Trying to lose muscle mass

[cozisco]

I'm just exiting the strength phase and preparing to drop to sending weight. Problem is, I'm trying to figure out the best way to shed unnecessary muscle mass without losing necessary muscle mass. I'm 5'9", 175lbs with 7-8% body fat (depending on measuring method used). I've always been a strong guy and it seems to be somewhat genetic. I've tried restricting calories and limiting lower body exercise (I used to mountain bike a lot, but now only once or twice a month) with minimal results. I usually just end up with low energy and poor performance results. 

What's the best way to lose muscle mass in a specific area of the body?

[scojo]

Your body should naturally reduce the size of the muscles you're not using, so I think you're taking the right approach. Although if you're already at 7-8% BF, I don't know if I would be restricting calories, but this is a very personal decision. How long have you been trying to lose muscle mass in your legs? It could take a long time to see any noticeable results.

[cozisco]

I've been limiting leg exercise/movement for ~8 weeks now with little noticeable difference. The only caveat is that I work on my feet every day, so I spend most of my day standing with a little walking around.

That's why I'm wondering if I start restricting calories, if my body will metabolize unused muscle mass and achieve the same end goal.

[srossabi42]

in my experience, this is a very slow process (note: my body fat % has been similar to yours throughout this process)
i used to play a lot of soccer and do a good amount of olympic style weight training, as a result my legs were proportionally pretty big.
i quit and got into climbing, i also did a lot of distance running, after about a year and half of this, my legs shrank a good amount (sorry dont have anything but qualitative evidence). then i went on a month-long, low-budget (didn't buy a lot of food) climbing trip and dropped about 10 lbs, everything got skinnier. in the two years since then i have climbed, never done anything but body-weight strength training for leg muscles, and gave up running a year ago, it rarely seems as though my legs have gotten smaller but i recently tried on a pair of "slim" pants and for the first time they didn't feel skin tight. though, i still would not say that my legs are especially skinny


simply, it's likely a slower process than you want it to be, hope this was helpful

[climber511]

6' 2" Tall
190#
9 - 10% body fat
Started out at 208 and 10% BF - I'd like to weigh 175 or 180# but like you I'm going to have to lose muscle mass - it doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy process.

[MarkAnderson]

Ya, based on my experience and a few friends', I would say it will take a few months before you see any difference (and in my case that was doing ZERO lower body exercise apart from walking, so your 1-2x/month MTB might be too much). After that, you can continue to see atrophy over years if you keep off your legs, though IME once you've lost the mass, it's pretty easy to keep it off even if you pick back up some irregular leg exercise.

Age is probably a big factor as well. It's harder to retain muscle mass as you age, which can be a great thing if you're trying to shed useless muscle. I was 34 when I (accidentally) started trying to make my legs smaller. Prior to that I was intensively running or cycling 3-4x per week for 20 years. 5 years later my quads are significantly smaller, which is apparent when SLIPPING on my kneepads (which used to take about 5 minutes of yanking, struggling, and swearing).