I lift weights all winter to get in shape, but in the summer I don't have as much time to work out and I was wondering if there are exercises and foods to minimize loss of the muscle that I build during the winter.

The hard part is building the muscle, it's much easier to keep it. Just eat the right amount of calories, and get enough protein, and one good workout a week should be plenty to safeguard your muscle.

Base your workout on heavy compounds like squat, bench press, deadlift, pull-up, bent-over rows, stiff leg deadlifts, dips, wooodchopper.

Thanks for the tips, sorry they wouldn't let me give you a green. Take care.

What is your winter workout?

Why is summer different for you?

Thanks for asking. In the winter I lift free weights and work my way up to 10 reps with bench press 130 lbs, curls, 25 lbs, pull ups, squats, leg press, 150 lbs, pull downs, shoulder press. I take the summer off because I have a lot of yard work to do and I do more hiking, boating and other outdoor things. I still do some pull ups, push ups and sit ups to maintain upper body strength.

If you are trying to keep mass, up the weight a higher % of your one rep max to around 6 reps max and keep a strong focus on the form and length of time in the eccentric phase, where the main contracted muscle group involved in the "lift" is elongating as you return to the starting position.

Which... basically means spend a longer time in that return phase with good form.