight training seems a little excessive. Be sure you arent overtraining. This could lead to muscle loss as well.
 
Nice post JunkFoodBad. Also, on the subject of nutrition, the key is to not create too large of a calorie deficit. I like to suggest 20% below maintenance level. So whatever your caloric intake is to keep you weight constant, drop from there by 20% or so.
 
weight loss can be acheived 2 different ways. You can lose fat, or you can lose muscle. Obviously most people would prefer to lose fat and keep the muscle. Therefor weight training is suggested to help maintain the muscle you have while on a hypocaloric diet.

But weight gain is pretty much dictated by how many calories you eat. Eat more than you burn, you gain weight, eat less than you burn, you lose weight
 
A pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories a day, even if you're just sitting on the couch. However, weight lifting does not neccessarily equate to losing weight, as junkfood said.
 
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