Myth Debunked: Running Does NOT Make You Lose Muscle
Contrary to popular belief, running does NOT make you lose muscle. By following these six steps below, you can easily retain or even gain muscle while regularly engaging in cardio exercises.
Many studies show a decrease in muscle mass with increased running sessions, though often these instances are extreme. A study published by the National Library of Medicine in 2013 summarizes exercise-induced muscle damage in accordance with running:
"Plyometric and resistance trainings, performed during a relatively short period of time (~15–30 days), have been successfully used to improve [running economy] in trained athletes.
However, these exercise types, particularly when they are unaccustomed activities for the individuals, may cause delayed onset muscle soreness, swelling, and reduced muscle strength.
Some studies have demonstrated that exercise-induced muscle damage has a negative impact on endurance running performance.
However, strength exercise (i.e., jumps, isoinertial and isokinetic eccentric exercises) seems to impair RE only for subsequent high-intensity exercise (~90% VO2max).
Finally, a single session of resistance exercise or downhill running (i.e., repeated bout effect) attenuates changes in indirect markers of muscle damage and blunts changes in RE."
In summary, muscle damage is only a concern for those who perform high intensity running workouts without incorporating regular resistance exercise.
Here are 6 steps to retain muscle while training.
#1
EAT ENOUGH
For a short bit, your body will burn through all of its glycogen stores, and then some fat making you appear leaner and fit. Though if you continue to eat in a significant caloric deficit (or any at all), your body will get stressed and start eating into other sources of energy: muscle. Make sure to fuel properly before exercise sessions and on rest days for recovery.
Eating enough and eating well can greatly reduce the risk of muscle loss.
#2
EAT CARBOHYDRATES
Without carbohydrates, your body will not have glycogen stores for energy on those longer runs (25+ minutes). After all the glucose in the blood and muscles are eaten through, your body will turn to breaking down fats. But this process is remarkably less efficient than burning carbohydrates because fats are more complex in structure (see image). This will in turn make you feel that you have less energy on your run and is often the "wall" marathoners describe as their glycogen stores are depleted. Additionally, your body will turn to muscle protein as a source of energy, as protein accounts for 10% of energy from food.
By eating enough healthy, complex carbohydrates, you can keep both your muscle and energy during physical activity.
#3
EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN
Protein is a critical macronutrient for optimal health. This is even more important when exercising strenuously (medium to high intensity), because your muscle fibers will get damaged. During rest and sleep, these muscle fibers will repair themselves so that your next session is stronger and more efficient than the last. But, to do so, protein is required in higher quantities. If you are not eating enough protein daily, your body will turn to other sources of protein i.e. muscle.
Eating enough protein from animal and plant sources (if you are vegetarian, there are supplements to make sure you get every amino acid in) will preserve muscle mass.
#4
WEIGHT TRAIN
A more obvious way to keep muscle is to use it. By adding in resistance training 1-2x/week, your body will preserve the utilized muscles and avoid breaking it down on those longer runs. In addition, there are many exercises that target body parts critical for efficient running. It is important to note that weight training also increases the required amount of protein intake per day.
A balance of running and resistance training will increase optimum performance in both.
#5
EAT REGULARLY
For optimum muscle protein synthesis, it is recommended to eat 15-30 grams of protein every meal or snack. Studies have shown that "higher intakes — those more than 40 grams — in one sitting are no more beneficial than the recommended 15-30 grams at one time." If you are intermittent fasting and trying to get all of your protein in, it may be more difficult to do so when there is a smaller eating window.
Eating more frequent meals can increase muscle synthesis efficiency and better help you gain muscle, irrespective of your running.
#6
SPACE WORKOUTS
For the same reasons as eating carbohydrates, running and weight lifting on the same day is a complicated undertaking. Both require high amounts of glycogen and can completely deplete muscle and liver stores after 45 minutes to an hour. So, the second session will suffer dramatically unless glycogen is adequately restored hours prior. Many professional athletes do doubles (running twice a day); many professional athletes also have nutritionists who manage their eating.
Giving yourself adequate time to rest and restore energy stores is important for muscle retention and optimum performance.
Balancing workouts and nutrition while trying to reach your goals can be a complicated feat. But, by fueling well and incorporating variety into your weeks, it is very realistic to do so.
Written By: Siena