Losing Muscle Along With The Fat?

[Diomed]

LIke I said I don't much about these numbers just what I have been told but I'm sure there is the possibility that they are wrong. I do have a big frame but I don't exactly what that means. I just wa nt to dump the weight and not the muscle weight.

[kyleb]

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I just wa nt to dump the weight and not the muscle weight.

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This is unfortunately not entirely possible. That's alright, though - losing a lot of fat and some muscle is about as ideal as it's going to get, and you'll see health benefits from doing that.

After you've lost a goodly sum of weight, we can start bulking a bit. Again, you're probably going to gain some fat in doing so, but you'll gain more muscle. Repeating this cycle is what cuts your bodyfat % down in the long run.

[Blarg]

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Blarg,

Yeah my overall goal right now is to get down to 230. I think you hit it spot on though about losing the weight. I don't know how much lean muscle mass I am going to lose the rest of the way and was somewhat concerned. I went and found at my gym my lean body weight is at 200lbs. I just don't want to lose to much muscle and well I'm kind of concerned about skin stuff as well. But I guess I will address those issues if/when they occur.

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Skin stuff is an unfortunate issue, but realistically you're very unlikely to be able to or want to bulk up with enough muscle to go over 300 pounds and fill out your skin again. Or probably anywhere near that. It's just something you'll have to deal with.

The squats or deads should be very effective at retaining and increasing strength and maybe even some mass. (It might not be as visible as you'd like, as muscle takes up a lot less space than fat.) They stimulate hormone release, and because of that are very efficient at building and retaining muscle not just where you're exercising, but throughout the body. Much better than doing 20 different isolation exercises. They'll also help prepare your heart, like your treadmilling time is doing now, for the work you'll be doing to firm up your muscles and maybe gain some lean mass back when you've dropped most of your excess weight. By the time you get to 230, the combination of strengthening your back and legs with the aerobic exercise of your treadmilling will leave you much better prepared to take up weightlifting or general physical fitness activities. You'll have a good head start at getting seriously fit.

You should also consider doing at least one upper body push and one upper body pull, if only to get your tendons and ligaments conditioned for when you're ready to start doing serious exercise for the upper body once your fat is under control. Do ones that don't entirely isolate your upper body muscles from each other Examples: for a pull, do a bent-over row or assisted pull-up, not curls. For a push, do a military press, jerks, or bench press, not tricep extensions. This gets more muscles involved, to stimulate their growth, but it also teaches you to coordinate them together so the total is more than a sum of the parts. Your body works better when you leave coordination and balance in the mix rather than taking it out. Remember, you can do this pretty light if you like. You mainly just want to ease into a little comfort with using your upper body again, and prepare your tendons and ligaments for more serious routines later. Go heavier if and when you wish, but if your treadmill is doing so well by you, don't abandon it just to try the latest new notion. Supplementation is better for you, for now.

If you're going to try squats, one cautionary note, especially since you are heavy, is to take it very slowly, as really heavy people often have joint problems. Pay top attention to form. Just work with light weights for a while, or even an empty bar, to start to feel comfortable, smooth, and balanced. Ask people to watch your form and comment on it, and read up on fitness sites on squat form, and watch some videos on correct form too. When you feel comfortable with your form, work a while at weights that will let you do at least five reps, and add sets as you feel stronger and better able to recover. Don't do more than five sets. Never train to failure. When you feel comfortable with the exercise and are able to work it into your weekly treadmill routine without being exhausted, you should give training for strength a try. Do even fewer reps, and fewer sets, but do them heavier. Heavier lifting will stimulate your hormonal system, but done at a comfortable speed, with a little rest between reps, and in few sets, will leave your muscles surprisingly fresh. You should still be able to attack the treadmill the next day more often than not. A little experimenting, and you should find your balance fairly quickly.

P.S.: I like deadlifts better. They function better with the leverage advantages of a tall guy like me, on the one hand, but they also are a flawless way for me to stimulate my hormonal system and help me improve my recovery, gain mass, and gain strength quickly. Shorter guys often prefer squats, because that fits the leverage of their builds better. You can benefit greatly from either one.

[Blarg]

Also, if you do begin to put on significant muscle, you may find yourself down at 230 before you expected, and looking bigger than you might, because muscle is so heavy and you'll have more fat still left over than if you gained less muscle and just stripped off that much fat. Remember that the scale is a very rough guide, at best, to your goals, which should be losing fat and getting more athletic, not hitting an arbitrary number. Feel proud if you get stronger and gain more muscle, not bad that having some muscles shows up on a scale.