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Anyway, after spending the summer mountain biking. My September scan I weighed 160lbs and my body fat went up to 25%. The scan said that I lost 10lbs of muscle and gained 2lbs of fat. I was kind of surprised because I didn't eat that different and definitely got in alot of cardio exercise.
If the only thing you did was mountain biking, I'm not surprised you lost muscle.
Unless you consistently increase the difficulty of each ride (steeper hills that require more strength) it's a purely endurance activity = muscle loss. The only way to maintain or build muscle mass is through resistance training (and progressive overload), whether it's barbells, bodyweight, yoga, gymnastics, or sprints.
For fitness freaks, cardio can be sort of like fast food. I know because I've been there personally and I've since changed my approach to exercise.
There are five heart rate training zones and you don't want to be in zone 3 (or possibly also 4). It's either 1 or 2 for easy, long workouts or 5 for very demanding, short ones.
Mark Sisson calls it "chronic cardio." He describes the dangers well in these two articles:
A Case Against Cardio (from a Former Mileage King) | Mark's Daily Apple
We all know that we need to exercise to be healthy. Unfortunately, the popular wisdom of the past 40 years – that we would all be better off doing 45
www.marksdailyapple.com
Chronic Cardio is Still Unhealthy
It's becoming clearer than ever that chronic cardio is bad for your health. Read about the recent research showing how excessive endurance training harms you.
www.marksdailyapple.com
In short, cardio is usually too much in the middle to be optimal, which turns it into a potentially unhealthy activity.
The healthiest activities are:
- Resistance training (barbells, bodyweight, gymnastics, yoga) - to maintain or build muscle mass which is crucial for longevity, and even more so for men who are losing muscle mass with age due to declining testosterone.
- Low-level aerobic work (walking, hiking, cycling, swimming) - for safe fat burning, recovery, and general cardiovascular benefits without the drawbacks of chronic cardio.
- Interval training - increases strength and aerobic performance while allowing the body to rest between sets = lower risk of overtraining and injury.
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