The reality about muscle loss whereas weight-reduction plan 💪

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

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

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

And with the ​rise of GLP-1 drugs​ like Ozempic and Wegovy, I see this one popping up in every single place:

“When you don’t eat sufficient protein and elevate weights, you’re simply dropping all your muscle.”

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

Is energy coaching helpful if you end up on these drugs or a calorie deficit typically? Sure.

However should you take heed to the final 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’re taking. And that’s not solely fear-mongering, it’s simply not true.

Let’s zoom out:

I wish to break down what’s truly occurring in your physique so we are able to have some actual speak concerning the totally different tradeoffs concerned.

✅ When you’re in a calorie deficit, you’ll shed pounds

✅ Everytime you shed pounds, there may be all the time some quantity of lack of lean mass. (I.e. stuff aside from fats)

✅ Power coaching and consuming increased quantities of protein can assist 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 stick with bigger deficits than they could in any other case.

So to recap, every 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 might be in (i.e. the quicker you might be losing a few pounds), the larger the proportion of that weight will come from lean mass. That is completely regular and anticipated.

Power coaching and consuming increased quantities of protein can completely assist you protect extra of your lean mass. However you’re not going from “dropping all muscle” to “dropping zero muscle.” These modifications 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 exhibits on common the place we count on weight reduction to return from. (Particular person outcomes will range primarily based on genetics, sort of coaching, weight loss plan, and many others.)

Usually, energy 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 count on 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.”

Possibly they’re not ​energy coaching​ but.

Possibly they haven’t discovered hit their protein objectives​.

Possibly they’re simply attempting to keep constant​ with any a part of the method.

They usually begin listening to issues like:

“You’re simply dropping muscle.”

“You’re ruining all of your progress.”

“You’re doing it incorrect.”

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

For instance, perhaps a slight caloric deficit with no energy coaching is simpler so that you can keep than a a lot increased deficit with energy coaching added in. Positive, it could take longer to see the burden loss – however the ratio of fats free and fats mass is basically the identical in every of those situations.

Or perhaps you consciously go on a bigger caloric deficit for a brief time period, and comply with 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 are able to reduce via the concern mongering and wildly overblown statements, we are able to have an precise dialogue about what’s your best option for you primarily based on the place you’re at at present.

Actual speak from a coach:

When you’re simply getting began and weight reduction is your objective, focusing solely on staying in a modest calorie deficit​ is likely to be one of the best transfer.

That alone can assist cut back joint ache, enhance vitality, and enhance confidence.

Then as soon as that’s stable? Add in energy coaching.

Then protein.

Then perhaps some strolling or sleep habits​.

You don’t should do every little thing, in every single place, unexpectedly to achieve success.

In actual fact, the general public we work with discover success by constructing a basis after which including to it – one behavior at a time​.

TL;DR:

• Sure, consuming sufficient protein and lifting weights will assist you maintain extra muscle.
• Greater calorie deficits = extra muscle loss, even should you’re doing every little thing else “proper.”
• However these are levels, not disasters.
• Give attention to what you can do.

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

You’ve received this.

-Matt