The truth about muscle loss while dieting 💪

There’s a chart I need to present you at this time.

It reveals the proportion of fats vs. fat-free mass misplaced at completely different ranges of calorie deficit, relying on whether or not you’re power coaching or not. (You’ll discover it under.)

It additionally sheds mild on certainly one of my LEAST favourite developments I see within the health trade at this time: making sweeping statements with none context.

And with the ​rise of GLP-1 medications​ like Ozempic and Wegovy, I see this one popping up in all places:

“In the event you don’t eat sufficient protein and carry weights, you’re simply dropping your entire muscle.”

We’ll get into it, however excessive statements like this are simply wildly unhelpful, and miss a lot of the necessary nuance.

Is power coaching helpful when you find yourself on these medicines or a calorie deficit generally? Sure.

However should you take heed to the overall chatter on the web (by no means actually a good suggestion), it makes it sound like muscle is actually falling off of your physique with every step you are taking. And that’s not solely fear-mongering, it’s simply not true.

Let’s zoom out:

I need to break down what’s really occurring in your physique so we will have some actual speak in regards to the completely different tradeoffs concerned.

✅ In the event you’re in a calorie deficit, you’ll shed weight

✅ Everytime you shed weight, there may be at all times some quantity of lack of lean mass. (I.e. stuff apart from fats)

✅ Energy coaching and consuming larger quantities of protein may help you protect extra of your muscle mass​ whereas in a caloric deficit

✅ The bigger your deficit, the extra lean mass you are likely to lose regardless of what you do.

✅ And GLP-1s don’t change that – they only assist individuals persist with bigger deficits than they could in any other case.

So to recap, each time anybody within the historical past of eternally has misplaced weight, a few of that has come from lean mass.

The bigger the caloric deficit you’re in (i.e. the quicker you’re losing a few pounds), the larger the proportion of that weight will come from lean mass. That is completely regular and anticipated.

Energy coaching and consuming larger quantities of protein can completely allow you to protect extra of your lean mass. However you’re not going from “dropping all muscle” to “dropping zero muscle.” These adjustments are levels, not all-or-nothing.

How a lot of a distinction can coaching and consuming extra protein make?

I’m so glad you requested!

Right here’s a chart that reveals on common the place we anticipate weight reduction to return from. (Particular person outcomes will range based mostly on genetics, sort of coaching, weight-reduction plan, and many others.)

Usually, power coaching helps protect an additional 10-15% of lean physique mass.

So, for instance, should you misplaced 10 kilos over the course of three months on a 500 kcal/day deficit, you’d anticipate round 2.5 kilos of that to be from lean mass should you weren’t coaching, and 1.5 kilos of that to be from lean mass should you had been coaching (I.e. a 1 pound distinction.)

Why this issues:

I see so many individuals get discouraged as a result of they really feel like they’re not “doing it proper.”

Perhaps they’re not ​strength training​ but.

Perhaps they haven’t found out easy methods to hit their protein goals​.

Perhaps they’re simply attempting to stay consistent​ with any a part of the method.

And so they begin listening to issues like:

“You’re simply dropping muscle.”

“You’re ruining all of your progress.”

“You’re doing it mistaken.”

However in actuality? You’re simply making a trade-off.

For example, possibly a slight caloric deficit with no power coaching is less complicated so that you can preserve than a a lot larger deficit with power coaching added in. Positive, it could take longer to see the burden loss – however the ratio of fats free and fats mass is actually the identical in every of those eventualities.

Or possibly you consciously go on a bigger caloric deficit for a brief time period, and observe that up with a extra centered muscle-building part to rebuild a few of that lean mass. That’s one other viable technique.

The purpose is: if we will minimize by means of the worry mongering and wildly overblown statements, we will have an precise dialogue about what’s your best option for you based mostly on the place you’re at at the moment.

Actual speak from a coach:

In the event you’re simply getting began and weight reduction is your objective, focusing solely on staying in a modest calorie deficit​ is perhaps the perfect transfer.

That alone may help scale back joint ache, enhance power, and enhance confidence.

Then as soon as that’s strong? Add in power coaching.

Then protein.

Then possibly some strolling or sleep habits​.

You don’t must do every part, in all places, suddenly to achieve success.

In truth, most people we work with discover success by constructing a basis after which including to it – one habit at a time​.

TL;DR:

• Sure, consuming sufficient protein and lifting weights will allow you to preserve extra muscle.
• Greater calorie deficits = extra muscle loss, even should you’re doing every part else “proper.”
• However these are levels, not disasters.
• Deal with what you can do.

Need to chat about easy methods to apply this to your plan? Simply hit reply and let me know.

You’ve bought this.

-Matt