I want to do a lot of cardio while maintaining as much stregnth as possible.

[ItzYerBoy]

Would Starting Strength still be the best program for this? I want to do a LOT of cardio, maybe even start running marathons and junk. I know Starting strength says for the best results, do a MINIMAL amount of cardio, but I was thinking, if I did want to maintain the maximum amount of muscle, there's really not a better program out there for that is there? I could be wrong.

Also, let's say I'm correct. Let's say I'm doing starting strength, and all my lifts begin to stall, presumably because of all the cardio I'm doing. And let's say through all of this, I have gained as much strength as possible while doing this program, with the excessive amount of cardio. Would I be able to benefit from an intermediate program at that point? Such as the 5x5? Or would I just need to stick with SS, and be happy that I'm able to keep the amount of muscle/strength that I already have?

and don't tell me "strength training or cardio, choose one." If you read what I'm really asking, I'm confident there really is a definitive answer for my question.

[dday39]

if you plan to do both, I wouldn't expect to be great at either.
you're talking about cardio, but haven't really stated your plan.
you don't have to choose between the 2 activities, but I wouldn't expect to excel at both at the same time

if you decide that running long distances appeals to you, it might be difficult to gain/maintain strength and size

[ItzYerBoy]

if you plan to do both, I wouldn't expect to be great at either.
you're talking about cardio, but haven't really stated your plan.
you don't have to choose between the 2 activities, but I wouldn't expect to excel at both at the same time

if you decide that running long distances appeals to you, it might be difficult to gain/maintain strength and size

All of that is cool with me, man. I know and understand all of that very well. What I'm asking is, in order to maintain the MOST muscle while doing a lot of cardio, would I benefit most from SS or some other program?

[TheBeastTyler]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be a possibility for him to maintain his heavy cardio and muscle mass if he increased his caloric intake by a lot? Granted, with heavy cardio, I'm sure he'd lose SOME muscle mass, but if he just ate a lot more, wouldn't that allow him to keep more muscle mass than his current diet?

[Hags]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be a possibility for him to maintain his heavy cardio and muscle mass if he increased his caloric intake by a lot? Granted, with heavy cardio, I'm sure he'd lose SOME muscle mass, but if he just ate a lot more, wouldn't that allow him to keep more muscle mass than his current diet?

To add to tyler's post in order to keep the maximum amount of muscle while loading on a ton of cardio you need to do 2 things. One, eat ALOT. You're going to need to ingest way above maintenance for this. And 2 you need to be smart about when you do cardio. Try to keep resistance training and cardio as far apart as possible (Resistance in the morning, cardio at night for example)

[shmitchell]

[QUOTE= Try to keep resistance training and cardio as far apart as possible (Resistance in the morning, cardio at night for example)[/QUOTE]

Beat me to it....spread apart and EATTTTTTT.

[rmwing]

You'll need to eat to keep up with your activity level, what program you go on doesn't really matter but SS would be a good one

[wesleysh21]

In addition to some of the advice so far, look into getting some energy gels and different things you can ingest during your long runs. Personally, I could never get myself to eat during a run like others did regularly. I always felt stronger after my runs if I put Purple Wraath in my water/gatorade, and drank a protein shake after my run. I felt weak and deflated if I didn't.

On a related note, do your feet a favor and get some Smartwool socks. I felt like a moron paying $15 for a pair of socks, but they are the real deal and help avoid awesome side effects of running tons of miles...like black toe. I am also a heavy sweater, so by mile 5 or so I'd be running in a pile of sweat and hear "sqush, sqush, sqush" with every step! The smartwool took care of that issue as well.

[TheIronAsylum]

seems like youre in a similar boat to me strenght trained bulked strong neglected cardio a bit but now want to get good at cardio and lean out

im thinking about doing triathlons but i want to maintain muscle and not get skinnyfat any recomendations?