Hi, I've been working out consistently with free wights for several years. I'm interested in joggers opinions on running and muscle mass. At what point (mile or time) in jogging (slow to moderate pace) do most bodybuilders or weigh lifters start to lose muscle mass? Dan

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It's difficult to pin down a precise mileage for a cutoff point where one would begin to lose muscle mass. Obviously if you were training for the marathon and lifting to look like a bodybuilder your efforts in each area would be counterproductive. This is just my opinion, but for me 12 to 15 miles per week is enough for cardiovascular conditioning and has still alowed me to increase muscle mass. This may suit you well, or it may not. Try it and see for yourself. I've been running since 1963. Keep on runnin'! Jim

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I recall reading that 15 miles a week was an important breakpoint. It was many years ago but I think it was D.r Kenneth Cooper of aerobics fame who said that they rarely saw injuries at 15 miles and below. But once mileage went over that the increase in injuries and subsequent loss of training time was exponential. It was his opinion that all the cardio you needed could be accomplished without exceeding 15 miles a week. But this is from memory of something I read 10 to 20 years ago. Chuck

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How about giving hill sprints a try if you live near a park or any outdoor area where there is a steady hill (with an incline of about 15- 45 degrees)? How's about lacin up the sneakers and sprinting up it? This incline sprinting will fry your quad,s guaranteed! Once it becomes too easy, try adding weight in the form of ankle weights or an object> Try carrying a heavy rucksack or a little kid (if you have any of your own> If not borrow the neighbors'— besides the kids will probably love it as they will think someone is playing "Horsey" with them.)

This incline hill running will put more stress on the thighs than traditional flat ground running. Before I started using weights for leg strength Iused to do and still do hill sprints which were recommended to me by my kickboxing coach and as Ii fight semi- pro they build a heck of lot of explosive power. Trust me my round house kick is killer ever since Ii started doing hill sprints. Do hill sprints twice a week — I'm sure you can't go wrong. Arif

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Long range running tends to elongate the muscles of the leg. Most all other cardio would not necessarily add to the muscle of the leg but certainly won't create the marathon runner leg "look" either. Chris L. Johnson

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Cardio is cardio but it's the aftermath that matters. Running supercharges your metabolism and while I am sure that some long distance runner out there is muscular, I have yet to see him. It is not desirable to have a run away metabolism if one wants to pack on muscle.

My own experiences verify running as a great initial weight loss method. However, by the time I figured out what was going on and stopped running, my metabolism was at Mach 5 and I stripped away 10 lbs of muscle mass. Chris L. Johnson

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Once you hit your groove when jogging you could go forever. I remember way back then we use to call this the "float". I don't think I've had that feeling for 15-20 years. I guess jogging is in line. Can you get that feeling on a tread mill? John H

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Having moved to a new residence I am faced with new challenges. Such as getting to a gym 5 miles away. My question is this: will 60 minutes of light cardio (not even breathing out of normal) each day, exept Sunday delay muscle gains?

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Are talking about brisk walking/jogging or biking to get to the gym? I wouldn't worry about it... your muscles gains should remain safe! Cris

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60 minutes/day of walking — I would agree. I think that 60 minutes each day of jogging could interfere with an ectomorph's ability to gain mass. At least that was my experience at a younger age. I would limit the jogging or biking to 3 times per week and simply walk the other days. Art

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Not if you increase your calories and consume sufficient protein. Tom

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In the past, I have taken the route of long, slow cardio. I lost far more muscle mass and was not nearly as successful as this time doing faster work (so far anyway). My lean mass has actually increased slightly. Rick

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The thing is that I should be able to capitalize on my cardio abilities and endurance— just convert it now to speed, intensity, intervals rather than endurance as I mainly do now.

Action PLan? I'm going to be doing mile repeats more often, hill work, a weekly trail run (kind of a seperate "fun" thing I want to do anyway and will replace my medium length run), and gulp, sprints. I have never trained for speed in my runs but over the summer I am going to train to shave 4 min off my 5K (currently 28 mins) and ~10 min off my 10K (currently 57 mins). I also need to incorporate x-training more. Stella

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For me cardio has never been boring, but you'll never find me on a treadmill — boring in extreme! So instead I run outside in the roughest parts of Manchester, N.H. where there are homeless, picket lines, crazies, street gangs, etc. I started as an adolescent running from the police. Boring? Not on your life — and every so often I have to do some wind sprints to avoid the riff raff. I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, I actually look forward to my cardio training, and so can you! Keep on runnin"! Jim