How can I preserve my hard earned muscle mass on endurance days? How do you eat and refuel on those days?
I like going for multi day hikes, bike tours and raves. I do not know how to fuel my body properly. I am at the end of a cut and I am afraid I will lose muscles on those days. Hence, I'd like to be prepared for the future.
My naive approach is to roughly calculate the kcal it takes and eat that more on that day. E.g.
C = kph * hours
where C is the total calorie consumption and kph stands for kalories per hour.
I think this is too naive. I read that people eat gels during marathons. Is that also the way to go for this? Is there something comparable that is natural? I am not sure which source is good and trustworthy and which source is just pseudo-science.
E.g. this post from muscleandfitness which states
additional calories burned are replaced using a macronutrient ratio of 75% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 5% fat
Or racecast writes
- Start fueling at 40–45 min — not when you feel tired.
- Target 60–90 g/hr of carbs for marathons (30 g/hr if you're new to fueling).
- 90 g/hr requires dual-transport fuels (glucose + fructose) + 4–6 weeks of gut training.
- Chase standard gels with water, never sports drink.
- Hydrate to thirst — 400–800 ml/hr is typical; heat raises this.
- Caffeine gel at 45–65% of race time for peak effect at miles 18–22.
Are you a competition bodybuilder prepping for a comp? If yes, the answer is that you simply should not be engaging in activities like this which might impact your showing.
If your goal, however, is to fuck the festival baddies, then I would simply accept a bit of fat gain and muscle loss during these events. You want to be the hot guy who is having a great time - not the bodybuilder bro who is way too caught up in his macros. The exact definition of your cum gutters won't be a deciding factor.
Also be aware that there is a re-training effect. If you end up losing a lot of muscle from detraining, your body will remember your previous high point. When you get back to proper lifting, you will essentially get a new period of newb gains until you reach your previous max. So hopefully this will make you a bit less concerned about any potential losses.
As for actual suggestions - I would deemphasize concerns about carb timing or calorie tracking. Just eat to satiation, and do a mirror check every morning to make sure things arent getting excessive. But do ensure you are eating protein at every meal, drinking water and electrolytes, and getting good (enough) sleep. Also, figure out a minimal workout plan that you can do anywhere in order to sufficiently stimulate your muscles at maintenance level. IIRC, this only requires 2 sets taken close to failure 2 times per week. I vote 2 full body days per week with a push, a pull, a legs, and an abs. 1 warm up set each, and the 2 hard sets. Eg, push up progression, pull up progression, pistol progression, L sit or front lever progression - only equipment needed is a pull up bar (find a tree branch or something) and maybe a weight of some sort (a backpack with some waterbottles maybe)
As always, your answer is top notch. Thank you!
No prob!