Expert: Ken Alan - 2/16/2007

Question
ok..not to contradict alot of what u are saying u are gorssly wrong in 2 aspects..after i weight train and then do cardio..if i am doing a hard cardio routine such as running and get my hr to about 180 185 (which it gets too) i assure i will burn more muscle then fat..muscle is much easier source of energy then fat...also ill have virtualy no glycogen left and i dont want to exaust all of my muscle glycogen..all of the trainiers i have talked to all agree running to get cut up ..u will not maintain muscle...i really dont know how credible of a source of information u are?? also i have researced to a great extent..how much protein ur body can digest and there really isnt any literature that says ur body can only handle 50 grams at one time(i have the slow casein digesting protein too man..also if u knew alot u would know after u workout ur insulin response is much higher..it is a very good idea to get as much protein in there while ur insulin is high so it can create muscle...i will stick to what i am doing because i have lost around 20 lbs and none really of muscle...i hope this isnt the advice ur giving to other ppl?
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ok i do have a fairly good grasp on dieting, exercising, etc..heres a background on me though..i love to lift weights i am 21 6 feet tall and 205 lbs, and i am trying to get a lean and, yet still muscular look(very tough to do naturally). basically what i have been doing is cutting back on my carbs and fat and increasing protein intake(protein is from lean sources i.e. chicken, turkey, whey isolate protein. i do eat the good fats such as nuts, fishes,and i supplement with fish oilds and cla.. my carbs mainly come from fruit and all of the greens( i have cut out mostly all potatoes and most breads. and pastas.( i am starting to learn to importance of timing your carb intake relative to your bodies needs) anyways what i have been doing is i weight train for an hr and 15 min max then i go and walk on the treadmill for around 40 mintues..at a speed of about 3.2 mph on an incline of about 11.. i never have my heart rate go above 155..i have been tested and i do not become catabolic till my heart rate is at around 160.. after this i come home take some creatine which has around 30 grams of carbs (5 g from sugar), i have a bananna, and a massive protein shake.(75g slow digesting whey isolate, there is also 4 10 grams of fiber)  i do this to raise my insulin levels to put any muscle i did lose(lifting is catabolic,insulin is anabolic) back in my body and to hopefully gain some more. i eat right when i get up i typically have a buffalo burger(very high in protein and very lean) and some fruit (unprocessed) i then proceed to work out 2 hrs later. ( i typically work out around 2 oclock, three hours after i get up ) i fiinsh working out at 4 eat all the stuff i mentioned above then have dinner which consists of some sort of lean meat some broccoli.. i will eat a protein shake again big (supposedly alot of lucine raises insulin repsonse) sorry this has been such a long letter but i wanted to get the most accurate response from because they are alot of variables here  
i am almost positive i am burning more calories then i take in but am unsure yet..i am wondering is this a good plan of attack for my goal of getting lean,and still muscular looking..any suggestions or comments would greatly be appreciatedi have lost already 6 lbs in 2 weeks doing this and i have lost no strength doing this( could be water from the depeleted glycogen though) anyways your feedback would be great thanks ..hope you read all of this -michael
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I need a lot more information about you to be able to give you an assessment of nutritional and workout info you stated.  In general, if you're satisfied with the results you have received so far, then your program is fine.  At some point, the results you obtain will diminish.  You'll need to revise your workout/diet plan if you wish to continue to make changes in your physique. It appears you are taking in more protein than necessary.  Humans can only digest and absorb about 50 grams of protein at once, so no need to chug 75g at once.  The max you need is one g protein per pound/bodyweight per day, meaning over 200g daily is not beneficial and may be detrimental.  You have to be doing very intense strength training to warrant one g protein per pound/bodyweight as well.

You can work harder during cardio if you like.  It will help with bodyfat.  Don't worry about working out too intensely in terms of eating up your muscle.  Doesn't happen.  But you'll get more total caloric burn working more intensely for the amount of time you invest.  Plus it increases your cardio fitness. Creatine is good and may be helpful - one of the only supplements proven to be of some benefit with some training protocols.  Make sure you have enough energy to sustain your strength workouts.  That's the down side of limiting carbs severely.  If you start to bonk out, feed your body a few more carbs - protein and fat don't make for good immediate energy sources.  Don't worry about the extra weight from carbs if it gives you the energy to do intense muscle building workouts.  You can always trim carbs later on after you've laid on more muscle mass.

