Do you lose muscles when running? Moderate intensity, monotonous, non-developing cardio exercises

We continue the conversation about how to build strength and endurance through running.

This is part two of a three-part series on how to build strength, endurance, and burn fat through running (part one). Today we’ll talk about how to keep healthy knees, why you need to run strictly for 60 minutes, and what to do to maintain muscle mass when losing weight.

How to run without knee pain

Discomfort in the knees did not allow me to run much, which is why I preferred to use an exercise bike and thought that running was not for me with my own weight of more than 100 kg. The problem turned out to be running technique.

I have heard more than once that you should not run from heel to toe, and modern sneakers with thick soles are an evil because of which this has become fashionable. Like, there are smarter ways to run, including in any sneakers. For example, running from toe to heel and a couple of other systems. I heard, but special attention I didn’t pay attention to this after I tried to run 100 meters from toe to heel. It turned out crookedly and I again thought that I was not meant for running.

I returned to this issue seriously only a few months ago as part of the ongoing drying program. The method of running training described above was proposed and another recommendation was to work on the technique and stop hitting the ground with your heel while running. And what do you think? It worked! Not right away, but I finally learned to land on the middle part of my foot while running. This is well explained in a couple of videos below:

The first time I ran like a ballerina, putting my leg far forward. I looked comical, and then my calves hurt for a week, but the trouble began. Gradually, the body itself adapts to new realities, adapts, and in the end I came exactly to natural running, when the foot drops to the middle part (on the balls), the calf absorbs the blow (not the knees, as with a heel strike), then lightly springs the heel and takes the next step.

When I started the practice of jogging for an hour in the spring, it was still quite fresh outside

The first time I walked/ran 7.7 km - not such a great result, but I worked well and at the same time did not exhaust myself in the process to the point where your face turns beet color, it stings in your side and you are out of breath.

The first and one of the last workouts is an hour of running almost without a break (the first five minutes are a quick walk to get into the pace) and 9 km

It’s not always possible to run for an hour on a day free from strength training, so I also do 30–40-minute runs after lifting weights in the gym:

Why and how to monitor your heart rate

I briefly mentioned this point in, but I will still emphasize it again. After all, it is especially important to work in your own aerobic threshold specifically for preservation muscle mass and here's why it's like that.

Even during aerobics and running, you can make almost all muscle fibers work (slow, intermediate and fast glycolytic) and instead of fat, burn glucose, glycogen, and then amino acids, that is, the muscle tissue itself.

Make a 120-pound fat guy jump at the same level as a 90-pound fitness guy. The first one will suffocate, furiously burn glycogen, the heart will jump out of the chest, and just like that, a heart attack will happen. While the second comrade is calmly burning fat at a relatively low pulse.

Accordingly, a quiet half-hour walk in the park is quite suitable for an overweight and untrained person as an aerobic exercise. IN next time walk for 40 minutes, then 50, then 60. The body gets used to it - the aerobic threshold increases, we increase the load. So, over time, a citizen can reach the level of a fitness specialist, and the state of fat burning in which his body was during a walk will only be achieved while jogging.

In fact, the aerobic threshold is a kind of thermostat switch, which determines the process of providing energy to the body at one time or another - whether it will be mostly glycolysis (the process of breakdown of a glucose molecule with the release of energy, which is used in the form of ATP by muscle fibers) or fat oxidation (the use of fat as energy). Naturally we need fat oxidation.

To keep your workout within aerobic threshold , you need to work in the so-called fat burning zone. On average, this is a heart rate at the level 120–150 beats per minute.

I control my pulse with Apple Watch. It is even better suited for this role due to the use of a more accurate optical heart rate monitor (reads indicators more often) and due to the presence of a special sound signal indicating the transition from one heart rate zone to another.

If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, then use your breathing as a guide. As soon as you start to choke, it becomes difficult - go to a fast walk until your breathing is restored, then run again lightly.

Why you need to run strictly for 60 minutes

First, a little theory, which he talks about in simple and understandable language. Yaroslav Brin(it was from him that I borrowed this system and adapted it for myself):

Now briefly with the text. There are several reasons why you need an hour of cardio rather than 30 minutes or an hour and a half.

First reason. This is the time when the body has time to thoroughly burn fat in the muscles, but does not significantly affect the muscles themselves. Yes, yes, first the fat reserves in the muscles burn - this is also fuel for their work along with glycogen, only fat is used for low-intensity work, and glycogen is used for high-intensity work.

Then, during rest, fat from stores in the stomach, butt and other loin areas is used to restore energy reserves in the muscles. But under one condition - there must be a reasonable calorie deficit. We'll talk about this below.

The second reason. For 20–30 minutes, the body usually uses more accessible and easily used energy sources - glucose in the blood and glycogen in the muscles.

In principle, they can then also be replenished from reserves from fat depots in the loin parts of the body, but it is better to spend all sources of energy - fast (glucose, glycogen) and slow (fatty acids in muscles). The more we spend, the faster we will get rid of the excess. Again, subject to a reasonable calorie deficit.

Third reason. In an hour of relaxed, low-intensity work, you will burn more calories than in 15-20 minutes of running at the limit (after which you will not be able to do anything). And it’s not a fact that you will have enough for 15–20 minutes. In the past, 7-10 minutes was enough for me.

You can work in a high-intensity mode, give your best, suffer for full program, end up throwing up the contents of your stomach, hating the world, deciding for yourself that you won’t do this again and spending at most 150–250 kcal. Or you can calmly jog for 60 minutes, clear your brain of the information garbage accumulated during the day, burn 500–600 calories and be ready to easily repeat the useful experience in a day or two.

Fourth reason. If the body works with a sufficiently high pulse (from 120 beats per minute and above) for more than an hour, it perceives this as serious stress and switches to a more accessible source of energy - amino acids, which it receives from the muscles. That is, there are no more glycogen reserves, the body does not want to waste fat, since stress is difficult, it is necessary to save the reserve for even worse times. All that remains is own muscles who quickly go under the knife for a longer cardio workout.

You don’t have to look far for examples - look at marathon runners - there are no muscles there. And muscles are beautiful shape bodies, why lose them?

How to Burn Fat and Maintain Muscle

If you only run without strength training, your muscles will suffer due to a calorie deficit. Yes, the body will restore some of its energy resources from fat, but it will not disdain muscles. Why store and spend energy on maintaining them if they are not used? Therefore, if the goal is not just to lose weight, become more resilient and improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system, but to burn fat while maintaining good shape, then running must be combined with strength work.

For improvement physical fitness, there should be more strength work than cardio. For example, three power training per week and two aerobic. To tone up and maintain what you have, a couple of strength training sessions will be enough. I would recommend focusing specifically on strength work and it doesn’t have to be Gym. You can also work well at home (even if not as efficiently):

If we are talking about classics, then I have written a lot on this topic:

(section “Strength training”)

For beginners, I recommend using weight training according to the principle “ FullBody» - three workouts per week every other day (Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday). That is, work on the whole body, starting with large muscles and ending with small ones: legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, abs, calves. Four working approaches, 12 times with increasing load in each workout (even by 1–2 kg, but the load should increase) Try to use multi-joint basic exercises:

legs(2 exercises) - squats and platform leg presses, leg extensions for men, leg curls or deadlifts for women;
back(2 exercises) - pull-ups or block rows to the chest, block/barbell rows to the stomach, T-bar rows;
chest(1 exercise) - bench press, dips;
shoulders(1 exercise) - military press barbells, barbell row to the chin;
hands(one exercise each for biceps and triceps) - bench press narrow grip, French press, barbell/dumbbell curls;
press(1 exercise) - crunches, reverse crunches, “book”;
caviar(1 exercise) - calf raise on one leg with a weight in your hand (with dumbbells or a kettlebell, for example).

Such a program will last for 3-4 months before the body adapts to it and something needs to be changed. If you can’t devote that much time to training, then you can run for 30 minutes after lifting weights. This will be enough, since all glycogen is used during strength training.

Or you came to the gym to run on the treadmill (elliptical), but you don’t have much time. At most 30–40 minutes. Well, burn the glycogen in your legs for 5-10 minutes and then run on fat for 25-30 minutes.

It's easy to burn glycogen - do four sets of leg extension exercises in a machine + leg curls in a super series, 12-15 times until the muscles burn. That is, you extend your legs 12–15 times and immediately go to another machine and bend your legs 12–15 times, rest for a minute and a half, and then repeat. And so 3-4 approaches.

