Protecting muscle while dieting?

R

Rippt

New Member
Hello everybody!

After taking a break from HST (I don't mean SD) I've decided to return.

I've started to diet but I'm also well-trained. I'm in the "dieting groove" and not ready to SD. So how can I use HST to protect my muscle size for the next 10-12 weeks?

Rippt
 
HST in its standard format 15s 10s 5s then SD is so far the best way to mantain and sometimes grow muscle (depending on genetics and stuff) while losing fat. 1 or 2 week SD isn't going to slow your progress or cause you to lose muscle.
 
If you're dieting heavily, you might consider starting your HST cycle with a week using your 15RM, then moving onto your 10s as usual. I would then suggest that you extend the cycle by adding an additional week using your 10RM at the end of your 10s. The 5s already call for an additional 2 weeks at your 5RM or negatives. Either one will do the trick.

Keep protein adequate and training frequent.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Rippt @ April 25 2004,10:28)]So how can I use HST to protect my muscle size for the next 10-12 weeks?
Click to expand...

Based on this study of combining very-low-calorie diet plus either resistance training (1 hr * 4d/wk) or resistance training (3d/wk), clearly the way to lose fat and maintain muscle is through resistance training. The final numbers are amazing.

[b said:
Quote[/b] (Journal of the American College of Nutrition @ Vol. 18, No. 2, 115-121 (1999))]
Effects of Resistance vs. Aerobic Training Combined With an 800 Calorie Liquid Diet on Lean Body Mass and Resting Metabolic Rate
Randy W. Bryner, EdD, Irma H. Ullrich, MD FACN, Janine Sauers, MS, David Donley, MS, Guyton Hornsby, PhD, Maria Kolar, MD and Rachel Yeater, PhD
Department of Human Performance and Applied Exercise Science (R.W.B., J.S., D.D., G.H., R.Y.), West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine (I.H.U., M.K.), West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia

Address reprint requests to: Randy W. Bryner, EdD, Department of Human Performance and Applied Exercise Science, PO Box 9227, 8317 HSC, Morgantown, WV 26506


Objective: Utilization of very-low-calorie diets (VLCD) for weight loss results in loss of lean body weight (LBW) and a decrease in resting metabolic rate (RMR). The addition of aerobic exercise does not prevent this. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of intensive, high volume resistance training combined with a VLCD on these parameters.

Methods: Twenty subjects (17 women, three men), mean age 38 years, were randomly assigned to either standard treatment control plus diet (C+D), n=10, or resistance exercise plus diet (R+D), n=10. Both groups consumed 800 kcal/day liquid formula diets for 12 weeks. The C+D group exercised 1 hour four times/week by walking, biking or stair climbing. The R+D group performed resistance training 3 days/week at 10 stations increasing from two sets of 8 to 15 repetitions to four sets of 8 to 15 repetitions by 12 weeks. Groups were similar at baseline with respect to weight, body composition, aerobic capacity, and resting metabolic rate.

Results: Maximum oxygen consumption (Max VO2) increased significantly (p<0.05) but equally in both groups. Body weight decreased significantly more (p<0.01) in C+D than R+D. The C+D group lost a significant (p<0.05) amount of LBW (51 to 47 kg). No decrease in LBW was observed in R+D. In addition, R+D had an increase (p<0.05) in RMR O2 ml/kg/min (2.6 to 3.1). The 24 hour RMR decreased (p<0.05) in the C+D group.

Conclusion: The addition of an intensive, high volume resistance training program resulted in preservation of LBW and RMR during weight loss with a VLCD.
Click to expand...

I pulled some detailed results from the full text of the study (ignoring published margins of error):

C+D
BW: -18kg
LBW: -4.1kg
Fat: -12.8kg
Fat%: -7.4%
RMR (resting metabolic rate): -183.7kcal/day

R+D
BW: -14.4kg
LBW: -.8kg
Fat: -14.5kg
Fat%: -8.6%
RMR (resting metabolic rate): +63.3kcal/day

-bug
 
What was their body composition like in the beginning?

I was just doing some math on those numbers and it looks like they would have been starting at around 50% body fat at around 220lb. Is that right?

These results are saying a 220lb person at 50% body fat could go 800 calorie for 12 weeks and lose no significant LBM while losing ~2.5lbs fat per week, as long as they were doing resistance training similar to what was done in this study.

Here's my question:
What would have happened if they had started with people like me (5'9, 150lbs, ~10% BF I think) and done the same thing? Obviously I couldn't also lose ~30lbs of fat like they did because there isn't that much in my body. What would happen instead?
 
The full text can be found at http://www.jacn.org/cgi/reprint/18/2/115 .

Your impression is correct. The focus of the study was "cases of extreme clinical obesity." Mean total body weight was 200+ lbs (~95kg) with fat% in the mid-forties. Very-low-calorie diets (800kcal/day or less) are not generally recommended outside of these exceptional cases.

I would also like to see a study done to see if these trends (maintained LBM and increased RMR) hold for individuals at a normal BMI or low Fat% on a less severe calorie restricted diet. Until I find one, these results certainly merit taking note.

-bug
 
Thanks for the link. Guess I didn't look hard enough for the full text on that one.

Interesting to note in there that they kept the rest periods between exercises minimal, and that may have contributed to the improvements in vO2max in the resistance training group. I had been slacking off on that a bit lately... good to have that reinforced.
 
i haven't been doing so lately, but i used to always wear a HR monitor during training. based on that feedback alone, there is definitely potential for cardiovascular benefits even during anaerobic workouts, especially with the compound movements or with isolation exercises on the largest muscle groups. HR can be kept elevated on isolation exercises of smaller isolation resistance exercise, but to a lesser degree... of course some of you monsters out there have more mass in your biceps than i have in my lats.

-bug
 
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