I am Sheamus - Very Personal Development

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One of the biggest problems anyone faces when attempting to become a semi-serious athlete is their weight. Regular exercise will, of course, help you shed the pounds (at least, that’s the dream), but there’s an equilibrium that the body will find where your weight will start to plateau. This is particularly true if you’ve lost a big chunk of body mass over a short period of time, as I did earlier this year.

I weighed myself today, and I’m about 176 pounds at 5 feet 9 inches tall. Now, if you’ll allow me to wax lyrical, I look pretty good at the moment. However, now that I’m running every day, this body weight is becoming a bit of a problem. Quite frankly, I’m still too heavy. Way too heavy, really.

According to the BMI index, I’m right on the line between normal weight and overweight at 26. However, the biggest failing with the BMI is that it doesn’t factor muscle into its equation. Muscle is not, technically, heavier than fat. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the same - one pound. However, muscle mass is a lot denser, and therefore a smaller amount will weigh the same as a larger slice of fat. Two equal sized portions (in height, weight and depth) would, when weighed, reveal the muscle to be heavier.

Why is this relevant? Well, I carry quite a lot of muscle. I’m not Dorian Yates, and nor am I LL Cool J, but for my size and frame I’m fairly muscular. I’ve actually been very muscular in the past - when I weighed 218 pounds last November I was pretty stacked. I was carrying a lot of bodyfat, too, but I was muscular and strong.

Now I’ve shed over forty pounds, I’ve lost a lot of that fat, and some of that muscle - probably in the ratio of three pounds of fat for every pound of muscle. So about ten pounds of muscle in total. But it’s not enough. While I will of course continue to burn bodyfat with my diet and running program, I’ve figured out that I need to burn lean tissue, too. Specifically, in my back, glutes and quads. (Most of the muscle mass I’ve lost thus far has been in my chest, biceps, and particularly my shoulders.)

However, therein lies the dilemma - how do you lose muscle?

There are volumes of information written about losing fat, and there are volumes of information written about gaining muscular mass, but typically the only information you will find about shedding muscle is joke posts that are pointing out the mistakes you can make when trying to gain muscle mass that will lead to what is called atrophy.

Atrophy is the deterioration or shrinkage of muscle tissue. It’s considered a negative, and for a bodybuilder it is. But what if you have too much muscle, at least relative to your goals? Runners are lean. Runners are, in fact, thin. Triathletes are more of an ideal, at least for my interests - somewhere between a runner and swimmers build.

But triathletes weigh a lot less than you probably think. An ultra-lean competitor like Peter Reid weighs 155 pounds - at six feet two inches. That’s a BMI of 19.9, which is pretty close to the underweight zone (18.5). And Reid looks it - he’s pretty gaunt.

What about Dean Karnazes? Karnazes is admired for his non-runner’s physique. It’s true - he looks nothing like your common or garden ultrarunner, who are normally on the wrong side of scrawny. But Karnazes also weighs 155 pounds, at 5ft8, which is a BMI of 23.6.

And someone like Jurgen Zack, who was considered a bit of a beast on the Ironman circuit, even chunky, only weighed 172 pounds at 5 feet 11, which is a BMI of 24. That’s still two points lower than where I am now, even though Zack is two inches taller. Zack used to be lot bigger, but had to drop some muscle to stay competitive.

This is the conclusion I have reached, too. While competition is not really an issue for me now - I’m competing only against myself and, to some extent, the clock - age is. I’m 37 this year. My knees have been a minor problem throughout my athletic life. They used to plague me at key points in basketball and tennis matches. After and sometimes during my runs now, they can be a little tender. It’s not to a point where it’s a real problem, but I’m only running 30 minutes a day at the moment. When that rises to an hour, I can see it being an issue.

Which is why I need to drop more weight. Karnazes build is closest to my own, but he’s over 20 pounds lighter than I am. 176 pounds is way, way too heavy for a runner. I need to get down to around 160. And I think I need to drop some muscle to expedite that process. But how?

Triathlete TJ Tollakson knows the answer. Tollakson, a former competitive bodybuilder, discovered triathlon in 2001, but found his 5ft10, 200-pound frame was prohibitive to speed. He shed a lot of bodyfat to drop down to 173 pounds, but continued to suffer on the run during races. He knew he had to make the next step.

“I had to lose some weight,” recalls Tollakson, “I was already lean, so didn’t need to lose fat - I needed to lose muscle, which I did through catabolism while training.”

Catabolism is a complex, and potentially hazardous process where the body breaks down muscle proteins for energy. By cutting back on calories, and certain kinds of foods, the body loses its ability to utilise fats and instead starts to burn muscle. “Once you start the process, the body has abundant muscle protein to fuel itself,” notes Tollakson. “One of the advantages of doing this while working out is that the body will automatically target unused muscles. If you go out and ride and run and use your quads and hamstrings, they’ll be less likely to be catabolised. What I lost were all the excess pecs, shoulders and biceps.”

I’ve already started myself on this path, as noted above. And it’s certainly true that since I’ve begun running my quads, hamstrings and calf muscles have grown. This is, I feel, the main reason why my weight has not really crashed off. The fat I’ve lost has been offset by the denser muscle I’ve gained in my lower body. So it’s fair to say that I’m not going to lose much muscle mass in my legs.

I can, however, indirectly target my glutes and back, and some more of my upper body, by making some modifications to my diet and lifestyle.

Diet

About a week ago, I stopped eating red meat. This isn’t a permanent change, but I was eating red meat 2-3 times a week (for months) and wanted to cut back on that and my overall protein intake. As a former strength-lifter/bodybuilder, I’ve programmed myself to automatically reach for high-protein foods each and every meal. For the last five years or so my daily protein average has probably been around 200 grams. I’m trying to cut that down to 50 grams now. This means no red meat, but more fish and turkey, and less of it - really one main meal a day. The rest of my meals are based around cereals, nuts, fruits, vegetables and wholegrain foods.

Weight Training

Of course, I’ve stopped lifting at the gym. Indeed, I haven’t been to the gym for a couple of months now, actually going as far as cancelling my membership. Whereas I know that down the line I will need to strength-train a couple of times a week to keep my muscles strong, I’m somebody who gains muscle very easily. Muscle memory is a great thing when you’ve been forced to lay off from lifting for a reason beyond your control (i.e., an injury) but when you’re trying to shed lean tissue it’s a real pain. So, no gym at all for me now. Even then, as I said above, my quads are still getting a great workout each and every single day.

Essentially, I’m hoping to locate that middle-ground between moderate catabolism and general muscle atrophy due to a decrease in resistance training. I certainly don’t want to have a puny or anorexic-looking upper body, and I’ve still got some fat to lose (even with a 32-inch waist), but I feel I can expedite my march towards 160 pounds by dropping some of both.

Naturally, my health is the most important thing but I should be able to monitor any ill-effects in my running log - if a drop in weight equates to a loss of power (and therefore speed and/or endurance), I’ll have to do a bit of clever tweaking.

Until that happens, I’m interested to see how this works out, how easy (or difficult) it is to lose muscle you’ve gained over many, many years, and what benefits it will reap.

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