Running and muscle size

[phillipc]

turtleboy - these calculations don't account for the ~600 kcal he's burning each day from running right? In other words, this is just for maintenance, if he didn't run. Since he's running, seems like he needs more calories... right?

[turtleboy]

Yep it's just a rule of thumb, which can give a newbie some direction in how much of the macro nutrients they should be consuming each day. If you look at the OP diet he trains with no protein of carbs in him at all. After training there is no protein for the next 2 meals, just a pint of milk. It's better to surround the WO with protein and carbs, eg eat 2hours before and then some protein and carbs immediately after....this will limit muscle loss.

IMO it's better to eat reglarly throughout the day every few hours and have a nice balance of PCF in each meal. If the OP is losing to much weight then just increase the carbs or fat slightly. I usually keep the protein more or less the same as in 1g per lb, because your body can't use anymore protein and so will store as fat or be use as energy. Too much protein puts a strain on kidneys as well.

[Milesy]

There is no real rocket science to it. You are not thin. You are underweight. I am only just a bit taller than you and when I was 11 stone I was skinny and underweight. A rule of thumb is that all skinny guys think they are bigger than they are, and think they eat more than they do - I was included in this!

If you are losing too much weight - eat more calories. if you are still too light - eat MORE

I run all the time and have managed to get my weight up to 12 stone now and I want to gain some more.

6 miles hitting hills is going to be burning some serious energy from you!

[Luffers]

Quote

How come you're doing a 6 mile run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach? I'd say that's probably what's eating your muscles up for energy doing that! Esp if you are already well defined as it is, maybe you could just ditch that?

This^^^^

[Carly Thornton]

as turtleboy said, I also compete and when I do my fasted cardio I wake up take my BCAA's, Glutamine then get on the bike. I have experimented in all different types on morning cardio and I personally found that yes I did loose weight quicker doing running fasted vs bike BUT I was fatigued for the rest of the day and my weight training suffered, so there was basically no positive gains made. I know stick to low intensity cardio when fasted and higher intensity cardio any other time of the day

[Anton_Green]

Thats a lot of cardio! You WILL lose weight unless you eat more to sustain your musculature. Also try getting some form of protein in to your body before you go for a run in the AM, this may prevent some of the losses. Njoi.