Hope this helps.  Keep on exercisin'.

Answer
Michael,

Thanks for your email.  The second sentence of my response stated,"In general, if you're satisfied with the results you have received so far, then your program is fine."

If your heartrate is 180 bpm during cardio, that is the high end of your aerobic training zone. You are burning carbohydrates as your fuel. The longer you sustain the exercise, fat will also begin to be utilized as a source of fuel. Fat will never be the sole source of fuel in exercise.  It is always burned with carbohydrate. Fat is used as a fuel before muscle is turned into fuel. Muscle is not easier to burn as a substrate for energy than fat.  In fact, it's much more complex.  Muscle is composed primarily of water (75%), protein (20%), and other inorganic materials(5%).  The protein in muscle gets turned in glucose only when there is little fat on your body (essential)and insufficient carbohydrate coming into the body.  Muscle is the last thing to go when someone is starving to death... you start wasting away your muscle, as the body converts muscle protein into glucose (because the brain only uses glucose for energy).  

You state that you have virtually no gylcogen left after you run at high intensity.  Makes sense. If you want energy for workouts, you need carbs, not protein.  Your muscles are gylcogen depleted because you're not taking in sufficient carbs to restore your gylcogen.  That's cool for vanity, because gylcogen also stores water with it.  That's why when you restrict carbs, you lose a lot of weight.  But it's a lot water weight, it's not all fat weight that is lost by any means. When you restrict carbs, you also restrict your energy.  That's why you bonk.  You're gylcogen depleted. So working out at lower intensity cardio is good to prevent that.  It's just that you miss out on improving your cardiovascular fitness.   The most fat weight that can be lost is about 2 pounds a week - and that's if you're extremely diligent about nutrition and activity.  Any more weight loss than 2 pounds per week is water (and/or some muscle) weight loss.

Anyone can call him/herself a nutritionist, as there is no educational degree required. The experts are RD's (Registered Dieticians) because you have to have a degree to be a RD. The majority of RD's who specialize in sports nutrition tend to state the "cons" of high-protein diets outweigh the "pros".  The only ones who say the opposite are the advertisers in the commercial muscle magazines. They have product to sell.  So they're going to say the opposite. That's how they sell it.

From WebMD.com today:

"Excess protein does not help -- and may hurt -- the body, report Cornelia Metges and colleague Christian Barth of the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Germany in an analysis of existing research on the subject. Also, while a number of athletes and body builders believe that a high-protein diet is crucial to their physical performance and training, Metges and Barth found no evidence in the scientific literature to support this assumption.
"I don't think there's any evidence to support [the notion] that adding high amounts of protein plays an important role for athletic training," Steven Heymsfield, MD, tells WebMD, "although they buy [protein supplements] like crazy and waste their money. If you take in too little protein, you lose body protein. If you take in too much, you just burn it as calories." Heymsfield is a professor of medicine at Columbia University in New York City and at the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. He was not involved in the study.
In addition to not providing any benefit to general health, eating a high protein diet may have adverse effects, some research has suggested. The authors cite several studies that have found associations between excess protein in the diet and kidney disease. Another study suggests a relationship between high protein intake and prostate cancer, and a Japanese study explored the association between diabetes and protein.
Despite the number of studies associating high protein intake with certain illnesses and conditions, the subject is still open to controversy. "There's no reason for healthy individuals to consume protein in amounts above the recommended levels," says Heymsfield, but he is not certain that it will actually lead to health problems. "The effects of protein are very subtle. ? It's hard to answer if high protein diets are unsafe."
High protein weight loss programs have seen a recent resurgence in popularity. Joni Pagenkemper, MS, MA, RD, an assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Loma Linda University in California, believes they are popular because people initially see quick results. "But for long-term, we don't know if they are safe," Pagenkemper tells WebMD. She points out that protein in this type of diet tends to come from animal sources, which are also high in saturated fats and bring with them other problems such as a risk for heart disease.
Due to the lack of data, conclude the researchers, a maximum intake level for protein cannot be determined for a healthy adult population. But because of the possible adverse effects, they believe that it is prudent for healthy adults not to eat amounts of protein far above the recommended levels.
"Taking in excess protein means you'll just be excreting it," Pagenkemper says. "Basically, high protein is just an expensive way to feed yourself."

Hope this helps.