Now you know enough to start changing yourself from tomorrow. But to get maximum results in a short time, it’s worth thinking about how to eat so that running brings one benefit, as well as what sports supplements help speed up the transformation process. We'll talk about this in the third and final article.

Previous part:

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Tip #1. In general, if you have already managed to build muscles (muscles), then in order not to lose them, you need to continue to do everything in the same spirit)).

Tip #2. Avoid situations that are accompanied by a rise in hormone levels, adrenaline, and, to a lesser extent, thyroid hormones.

Why avoid them? Then, because of them, a terrible CATABOLISM arises)) that destroys muscles... Catabolism also occurs due to:

STRESS(absolutely any nature, such as illness, fasting, lack of sleep or lack of sleep, nervous overstrain, incl. physical exercise(but strength training is needed for growth, be that as it may));
HUNGER(at night, during sleep; in the morning after sleep; and during the day, if a person has long breaks between meals);
FATIGUE/FATIGUE;

Therefore, avoid hunger, any stress and sleep for at least 8+ hours. Otherwise you will lose muscle.

Tip #3. Make sure that you receive MORE energy than you SPEND (waste). After all, without EXCESS CALORIES (in the diet) it is impossible to build muscle. If your goal is not to grow muscles - but to maintain the existing shape (and not lose), the INCOME of energy should be the same as the EXPENDITURE.

The standard basics that I've talked about a million times already. In general, for those who don’t know, at the stage of gaining muscle mass there should be an EXCESS OF CALORIES (this is when you eat more carbohydrates (energy) than you expend (expend)), and this is actually what causes an increase in body weight.

In case there are proper training, body weight will increase primarily from MUSCLE, not FAT (that's why the next tip #4 is to exercise regularly).

If you want to maintain the existing shape (and not lose it), you need the INCOME of energy to be the same as the EXPENDITURE. And then the body weight will stand still. To be honest, I don’t see the point in this, because... The goal of any athlete is to become better, bigger, stronger, more defined, etc. and so on. Why stand still?!

Tip #4. Exercise regularly - and don't skip it.

Every missed workout moves you away from your goal, because every workout triggers future muscle growth. If there is no training, then there will be no future muscle growth. Everything, as you can see, is very simple.

In addition, with excess calories in daily diet(if you continue to eat for muscle growth) and at the same time you will have no training (skips) = you will gain weight due to FAT, not MUSCLE. Why do you need it to turn into a pig?

Don't deprive yourself of the opportunity to grow and lose precious muscles - don't skip training!

Tip #5. The duration of strength training is no more than 45 minutes.

This advice is primarily intended for (p.s. those who do not use etc. substances, such as , etc.). Here, look:

During the first 20 minutes of training, we use up glycogen, which is located in the muscles.
Over the next 20 minutes, we use glycogen from the liver.

That is why we only last 40-45 minutes. If you train for longer than 45 minutes, you will only cause harm by training on your own muscles (i.e., destroying muscles). Think about it, our goal is to pump them up (and maintain them), and because of long training you are simply depriving yourself of this opportunity...

Tip #6. Avoid any AEROBIC ACTIVITY.

I highlighted this point in red 😀 it’s so scary)).

Remember once and for all: absolutely any aerobic activity (walking, cycling, swimming, running, basketball, football, tennis, exercise bikes, stepper, etc., etc.) will greatly harm muscle growth... it will DESTROY MUSCLES (in the end you will lose their). Do you understand?

For those who don’t know, ANAEROBIC TRAINING (strength training) forces our body to produce anabolic hormones, which subsequently trigger growth reactions (ANABOLISM), but AEROBIC training, on the contrary, fights this phenomenon, triggering decay reactions (catabolism).

GROWTH | = DESTRUCTION. Do you understand?

Therefore, AEROBICS with ANAEROBIC LOAD = NOT COMPATIBLE if the goal is maximum muscle growth. Will you use aerobics in your Everyday life, you will lose muscle. Because Our goal is not to lose them (and even more - to increase them), we avoid any aerobic activity.

P.s. if you were interested in this topic, and the topic is HOW NOT TO LOSE MUSCLE BY DRYING - then check out this article: That's all, good luck to everyone)).

Best regards, administrator.

