We talked with our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer for some truth.
There are plenty of myths about muscle mass out there.
How easy is it to lose muscle?
How quickly can one lose it?
How does one lose fat without losing muscle?
Does your Personal Trainer in Newington know how long does it take before someone starts to lose muscle mass?
Our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer says that, contrary to popular belief, your muscle mass will not turn to marshmallow as soon as you stop lifting weights.
“A recent study of recreational lifters,” says our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer, “showed that after six weeks of no activity, the results were only a slight decrease in power (about 10% after two weeks), and practically no drop-off in strength or size.”
So, how long can you go without lifting weights before your muscles suffer? While we do not recommend going too long, you can probably go approximately 8-10 weeks, as long as you are keeping fit with other activities, such as swimming, running, tennis, etc. Remaining active in these other ways will help to retain muscle mass and offer a good mental break from lifting, so that you can come back to the gym refreshed and ready to go the next level.
When you return, ensure that you are using the Overload Principle to increase your muscle gains, as well.
Does your Personal Trainer in Newington know how you lose fat without losing muscle?
When someone says they want to lose weight, what they truly mean is that they want to lose fat, says our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer. Essentially, in order to lose fat, you will need a caloric deficit, meaning that you will need to use more energy/calories than you take in. Your body will then be forced to take energy from elsewhere in your body. Sometimes it can be lean muscle mass that is compromised.
To maintain as much muscle as possible while losing weight, you must do a few things, says our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer:
- You must eat enough protein—Numerous studies have proven this. Sufficient protein intake is the most important dietary requirement to lose more fat and less muscle. What is your ideal amount of protein? Most people should be in the range of 0.8 to 1.3 grams of protein per pound of one’s current body weight.
- You must maintain your strength levels—Just like you should lift heavy weight when you want to build muscle, you need to lift the same weight to maintain muscle. Do not lift lighter weights with higher reps. You can try to make gains with heavier weights while trying to lose fat, but it may be harder to do. Maintaining your strength is the key to losing fat without losing muscle.
- Reduce weight training volume—If you are creating a calorie deficit, you are also creating an energy deficit, so your regular routine to make muscle gains is more than likely going to be too much for your body to handle. If you can’t recover from your workouts properly, this will mean a loss of strength, which will in turn mean a loss of muscle. A loss of muscle is not where we want our weight loss to come from. More muscle loss means a less metabolically active body, one which doesn’t burn calories efficiently.
- Don’t reduce your caloric deficit too much—Too much of a calorie deficit will worsen the slowdown that occurs with your metabolism, and one will experience issues with sleep, hunger, mood, libido, etc. Too few calories will provide a negative impact on your training.
- Take Calorie deficit breaks if and when needed—after being in a calorie deficit for such a long time, there are some advantages –both physical and mental–to taking a few days to a week where you stop the deficit and bring your calories up to maintenance. Then go back to a deficit again. Your body will thank you.
Our Newington Connecticut Personal Trainer knows how to bring you to your fat loss goals, and can help you attain and maintain them. Now, you can understand more about what to do if you are ill and still want to train!
