am I burning muscle, or just fat?

cojomo2

Quick question....

I haven't been training in a few months, but am fairly fit. When I was running regularly, I would do 5k in just over 20 mins.

I'm not as fit now, but still fairly fit. For the last few months, I have been doing a lot of press ups and chin ups, and have been eating plenty. I can see on my chest arms and back that I have put on a bit of muscle which is great, but I've also put on a bit of fat on my belly. I now want to keep the muscle, and loose the fat.

I have a treadmill, and lately, in the morning before breakfast, I do a 5 k jog at 10kph. I find this fairly easy, hardly break a sweat. So, during this morning run, assuming I have very little carbs left in my blood, am I likely to be burning fat, or is it more likely that I am burning a mix of muscle and fat? I think myself that @ 10kph, I should be only burning fat as I'm fairly fit, is this correct?

Thanks.

cojomo2

anyone?

celestial

It's highly unlikely that you are burning muscle unless you are half-starving yourself and exercising for very long periods of time. What's happening is that you're burning a mix of fat and energy stored in the blood stream and in the muscles...

But this is overthinking it. If you noticed yourself getting a belly, you got fatter. And to lose it you just need to eat right and keep training and burn more than you consume.

cojomo2

celestial wrote: »

It's highly unlikely that you are burning muscle unless you are half-starving yourself and exercising for very long periods of time. What's happening is that you're burning a mix of fat and energy stored in the blood stream and in the muscles...

But this is overthinking it. If you noticed yourself getting a belly, you got fatter. And to lose it you just need to eat right and keep training and burn more than you consume.

Not that simple, as mentioned, I am doing a lot of press ups and chin ups, and lately I've been doing weighted chin ups, so if I burn more than I eat, I will no longer promote muscle growth.

So, in order to grow muscle, I need to consume a bit more calories than I actually use, which of course can also result in extra unwanted fat as well as the extra muscle, which is exactly what has been happening.

So I was thinking , what if I did my running/jogging before breakfast, in an effort to burn off fat( as apposed to burning off mainly carbs if I did my run during the day), and then continue eating the way I am and do my resistance work in the evening? Could this possibly burn fat and let me gain a bit of muscle also?

digme

cojomo2 wrote: »

Not that simple, as mentioned, I am doing a lot of press ups and chin ups, and lately I've been doing weighted chin ups, so if I burn more than I eat, I will no longer promote muscle growth.

So, in order to grow muscle, I need to consume a bit more calories than I actually use, which of course can also result in extra unwanted fat as well as the extra muscle, which is exactly what has been happening.

So I was thinking , what if I did my running/jogging before breakfast, in an effort to burn off fat( as apposed to burning off mainly carbs if I did my run during the day), and then continue eating the way I am and do my resistance work in the evening? Could this possibly burn fat and let me gain a bit of muscle also?

I think you a curious enough person, so why not go read up on the 3 energy systems and how they work.
Here

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/energysystems.html

Knock yourself out.

Vampireskiss

For the most part you can only do one at a time , lose fat or gain muscle, to lose fat you need to eat less calories than your body uses in a day, to build muscle you need to eat more calories than you burn off.

Now there are certain exceptions where one can gain muscle on a calorie deficet

complete beginners can build muscle whilst losing fat on a calorie deficet because their bodies are not used to the stimulus lifting weights provides, giving it no choice but to adapt

Nate--IRL--

digme wrote: »

I think you a curious enough person, so why not go read up on the 3 energy systems and how they work.
Here

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/energysystems.html

Knock yourself out.

Good read, thanks for the link.

Nate