**ok here's my original post and question.... one more time! hope this works. I have to rewrite this. **
I've been working out somewhat extensivly since the begining of June and have greatly adjusted my diet. All in all it has been working out great and I've trimmed down 28 pounds since then. I spend most of my cardio effort cycling (road). I love the sport and have really gotten into it. I intriduced weight training to my regimine not too long ago. I started to do circuit training at the gym during my lunch hour and then hit the road for a 2 hour ride after work.
Diet wise I've pulled out almost all starches (bread, white rice, pastas) and sweets. Dropped my caloric intake and increased my protien intake. I think I have my diet covered pretty well. Weight loss has been occuring.
My question is how many times a week should I approach weight / resistance training? I would like to maintain lean muscle mass but not bulk up. I know that resistance training helps build and maintain muscle mass and increased muscle increases your RMR (resting metabolic rate) which consists of 60-70% of your calories burned in a day. I just dont' want to over due the resistance training.
I was thinking that alternating days would work the best? Monday, Wed, Friday? i typically ride every day but have alternated that out with running and hiking some days but mostly I'm on the bike after work. The last thing I want to do is over due the weight training, cramp up, pull muscles and I end up in too much pain to ride.
You can maintain on 2 to 3 times a week. How many days isn't nearly as important as how you workout. Weight and rep scheme is what is going to be important. In general, if you're doing a full body workout every time with a rep range of 10 to 12 per set, twice a week should be sufficient. Three is fine as long as you do alternate days and allow at least one day in between strength training workouts for recovery. And make sure you're eating *right after* your workouts so you don't lose any lean muscle.
Sounds like you're on the right track.
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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins
