Cardio & muscle loss

[nelly]

Is it safe to say that if your diet is spot on, you will only loose body fat? Or will there be any muscle loss? I personally am going for lean muscle even if its a slow gaining process. In other words I rather gain 5 good pounds instead of 15 water and fat pounds.

[MACHINE5150]

diet is important but not the only factor. If you do cardio for too long of a time you will begin to break down muscle.. but it depends on what you eat and when you eat it.. those times also depend on heart rate and other things as well.. best to keep cardio to 30 min first thing in the AM

[nelly]

Can't do it in the am, but I do keep it for 30 minutes at my target rate. Also my diet consist of mostly protein and I try to keep my carb intake early in the day(complex).I eat roughly every 3 hours. 7 meals a day. I start work at 5am so my first meal is at 4am.

[Matt Rock]

Empty stomach, moderate paced (60% of your max HR) for 40 mins is best... While getting complex carbs in early is important, due to your schedule, I would limit carbs until well after you have completed your cardio. You will still lose primarily fat performing cardio if eating clean. (calories in vs calories out matters, regardless of time of day). It is hard(er) to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time but it is possible...

If you are worried about going catabolic, keep cardio moderate paced and pop some BCAA's prior.