This is a question for those physiologists out there:
It is my understanding that when you run out of glycogen, your body begins to consume protein(muscle) if you are burning more than you can obtain through fat stores (~300cal/hr). My question is if you totally bonk and keep going to burn off the slightly remaining fat, does your body burn local muscle stores (legs) or all over your entire body, scavenging indiscriminately?
The reason I ask is that I do not want to lose much leg muscle mass, but I do have excess upper body muscle that does me no good on the bike, and since I have almost no body fat(~6%), I was wondering about the feasibility of slowly burning it off without losing leg muscle (or rather mostly leg muscle). To be blunt, how can you reduce your upper body muscle mass without a large detrimental effect on cycling performance? Oh and at 6’4”, 190 lbs, I am no gym rat. I already have a long very lean body, but I would like to reshape my body closer to someone like say Tom Boonen, who is my size but 15 lbs lighter… and I can’t lose any (much) more fat to get there. Is it possible or am I stuck with what my parents set me up with?
It is my understanding that when you run out of glycogen, your body begins to consume protein(muscle) if you are burning more than you can obtain through fat stores (~300cal/hr). My question is if you totally bonk and keep going to burn off the slightly remaining fat, does your body burn local muscle stores (legs) or all over your entire body, scavenging indiscriminately?
The reason I ask is that I do not want to lose much leg muscle mass, but I do have excess upper body muscle that does me no good on the bike, and since I have almost no body fat(~6%), I was wondering about the feasibility of slowly burning it off without losing leg muscle (or rather mostly leg muscle). To be blunt, how can you reduce your upper body muscle mass without a large detrimental effect on cycling performance? Oh and at 6’4”, 190 lbs, I am no gym rat. I already have a long very lean body, but I would like to reshape my body closer to someone like say Tom Boonen, who is my size but 15 lbs lighter… and I can’t lose any (much) more fat to get there. Is it possible or am I stuck with what my parents set me up with?