Muscle Loss?

[[old] NJPitcher]

When you do any sort of excercise for over roughly a half hour, your body tends to have burned up it's glycogen (short term energy) storage, and begins to use muscle for energy (as it's more readily available than fat). That is why aerobic activity can lead to muscle loss. I'd reccomend a whey protein shake during and post workout, just whey and water. My dad's a PT, that's what he reccomends.

[[old] maf]

So, for an amateur like me, who just wants to row, keep fit and trim and keep the muscles in good shape without getting to an elite level of commitment, how does this sound?:<br /><br />Wake up in the AM. Fidget around, eat breakfast (Muesli/milk and a cuppa tea) <br /><br />Drink water.<br /><br />30 Minutes later, do a 5 minute warmup followed by about 5 minutes stretches.<br /><br />Then into a 5-10k session on the erg. Unless I'm trying to push a PB, I aim to keep my HR in the 140-150 range (I'm 49) I don't look for PB's often, or even plan for them, but if things are humming I might just go for it. Probably happens every couple of weeks, and I generally pick up a margin.<br /><br />If the above session has been hard, I'll do a 5 minute warm down, and maybe some more stretching. Normal sessions I back off a bit in the last 1k as a warm down.<br /><br />Drink more water<br /><br />Fruitjuice (~500kj) and a banana.<br /><br />Repeat 5-6 sessions a week. Aiming for around 45-50k/week since I completed the million.<br /><br />I don't think I'm burning muscle in my 10k sessions, but how can I tell? I have dropped from 82kg back in October when I started to 74kg now, and I seem to have stabilised there although there is still a little fat around my midriff. I measured my RHR in the polar 'fitness test' on the watch at 44 the other day - the watch said it was 'Very Good' <br /><br />Michael

[[old] Bayko]

<!--QuoteBegin-NJPitcher+Apr 28 2005, 04:09 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(NJPitcher @ Apr 28 2005, 04:09 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->When you do any sort of excercise for over roughly a half hour, your body tends to have burned up it's glycogen (short term energy) storage, and begins to use muscle for energy (as it's more readily available than fat). That is why aerobic activity can lead to muscle loss. I'd reccomend a whey protein shake during and post workout, just whey and water. My dad's a PT, that's what he reccomends. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />NO! No! No! No! No! <br /><br />This is at least the second time that this fallacy has appeared on the forum recently. The preferred fuel for exercise is glycogen. When that is depleted fat is turned into ketones that act in much the same way that glycogen does, albeit requiring far more oxygen (heavier breathing) than glycogen. <br /><br />Consider this from the Holy Cross College biology department:<br /><br /><b>"The only time body protein as normally used for energy is in the advanced stages of starvation."</b><br /><br />The full article is here: <a href='http://www.holycross.edu/departments/bi ... erview.pdf' target='_blank'>http://www.holycross.edu/departments/bi ... pdf</a><br /><br />Excess consumed protein can sometimes be used for fuel, but only after having been converted to fat or carbohydrate. This is consistent with everything that I've studied on the subject over the past 30 years.<br /><br />The only place (other than the couple of times here on the forum) that I've seen this myth of burning muscle is on body building and sports nutritional sites that seem to have an agenda of selling supplements.<br /><br />Rick<br />

[[old] Bayko]

<!--QuoteBegin-maf+Apr 28 2005, 06:29 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(maf @ Apr 28 2005, 06:29 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->So, for an amateur like me, who just wants to row, keep fit and trim and keep the muscles in good shape without getting to an elite level of commitment, how does this sound?:<br /><br />Wake up in the AM. Fidget around, eat breakfast (Muesli/milk and a cuppa tea) <br /><br />Drink water.<br /><br />30 Minutes later, do a 5 minute warmup followed by about 5 minutes stretches.<br /><br />Then into a 5-10k session on the erg. Unless I'm trying to push a PB, I aim to keep my HR in the 140-150 range (I'm 49) I don't look for PB's often, or even plan for them, but if things are humming I might just go for it. Probably happens every couple of weeks, and I generally pick up a margin.<br /><br />If the above session has been hard, I'll do a 5 minute warm down, and maybe some more stretching. Normal sessions I back off a bit in the last 1k as a warm down.<br /><br />Drink more water<br /><br />Fruitjuice (~500kj) and a banana.<br /><br />Repeat 5-6 sessions a week. Aiming for around 45-50k/week since I completed the million.<br /><br />I don't think I'm burning muscle in my 10k sessions, but how can I tell? I have dropped from 82kg back in October when I started to 74kg now, and I seem to have stabilised there although there is still a little fat around my midriff. I measured my RHR in the polar 'fitness test' on the watch at 44 the other day - the watch said it was 'Very Good' <br /><br />Michael <br /><br /><br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br />It sounds reasonable to me. Keep up the good work. <br /><br />Rick<br />