Bodybuilders do not like to run because they are afraid of injury and loss of the muscles gained through such hard efforts. But if you approach this matter wisely, then running is a safe, natural and accessible sport that can bring undoubted benefits to people who want to have big muscles.

This photo can put anyone in a stupor: a huge pumped-up man is running along a two-lane mountain road. By his shaved head, incredibly massive deltoids and back, we can easily recognize the best bodybuilder of our time, 7-time Mr. Olympia title winner American Phil Heath.

However, this is just a staged photo for the cameras; in reality, everything is a little different. Yes, Heath played a lot of basketball in college. He also, like almost all bodybuilders, uses cardio to lose fat and get in shape - but it usually comes down to about one hour of light aerobic activity at a low heart rate. This could be riding an exercise bike, elliptical trainer or walking on a treadmill at a speed of 5 -5.5 km/h and an incline of 3 degrees.

Heath, like all elite athletes of his level, is unlikely to be able to run 2-3 km, or rather, he does not need to strive for this. Many bodybuilders have enormous muscle mass, which can affect the health of their bones and joints. And anyone who has ever touched iron knows that running burns muscle.

This begs the question, is running really necessary for bodybuilders? Can it be of benefit to a person who wants to reduce their levels? subcutaneous fat, improve your cardiovascular system, periodically participate in simple races, but at the same time preserve muscles and not injure joints?

Many trainers - although not bodybuilding competition training experts - believe that people interested in muscle mass and hypertrophy can safely burn fat through running and improve posture and functional fitness if they adhere to the tips below.

Use natural running technique. You can significantly reduce the negative effects of running on your joints and connective tissue by using nature's gentle running. With this technique you land lightly bent leg directly below you and thus avoid the traumatic impact of your heel on the surface, which increases the stress on your bones and joints.

Periodically train at a low heart rate. Try to keep your heart rate in the aerobic lipid threshold zone (approximately 110-140 beats per minute), which uses fat as the main source of energy. By using a classic periodization program, over time you can slowly build up your pace and become faster, training at a heart rate that allows you to burn fat.

Do sprints. Short, high-intensity interval sessions should be done immediately after your leg workout. This type of exercise creates a training effect similar to the anabolic effects of strength training and increases EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), which will allow for additional calorie burning over a 48-hour period.

Before we look at these concepts in more detail, many may wonder why run at all when other, less risky options are available. aerobic training, such as a bicycle or an elliptical trainer?

The thing is, nothing burns fat like running, and nothing is as convenient, natural and functional.

According to the Mayo Clinic (one of the largest private medical and research centers in the world), a 200-pound person running at 8 km/h burns 755 kcal per hour - almost 50 percent more than rowing and swimming, and even more than aerobics, basketball and ice skating. When the speed increases to 9.5 km/h, this value increases to 917 kcal/hour. Only climbing stairs (819 kcal) exceeds the energy consumption of easy running of 8 km/h.

1. Use safe running technique for your joints.

The Chi-Running method, pioneered by ultramarathoner Danny Dreyer, and similar to renowned Russian scientist and triathlon coach Nikolai Romanov's Pose Method of Running, reduces the impact on your joints and turns your leg into a big spring that propels you forward. These two running techniques have gained widespread popularity over the past ten years among runners concerned about persistent injuries and damage. The explanation for this is quite simple: The Pose Method and ChiRunning basically replicate the landing, foot position and cadence of barefoot running.

If studying them may seem too difficult for you, then simply take off your shoes and try running 50 meters barefoot. Without the heel support of a running shoe that protects you, you will feel certain differences:

No heel impact on the surface. Otherwise, falling on your heel will cause you pain and discomfort;

Running from the front/midfoot. You land on your forefoot/midfoot. Your heel drops immediately afterwards;
You go down on a bent knee, not a straight one. Landing on a straight leg and hitting the heel are possible in sneakers that have cushioning - but not when running barefoot;
Short steps. You land with a wide forefoot under your center of gravity, rather than one or two feet forward as you might do in shoes.

If you remember these four things, when you put your running shoes back on, you'll be able to run smoothly.

