Originally Posted by
Null66
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a good start to help me find these.
I am trying to lose fat but maintain my strength...
Every hint might help I'm an outlier, formerly insulin resistant and well, several other metabolic/hormonal challenges. Oh and I'm 48...
But it's easy to burn muscle, far to easy.
Augmentation helps... A lot. And certain modifications help more than others...
I'm down ~30lbs from 285 to 253, I've improved body comp a bit... But lost a ton of strength. I
Max Dead lift is down from 575 to a bit over 500 (haven't tested recently, but can do a couple of doubles at 500)... Don't think I can pull 550.
Max machine squat (Hammer Strength) is down from 819 to where 700 feels heavy...
Used to do 5x5 at 450 on decline (hammer Strength) now down to 3x5 and 2x360 and it's harder...
But riding is better... Which was a goal... Perversely Blood pressure is up, way up...
In the lifting world, slow gainers are known as poor eaters.
But that's not really true, Ectomorphs don't gain size easy but they can be incredibly strong for their size! Phenomenally strong.
The abdominal fat is actually a good asset towards the goal you state...
Weight you can lose and calories you can use towards strength.
Do you know what sort of patterns your body responds best to?
such as for me:
5x5 and 5/3/1 upper/lower oppositional, works very well for me strength.
German Volume Method, 10x10 with splits works great for size, but my injuries flare up really bad after a couple weeks.
Starting Strength has been successful in putting on significant strength, particularly lower body, back, and core and might be something that works for you with your goals...
5/3/1 focusing on Squats and Deads would be something to try after a few months... Gotta get form down cold...
About the electrical resistance...
Very sensitive to other variables. I can and do see a 10% swing between days... Which is not possible...
Calipers are more reliable and accurate.
I think this muscle/fat discussion has gone a bit off from answering the OP's question. I tend to focus on the cycling aspects of training and nutrition, since this is BF. Similarly to how I don't count calories, I also focus on results on the bike and try to shape my training to produce results, though within limits as I don't want the whole thing to take over my life, either. When the TdF commentator says "The strongest rider will win," they don't mean the guy who can squat the most. Au contraire. Remember that Lance had to lose 7 kilos of protein for his comeback.
Road cycling is really about climbing. That's kind of all that matters. It's impossible to make back on the flats what you lose on the climbs, since power required on the flat increases as the cube of the speed. So it's climbing. The best climbers I've ridden with have BMIs in the low 20s or less, so a 6' rider might weigh 145. My BMI tends to hang just under 25, so I'm not a great climber but I can sprint well.
So what you want to look at, beyond weight, size, muscle mass, etc., is VAM (vertical ascent in meters per hour). Increases in that number are what you're looking for. Strava will show that result for many climbing segments. Or you can figure it in feet/hour, doesn't matter. The low end for being a fairly strong male is 2,000'/hr. Pros can climb at 6000'/hr, or at least they used to back in the days of the Pirate. At 134 y.o. and being overweight, my tandem team climbs at ~500 VAM on a good day. So that's pitiful, but at least we get the job done and finish middle of the pack on centuries, etc.
So what works for increasing VAM?
#1 is losing weight.
#2 is increasing watts at lactate threshold. Increasing watts at threshold is best done through cycling intervals, from 20' LT intervals to 45" all-out sprints. They're what best increase "strength." I think the gym can help some, but not a heck of a lot compared to intervals. Studies show that what helps the most in the gym is stuff like plyometrics or other high-speed lifting. What helps the least is any kind of conventional weightlifting. My problem with plyometrics, etc., is that I can't get injured. One injury ruins a whole season and there really aren't that many of them.
Over many years of trying stuff out, I've had my best success from doing circuits of 3 sets of 30, same weight for each set so that the last set is to failure. About 10 weeks of this, then conventional hypertrophy and then strength sets for maybe 8 weeks, then down to 1 set of 30, now at a much higher weight, until the start of interval season, say mid February.
This year, I'm going to concentrate a little less on cycling because I want to do some mountaineering again next summer and ski a lot this winter. So I'll do more conventional weight training. I'll try out several different routines and see what works best for me. I'm interested in trying sets starting at 50, then dropping 10 reps each set, down to 1 rep, all the same weight, but I have to get in better shape before even trying that. I've only been to the gym 3 times since last February. As you can see, I'm much more into muscular endurance than 1 RM. Road cycling is an endurance sport.
Results, results, results. Get good results on the bike and then come back and tell us how you got them.
Today I'm going to the gym to just do 55' of steady-state zone 3 on the StepMill. That's going to really hurt.