Prevent Muscle Loss when you Lose Weight

Prevent Muscle Loss

1. Eat More Protein

2. Add Weight Lifting and Strength Training

3. Ensure you take Creatine for Muscle Repair

4. Get Adequate Rest 

1. Eat More Protein

At Rage Fitness Personal Training Studio, our philosophy is based on science backed strategies for preventing muscle loss. Eating more protein when you start on a weight loss journey is very important. Your body cannot tell the difference between fat and muscle when weight is coming off. If you are not doing enough to prevent muscle loss, the body will start to use muscle to make up for your caloric deficit from food. 

To lose weight, we encourage people to be in a caloric deficit through both activity and nutrition. However, if we don't focus on building our muscle mass, this can leave our bones weaker. Maintaining bone density requires muscle to shield it from deteriorating. The body will convert stored protein into glucose for energy. 

Get enough protein by aiming for 30-50g per meal. Here are some great sources of protein:

• sliced turkey, ham, beef, chicken, or flaked tuna in water
• eggs
• lean ground beef, chicken or turkey, fish
• steak, pork, turkey, fish, chicken (remove gristle, fat, and skin)
• legumes and beans
• bread and whole grains
• cottage cheese
• greek yogurt
• hemp hearts
• nuts
• cheese strings
• pre-made protein drinks that are low in sugar and carbohydrates -- Premier Protein, B Fit, Core Power, Natrel lactose free milk (18g protein), Muscle Milk, Boost Protein 

2. Add Weight Lifting and Strength Training

At Rage Fitness Personal Training Studio, we recognize that our format focusing on building strength and muscle primarily over other types of exercise formats. We teach our clients how to lift weights correctly, adding resistance over time as your body gets more comfortable. Safely using weight machines and free weights can do wonders for creating definition, muscle tone, and slimming the body down. 

If you want to try weight lifting on your own, focus on larger muscle groups to get the most bang for your buck. Splitting upper body and lower body on separate days can also help you recover more effectively so you can keep pushing yourself in your next workout. 

Upper Body Split 

• Lat Pull Downs and Lat Rows to shape your back
• Bicep curls and hammer curls to target both heads of the bicep
• Tricep dips and pull downs to get rid of the bat wings
• Chest Press and Fly to target the pectorals
• Shoulder Press to train the upper and anterior deltoid
• Front raises, rear delt flys, and lateral raises to do a 360 degree training of shoulders
  • Do 4 sets of 12-15 reps for each exercise
  • Add 3 core exercises at the end (planks, crunches, and leg raises)
  • Remember to stretch after the workout to decrease soreness
  • Mix up 4-6 exercises to save time and push harder.

Lower Body Split 

• Front Squats, Leg Press, and Leg Extensions to build quadriceps
• Leg Curls and Romanian Deadlifts to target hamstrings and posterior chain
• Lunges and Split Squats for unilaterial training of quads, hamstrings and glutes
• Hip Thrusts to build glutes
• Calf Raises to build the lower legs
• Hip Abduction to target the medial glutes and glute minimus (saddlebags)
• Sumo squats to targe the inner thighs
• Back Extensions to target the posterior chain and core
  • Do 4 sets of 12-15 reps for each exercise
  • Remember to stretch and foam roll out your legs to prevent muscle soreness
  • You don't need to do all exercises on the same day if you are limited for time. 4-6 exercises is enough to challenge yourself.

3. Ensure you take Creatine for Muscle Repair

Creatine Monohydrate has been studied for a long time in terms of the benefits for muscle development and brain health. Taking 5g of creatine in a protein shake post-workout is known to assist with muscle repair. Creatine is known to boost energy, improve exercise performance, and building strength. 

Both men and women can gain benefits by adding creatine supplements to their daily regime. Read more about creatine supplementation here.

4. Get Adequate Rest

Ensure that when you lift heavy that you take at least 24 hours to recover and rebuild torn muscle fibres. Your body will be able to push harder when it is recovered and not feeling too sore. The more you workout, the less sore you will feel between workouts especially if you are doing enough stretching and mobility work in between.

Remember to take 1-2 minutes to rest between sets when you are lifting heavy weights. You don't need to rest as long if you are lifting light to moderate weights. 

Preventing Muscle Loss Is a Priority

30% of all people do not exercise or do any kind of activity. This is not a good way to prevent muscle loss as we age. Without weight lifting, it's much harder to maintain muscle mass. After we hit 40+, our bodies lose muscle mass 1% each year. Sarcopenia, or muscle loss due to aging, is a real affliction for people who suddenly are faced with declining health and mobility much younger than they thought was possible. If you are finding that it's harder to get out of bed or you have lower back pain more these days, that's a sign of declining muscle and core strength. It doesn't take long to get these things back, but you do need a plan in place to work on this 3-4 times a week. Let Rage Fitness Personal Training Studio assist you in building a better quality of life.

We offer nutrition coaching, small group training and 1:1 training to help the busiest individuals incorporate a love of movement into their lives.  Please call/text us at 1-825-945-7733, or fill out the online contact form today!