During the period when you are learning a new running technique, you also need to increase your cadence (number of steps). This will allow you to maintain speed while decreasing your stride length. A high cadence reduces the potential for injury because the foot is only subjected to stress while it is in contact with the ground. Therefore, land softly on the forefoot and after lightly touching the heel, lift it again. Try to maintain a frequency of 180 steps per minute - 90 on each leg. It will be a little awkward and tiring at first, but you will quickly get used to it.

Once you learn proper running technique and your body gradually adapts to the new biomechanics of movement—particularly the calves and Achilles tendons becoming weaker and shortened from years of heel striking and uphill walking—you will experience a noticeable reduction in the impact of impact on your ankle, knee and hip joints, as well as reducing the amount of damage to connective tissue and muscles. Some studies have found that natural running techniques can reduce impact by up to 50 percent.

2. Learn to burn fat while maintaining muscle

To combat another negative effect of running—muscle loss—you should do two types of training: long, slow running and intervals.

Long slow run. Twice a week, preferably on days off from gym training, jog lightly for 30-60 minutes. In theory, a low heart rate with this type of running should not be something new for jocks: the same cardio at a heart rate of 120-140 beats per minute, which they always performed on an exercise bike or stepper to burn fat.

In the low-intensity aerobic zone, your body moves slowly enough to consume all the oxygen it needs to use fat as its primary fuel. Fat is rich in calories, but requires a lot of oxygen to break it down. The key to long runs is to stay within your heart rate range, which won't be easy for most people, especially those new to running. Using a natural running technique can put you out of your fat-burning heart rate zone, so you should hold yourself back a little.

The main goal of running, like any other type of cardio training, is to develop mitochondria (tiny power plants inside the cell where fuel is burned and energy is produced) in muscle fibers, which will allow for better fat burning.

This happens when you stay in an intensity zone where the main source of energy is fat stores. But if you exceed the upper limit of this zone (technically your "threshold" where you can't get enough oxygen to maintain your speed), your muscles will switch to more readily available fuel - carbohydrates.

Running at this pace not only reduces your use of fat for energy and slows down your fat-burning mechanism, but it also puts stress on your muscles, which negatively impacts their recovery.

Remember that if you worked hard at the gym the day before, then the best solution that will allow you to maintain positive effect from strength training, will devote the day to cardio recovery.

How can you tell if you're not running too fast? For these purposes, use the “speaking test”. It means that throughout your run you should be able to carry on a conversation easily and comfortably without shortness of breath. To make sure you're pacing correctly, use a heart rate monitor/sensor heart rate. Set it to a "conversational" running pace and set it to sound as soon as you exceed your target heart rate range.

In addition to burning large amounts of fat, running for long periods of time at low intensity also strengthens tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue, which allows the body to successfully cope with the stress that arises, and gives you the ability to focus on correct technique running.

Interval training. Once a week, do short, intense interval sessions immediately after your leg workout. Intervals (eight 10-30 second sprints, performed with approx. maximum speed on the treadmill at an angle, with one minute of walking/jogging for recovery) prolong the effects of your strength work, thanks to EPOC (or as it is also called post-activation potentiation). The hormonal response to such loads (especially testosterone) is very similar to the one that occurs when working with iron. Plus, the intervals don't take much time to complete: Just 20 minutes for eight sprints and recovery periods in between, including a warm-up and cool-down. But you should not do such sessions more than once a week, as they place a lot of stress on your joints. Minimize impact and maximize workout benefits by increasing the treadmill's incline and speed.

Training plan

Most importantly, running should only be considered as an addition to your main gym workouts and not as a way to “finish” yourself. Your main goal is to burn fat, speed up recovery and improve fitness while maintaining muscle mass.

So if you've been training your upper/lower body or large muscle groups Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday, then Wednesday and Saturday will be the best time for long runs at a low heart rate. Third running training may consist of performing high-intensity intervals in addition to a heavy leg workout. To preserve muscle, don't run more than three days a week or for more than 60 minutes at a time. For those who want to take part in running competitions, the speed and mileage of long runs should be gradually increased, while the interval session remains unchanged.

Many people want to get rid of subcutaneous fat without losing muscle mass. Aerobic exercises, such as running, are ideal for burning fat.

