Running & Strength Training

I love running and I love strength training. When I say running, I don't do it for the sole purpose of cardio, but to run distances. I've complete 2 half marathons and I'm training for my first full that is still to be determined.

What I notice tho is that when I up my miles, my muscle mass goes down. Which I don't like. I work hard for my muscles, I want to keep them! I mentioned this before & I've asked a few fitblrs on what to do.
I posted on Jamie Eason's facebook wall and got some good responses that I thought might benefit others.

My question:
hi gals & guys! i have a question. i recently watched jamie’s video on you tube. it was the 360 video for bodybuilding.com. she mentioned about how long intense cardio isn’t really helpful in terms of building muscles and stuff. the thing is, i love love love running. i train for half marathons mostly and i’m training for my fist full end of this year/beginning of next. how concerned should i be about losing my muscles? i strength train at home [p90x] with free weights consistently [i love strength training] as well. i take my supplements [whey & BCAAs] in hopes of not losing too much muscle especially when i increase miles for my runs. any other tips or advice on how to prevent/minimize muscles lost? i don’t think i can give up running, but im not an olympic runner either, but i love love love my muscles, a lot. haha. thanks ♥
Responses:
Guy #1
Hey Catherine- Running and resistance training work two separate muscles. You have fast twitch (the muscles used in resistance training) which are quick to fatigue, require a lot of oxygen, blood flow and nutrients. They are also a major fire for your metabolism. The more of this muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. They are the muscles that give your body shape and definition.

Slow twitch are your cardio muscles. They are slow to fatigue, small in size, require little oxygen, blood flow and less nutrients.

When running for long periods of time, you deplete your first energy storage in glycogen (blood sugar or carbs specifically). Then your body is forced to pull from amino’s (muscle it doesn’t feel as necessary for survival) and fat stores. Wouldn’t it be nice if we got to choose which one it pulled from?

Our bodies are mapped for survival, so it will always look to shed muscle. Muscle requires more calories to maintain it, while fat requires little calories to maintain.

The best way to prevent muscle loss while running is to eat half the amount in calories you will burn pre run and the other half right after.

I don’t know if this helps and of course this is my opinion and not Jamie’s. I can’t speak for her.

Hope the best for you and good luck with your goals! :)
My Response
thanks so much :-) i try to gather as much information from people i know, then people i believe i can trust [if people know who jamie eason is, i’m pretty sure they know a thing or two about fitness] online, then take what seems to work and see if it works for me. i kow everyone is different and our bodies respond differently but it helps to have a starting point to experiment as opposed to going into it blindly.
Guy #1 Again
Well if it makes you feel more comfortable, I used to be Jamie’s official admin for this page. My duty was to help people out and delete offensive posts, as she travels and isn’t available. I still help out here and there, I just don’t have the availability I once had. :)
My Response
thanks so much for responding! i really appreciate it. last time i trained for a half marathon, i lost quite a bit of bulk, but i wasn’t properly supplementing in terms of carbs & whey. i love bread so much i tend to over do it, so i cold turkey’ed it a few years ago and developed an indifferent attitude towards carbs & just got used to a low carb diet. then i started to run and weight train, but the carb diet didnt’ change. its changed now, so hopefully things will be a lot different :-) im excited to keep on going on this journey
Guy#2
Catherine - if it helps, I would agree with everything James says and I have worked with him in the past as it relates to training and nutrition for Jamie’s 12-week livefit trainer. He definitely is spot on with all of the nutritional advice and we all know, proper nutrition is the key to living a truly “fit” lifestyle. One thing I would add, and I know that you won’t like this, but be careful not to do too much resistance training and cardio for extended periods of time as it will have a detrimental impact on your body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). Basically, if you aren’t following the correct nutritional guidelines that are linked to those types of training, your body will reach a burnout phase and you will suffer from chronic fatigue and possible insomnia. This is something that many marathon runners experience via adrenal fatigue. As long as you are eating complex carbohydrates and following a 40/40/20 macro split, you’ll be okay. Just make sure your calorie consumption matches your calorie expenditure.
My Response
funny you mention insomnia. i work and train for both running & strength training and i would thing it would knock me out, but i HAVE been having trouble sleeping for the past two weeks. i’m still trying to lose weight as well, so i’m “paranoid” about my intake, but someone has said to really up my intake when i train even if im still trying to lose weight. thanks for that as well. i’m usually on a 1500 calorie daily budget and i have a feeling it might not be enough at all. for basis, i’m 5’6.5” at 175 lbs, im not sure of my bf% but its still high as i can “pinch” quite a bit.
Guy #3
Catherine - I would recommend getting some tests done with your Doctor to ensure you HPA is functioning properly. I wouldn’t make it and urgent issue or stress over it, but you may learn a lot about your body by doing so. Your kidneys and adrenal glands will thank you later in life :-)

I found a lot of what they said helpful.  I was worried about the HPA comment. I am very very familiar with insomnia and its something that I know harms my recovery.  Like right now, I'm really sore, I should probably be sleeping, I've been trying to sleep since 7 pm, but I'm awake typing this! Haha!

From what I gather, I should always balance out at "zero" calorie wise as far as input and output. I'm just wondering if I'm still going to still lose fat, which I want to do. I think I'm over thinking that part because for the most of the population, eating less = weight loss. Anyway, I won't over think it, but when I start hitting double digits for training, I'll start doing what was suggested. Half the calories before and half after.

I really don't want to sacrifice my muscles for running. I love them both so much!