Help Me Preserve Muscle

[BrutalHoney]

So, I need to get my cardio back. And I need to drop a little bodyfat.

The thing is, when I've done this in the past, I lost too much muscle/strength. In my 20s it was like, pfft, whatever, just don't eat as much... gone. I'm lean and lungs for days.

But now I'm in 30s, and I have a lot more muscle than I used to (let's just agree to pretend it's a lot), and I don't want it disappearing, making all my efforts for nothing.

That said, I want a bit of that fire-breathing cardio ability again, and I want the pinchable shit on my hip bones gone.

So how do I train? Heavy? Just as hard but less frequent (for recovery?) Do I back off the weights I was lifting by some small amount for a while? Up the volume? Tell meeeeee!

And cardio. Can I do the 2-3x a week intense 20-30 min circuit workouts? It gets me in great shape, I know that much, but if it's muscle wasting, well...

Also, diet. I do like, 1.25-1.5g protein when bulking, really only 150-200 carbs when bulking (and still get a little fat), and get most of my fats from eggs at night (50g ish?) So what do I do with this?

Thanks!

[liftsiron]

Skip the cardio, do more frequent weight training sessions, double the number of leg workouts that you do, for instance heavy leg day,/ back, biceps,/ chest, triceps,/ shoulders, traps, /high volume light to moderate weight legs, repeat. protein 45-50% carbs 35% fats 15% or less of calories. You need to adjust total calories, for fat loss start with 10x bodyweight in pounds equals daily calorie intake, adjust upwards as needed once fatloss goal is achieved.

[BrutalHoney]

so, i do push-pull-legs these days. usually 6 times a week, so 2 of each. how would you recommend structuring things instead? push-legs-pull-legs?

[liftsiron]

so, i do push-pull-legs these days. usually 6 times a week, so 2 of each. how would you recommend structuring things instead? push-legs-pull-legs?

1 heavy legs
2 back biceps
3 Chest tricep
4 shoulders traps
5 High volume legs

You only do legs twice in one week.

[Dakota]

You might try Keto. There are some nay sayers here on the board but it did wonders for me. It got me down to a respectable BF and that seriously helped with motivation. As long as you don't go back to a crappy eating habit, you will be fine and keep it off. It has been years since I dropped a bunch of BF with keto. My lifestyle (off grid) keeps it off now. I make my labor a brief cardio work out. eg: I stack up rows and rows of wood for slipping and then use an 8lb splitting mall to rock through them. I then load them with a frenzied pitching pace into the Bobcat bucket. It only lasts about 10-12 minutes per session but MAN, do you suck some wind.

[jrod]

When I’m coming off of a cycle and I’m just on trt, I will increase my cardio and do light weight higher reps

[HDH]

As long as I'm running my protein high and not killing myself, I do well.

I keep the same routine year round. I just do more when I'm pushing to grow.

Biggest change for me is macros.

[liftsiron]

I'm trying mk-11 for muscle preservation as well to see if I get some lean muscle gain.

[Kluso]

I’m not a huge fan of blasting for a cut. But your goals/conserns are prime example of when to do it. You won’t lose shit even in deficit. Don’t need anything crazy either. Maybe 400-600mg total AAS per week. Lighter weights/ higher reps to prevent injury while in deficit. Keep protien around 1 gram per on of bodyweight or higher. Main thing is lower calories. Cardio will speed fat loss up but not needed like Lifts was getting at.

[HDH]

I'm trying mk-11 for muscle preservation as well to see if I get some lean muscle gain.

Keep us updated please.

If it does well for you I may give it a try. I like running 4 weeks surplus cals, 4 weeks deficit cals, rinse and repeat.

It takes the stress out of the long strenuous dieting, bulk or cut.

Yes sir, getting old

[BrutalHoney]

Keep us updated please.

If it does well for you I may give it a try. I like running 4 weeks surplus cals, 4 weeks deficit cals, rinse and repeat.

It takes the stress out of the long strenuous dieting, bulk or cut.

Yes sir, getting old

Second that, I'd love to hear how it goes.