Morning jogging is best, since your body has already exhausted all the calories overnight and during running, fat will begin to be burned almost immediately, but along with it, muscle mass will also be lost, that is, you will lose weight not only by burning fat, but also due to the loss of total mass. When glycogen in the body is depleted, proteins from your muscles enter the pathway as fuel, that is, breakdown occurs. muscle fibers, this entails the loss of your muscles. To prevent this, you need to consume simple carbohydrates, such as sucrose, fructose, etc., 15 minutes before running. After training, you also need to eat easily digestible proteins and carbohydrates in small quantities; some kind of carbohydrate-protein shake will do. An hour and a half after training, you need to eat a heartier meal, for example, a light salad with fish; the dish should contain a sufficient amount of protein.

Yes, many people believe that when burning fat you should not eat before and after training, but our task is not only to lose fat, but also to maintain muscle. To absorb protein into muscles, a huge amount of calories is spent, therefore, the more muscle you have, the easier it is for you to get rid of fat, so it is necessary to maintain muscle mass, strength training also burns a lot of calories and fat, do not forget about them. You've seen long-distance runners and sprinters, those who run long distances don't have very large muscles, but sprinters, in my opinion, can go straight from the treadmill onto the stage for bodybuilders.

This difference in muscles is explained by the fact that sprinters load their body to the maximum in a short period of time and then rest, without the muscles having time to begin to disintegrate. For example, I run in the morning as follows: 100 meters walking, then 100 meters light jogging and then 100 meters with maximum acceleration and all in a circle, I run for 30-40 minutes, the result is very noticeable. Don't forget to drink more, water is a very good way to improve metabolism, drink before, after and even during running, this way you will prevent muscle catabolism, that is, muscle breakdown.

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There is a lot of disagreement about the compatibility of strength and aerobic exercise. There are athletes who are of the opinion that doing cardio without compromising strength training It's simply impossible. This theory has many opponents who believe that sports without cardio cease to be complete. To dispel doubts regarding the inclusion of running in a bodybuilder’s training program, it is necessary to analyze the effect of aerobic exercise on the process of muscle growth.

The main condition for weight gain is consuming more calories than you expend. If this is followed, even regular daily jogging will not prevent your muscles from growing. During a training period aimed solely at gaining mass, it is, of course, not worth doing cardio every day. Otherwise excessive loads will lead to overtraining, which should be strongly avoided.

The effect of cardio on muscle gain

During scientific research Running has been proven to have a positive effect on muscle growth. Aerobic exercise stimulates protein production and increases testosterone, the main anabolic hormone. Cardio does not interfere, but, on the contrary, promotes muscle growth.

Running during the period of mass gain is useful because cardio:

trains the heart muscle and has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system;
improves endurance and helps diversify your training program;
stimulates the burning of subcutaneous fat and makes the muscle relief more pronounced;
accelerates metabolic processes, which leads to increased appetite, and, therefore, allows you to gain weight faster.

Aerobic exercise provides many benefits during weight gain. But, of course, only when certain rules are followed.

How to do cardio while gaining muscle mass

Experienced athletes recommend long runs in at a slow pace to increase endurance and improve the condition of the heart muscle. You need to run for at least 40 minutes. Be sure to keep the pace slow. Otherwise, there is every chance of starting to lose muscle mass. Sprints on short distances Only a few athletes practice at maximum speed, most of whom do not engage in bodybuilding at a professional level.

Along with the duration and pace of running, the frequency of aerobic exercise is also crucial. During the period of muscle building, it is recommended to include cardio in the training program twice a week, doing low-intensity jogging for 40-60 minutes. This kind of cardio speeds up your metabolism and improves endurance without compromising muscle building. When there is not enough time, you can reduce the amount of aerobic exercise to one workout per week, but increase the duration, running from 60 to 80 minutes.

Athletes involved in by force sports, aerobic exercise is often neglected, which negatively affects heart health. High-quality cardio training, performed at least once or twice a week to increase endurance and improve health, allows you to avoid adverse consequences.

Running and amateur bodybuilding

Strength training, aimed solely at maintaining good physical shape, and not for the purpose of performing at various bodybuilding competitions, must be supplemented with cardio. Many owners of impressive weight, pumped up and sculpted muscles visit the gym solely for one single purpose - to look good, having beautiful body. When pumping up muscles only at an amateur level, and not at a professional level, you should definitely run to be more resilient and fit, since cardio helps you lose excess subcutaneous fat.