Muscle loss on purpose

Brad Collins · 10-25-2009, 12:12 AM

I am trying to cut overall body weight. While I want it to be mostly fat, I have decided for proportions sake i need to bring my upper body and lower body more in line with each other. From years of heavy squats, deads, and other lower body work I carry a lot of mass in my glutes and upper legs.

How would one go about losing some of that mass without sacrificing strength. I've tried using 3x3 protocols but I just seem to hold the mass I already have. Should I ditch lower body lifting for a time and use sprints and o-lifts to keep my strength up? Anyone have any experience in this area?

Derek Weaver · 10-25-2009, 01:31 AM

You don't really. You can try moving to singles I guess, but I doubt that would work either. A heavy stimulus on the muscle is going to signal that the body needs to keep it. On the same side, sprints are more of a power/speed issue, as well as the oly-lifts to a large extent (while both benefit from strength).

I would just be proud of what you've built and achieved and leave it at that.

michael blevins · 10-29-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad Collins

I am trying to cut overall body weight. While I want it to be mostly fat, I have decided for proportions sake i need to bring my upper body and lower body more in line with each other. From years of heavy squats, deads, and other lower body work I carry a lot of mass in my glutes and upper legs.

How would one go about losing some of that mass without sacrificing strength. I've tried using 3x3 protocols but I just seem to hold the mass I already have. Should I ditch lower body lifting for a time and use sprints and o-lifts to keep my strength up? Anyone have any experience in this area?

This is something rarely touched on because of the popular demand to be "jacked and tan" but what happens when you want to be efficient on a bike or in a run or just have better power to weight ratio?
When I started Time trialing on a bike I was excited to use all that "muscle" I spent so much time growing, and for a while was pretty good, then the races started going up hill and I got shot out the back like a gun safety advocate in a texan bar.
Reducing mass, especially when you don't have much fat to lose( I started at 197lbs and 7%bf) is extremely painful and not very good for your health , love life, friendships or business. I wouldn't suggest doing it unless something was worth it to go through the process, esthetics probably won't be motivating enough but who knows.
I am 10 weeks in of a planned 22 week extreme caloric restriction (among other various restrictions) to make it easier it's turned into an IF regiment. I maintain strength through "compromised" single leg lifts and removed all upper body work. I do slow lsd sport specific stuff for around 15-18 hrs a week( it's base building season) If I am allowed to lift, usually twice a week I do it fasted and usually chase it with lsd stuff. I weighed in 179lbs with similar body comp. This stuff works but you have to be methodical with it, if I look at a weight incorrectly I'll put mass back on.
In your case stop lifting and see what happens, strength won't fall off as bad as most people think usually 10% over the course of 6 months. If you ever want it back you know you have the ability to get it. I have some detailed stuff on the diet and other parameters if youre interested.

Chad Cilli · 10-29-2010, 06:56 PM

Hmmm increasing catabolism on purpose? I may be oversimplifying, but stop lifting weights, and start LSD training. I was recently in a training program with a lot of long runs and swims, and I lost fat and muscle. I didn't have to restrict calories even, I just ate when I was hungry, and stuck with the endurance training. When you don't use the muscles, your body just gets rid of it.

Steven Low · 10-29-2010, 07:16 PM

LSD it up and calorically restrict some

Chris Butler · 10-30-2010, 07:41 AM

FWIW - I nearly stopped lifting weights altogether for about 6yrs. to try to drop some size so I would be faster on my bikes and in the mountains. The only resistance type work I did was trail work.

All that I really accomplished was getting weak and fat. What I should say is soft and sloppy. My joints ached and my back hurt.

When I returned to weight training it only took 6 months before I was back to a solid 240lbs.

My conclusion is that the slow twitch dominant body types are always going to drop me on the climbs. If I wanted to be a faster endurance athlete I should have picked tall, skinny parents like my GF did.

As far as on bike performance I'm only limited by how much torque my rear hub can handle before I break the palls.

Good luck on your quest.

Grissim Connery · 10-31-2010, 01:39 PM

what's your reason for wanting to drop down? if it's for a sport, how long have you been training the sport? if it's something like biking, if you do it enough, your body will probably adjust accordingly if given enough time. if after a while nothing has changed, then you might want to really make some dramatic changes.