Quote:
Originally posted by pocon1
I'm not saying that hiit is not effective, but 30-40 minutes of sustained cardio a few times a week won't break down muscle. But any time you are in a calorie-deficient state, through diet, exercise, or both, you will start cannibalizing muscle. A good post-workout meal will help after any exercise. You know that only a real beginner can gain strength and muscle while losing weight, for at least a few months. The point is, go out and exercise. There is no one correct program, and plan9 and I are debating fine levels of detail that in the end make small difference to most exercisers. The bottom line is eat right, engage in resistive exercise, and do cardio.
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okay, i've been reading mention for the last weeks about the whole cardio causing muscle catabolism, and wasn't going to say anything, but i guess i've read it one too many times.
during long duration exercise, the body will not start to breakdown muscle for energy until it's glycogen stores are nearly/entirely gone. most people never have to worry about it. a good measure i heard once was that if you run more than 35 miles a week, then you have to worry about it. marathon runners have to deal with it. and even for them, protein won't account for more than 2-15% of their total energy expenditure the entire time. these are people who are running for 3+ hours at a time.
so running for an hour is not going to have any effect on muscle mass for most people. it's an old myth. bodybuilders are probably the only ones who would have to worry about it a bit, and it wouldn't suprise me if there are other physiological reasons for that.