Diet, cutting and lifting

Alright, I am quite confused about what needs to be done in order to preserve muscle mass while cutting down.

What I found out so far is that cardio is a must, proper calorie deficit as well as Heavy Lifting in order to keep the muscle active and make my body "think" that the muscle is important.

If this is true, then there is another thing that I always read saying that if you lift heavy and don't have enough calories, you WILL LOOSE muscle mass.

Ok, so which the F is true then? It doesn't make any sense.

Someone please clear this up for me.

I have always stuck to the "feed the muscle starve the fat" cliche'. Make sure that your getting at least 1.5 gram to 2 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. You wont lose muscle if your providing your body with enough "good carb's" and essential fats, (the important ones) for fuel. As far as your cardio, if your in your target heart range and not forcing yourself out of breath then your good. If you are doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) then restrict it to twenty minutes. But quickly replace Glycogen storage afterward with a good post work out protein shake containing simple sugars (very important) within 5 mins. and make sure it contains enough protein.

As far as lifting heavy and not enough "good calories" that is essentially true, however, working out without proper nutrition (good calories) period, wont get you anywhere either. You have got to maintain Carb's and essential Fats, they are the only thing the body recognizes as fuel. Without ingesting enough protein to maintain your muscle or muscle gains, then you are at more risk of losing the muscle you have.

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Originally Posted by jngymrat

I have always stuck to the "feed the muscle starve the fat" cliche'. Make sure that your getting at least 1.5 gram to 2 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. You wont lose muscle if your providing your body with enough "good carb's" and essential fats, (the important ones) for fuel. As far as your cardio, if your in your target heart range and not forcing yourself out of breath then your good. If you are doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) then restrict it to twenty minutes.high intensity interval training should never be done for this long But quickly replace Glycogen storage afterward with a good post work out protein shake containing simple sugars (very important) within 5 mins.not really that important and make sure it contains enough protein.

As far as lifting heavy and not enough "good calories" that is essentially true, however, working out without proper nutrition (good calories) period, wont get you anywhere either. You have got to maintain Carb's and essential Fats, they are the only thing the body recognizes as fuel. Without ingesting enough protein to maintain your muscle or muscle gains, then you are at more risk of losing the muscle you have.

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you have to create a caloric deficit to lose fat

good calories or bad if you're eating too much you won't lose anything.

To preserve lean mass, just make sure you're lifting heavy. Keep protein intake high and make sure you're getting you're essential fats, beyond that just try to get as many nutrients as possible.

With all due respect to the reply from (maxwkw) I would agree in general, or in a simplistic way about calorie deficit and weight loss, however I am assuming your more advanced than most when it comes to nutrition and exercise so stick to the advice, it will work for you. As far as the High Intensity Interval Training, it is essential that your getting (respectively, depending on where your at) a good 20 minutes. Now with that said, you realize out of that 20 minutes you have 2 minutes (minimum) warm up and 2 minutes (minimum) rest period. So that would mean a 1 minute @ 90% and 1 minute at 50% for 7 sets is only 7 minutes out of 20 that your actually at your O2 volume capacity, any less than that and I would say you are not receiving the benefit of this incredible fat burning method. I have been doing different variations of this since '98 and I rarely lose any muscle, or strength for that matter.