Preventing Muscle Loss On A Cut - Nutrition Strategies

Summary

In this Renaissance Periodization video, Dr. Mike Israel discusses strategies for preventing muscle loss during fat loss phases. Key tips include maintaining adequate protein intake, keeping calorie deficits small, and ensuring frequent meals rich in protein and carbohydrates. He also advises against extreme low-fat diets, emphasizes the importance of high activity levels, and suggests gradual calorie reduction. The video aims to educate on how to retain hard-earned muscle while cutting.

Takeaways

• 🥩 Keep protein intake above minimum levels (1 gram per pound of body weight per day) to mitigate muscle loss.
• 🔥 Maintain a smaller calorie deficit to reduce the risk of muscle loss; aim for a deficit of 500 calories or less per day.
• 🕒 Keep the duration of your diet short (preferably under 8 weeks) to minimize muscle loss.
• 🍽️ Consume at least four meals per day to support anabolism and anti-catabolism, which helps in muscle retention.
• 🍚 Prioritize carbohydrates, especially around workout times, to fuel training and reduce muscle breakdown.
• 🥑 Don't drop fat intake too low; aim for 0.3 to 0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight daily for hormone production and muscle sparing.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Maintain high activity levels with regular weight training and cardio to support muscle retention and fat loss.
• 📉 Start with a minimal calorie deficit and adjust as needed to avoid rapid muscle loss and diet fatigue.
• 💪 As you get leaner, it becomes more challenging to retain muscle, so be realistic about muscle loss expectations when dieting to very low body fat percentages.
• 🔄 Consider cycling between diet and maintenance phases to allow the body to recalibrate and minimize long-term muscle loss.

Q & A

What is the recommended minimum daily protein intake per pound of body weight for preventing muscle loss during a cut?

A minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day is recommended to prevent muscle loss.

How does the size of a calorie deficit impact muscle loss during a fat loss phase?

A larger calorie deficit increases the likelihood of muscle loss. A deficit of 500 calories a day or less poses a low risk, while deficits over 500 calories per day can lead to significant muscle loss.

What is the significance of keeping the duration of a diet short to minimize muscle loss?

Diets under eight weeks, especially if losing close to a pound of tissue per week, minimize muscle loss. Diets longer than 12 weeks become a calculated risk for muscle loss.

How does meal frequency affect muscle retention during a cut?

Having at least four meals per day, with adequate protein and calories in each, helps maximize anabolism and minimize muscle loss. Fewer than three meals per day is considered a higher risk for muscle loss.

Why is it important to maintain a certain level of carbohydrates during a cut to prevent muscle loss?

Carbohydrates are protein-sparing, providing energy for workouts and reducing the body's reliance on muscle for fuel. They should be prioritized, especially around workout times.

What is the recommended daily fat intake to support hormone production and muscle retention during a cut?

A daily fat intake of around 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound of body weight is suggested to support hormone production, which aids in muscle retention.

How does physical activity level influence muscle loss during a fat loss phase?

Higher activity levels allow for more food intake without risking muscle loss, as most of the calorie burn comes from fat rather than muscle.

What is the advised approach to starting a diet to minimize muscle loss?

Start with the minimum calorie deficit necessary to initiate weight loss, usually around 500 calories, to avoid rapid muscle loss and diet fatigue.

Why might someone still lose muscle despite following all the strategies to prevent it?

Extreme leanness, such as going from 10% body fat to 4% for a bodybuilding show, naturally involves some muscle loss. It's part of the process and not necessarily an indication of做错了什么.

What is the role of diet breaks in managing muscle loss during a long-term fat loss plan?

Diet breaks, where one returns to maintenance after an 8 to 12-week diet, allow the body to recalibrate and reduce the risk of muscle loss when starting another diet cycle.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Preventing Muscle Loss During Fat Loss

Dr. Mike Israel discusses strategies for preventing muscle loss while dieting. Key points include maintaining protein intake above minimum levels (1 gram per pound of body weight), keeping calorie deficits small (ideally under 500 calories), and being cautious with longer diets (risk increases with duration). He emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to diet and training to ensure muscle retention during fat loss.

05:00

🍽️ Diet Strategies for Muscle Preservation

This section focuses on diet strategies to preserve muscle mass during a fat loss phase. Dr. Israel recommends eating at least four meals per day with adequate protein and calorie distribution, maintaining carbohydrates to fuel workouts and spare protein, and not dropping fats too low to ensure hormonal balance. He also advises against extreme calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, suggesting a more consistent eating pattern for muscle retention.

10:01

🏋️‍♂️ Activity and Calorie Management for Lean Muscle

The final paragraph emphasizes the role of activity level and calorie management in maintaining muscle mass. Dr. Israel suggests staying active with both cardio and weightlifting to support muscle retention and hormone production. He advises against drastic calorie cuts at the beginning of a diet and being realistic about muscle loss as body fat percentage decreases. The summary highlights the importance of a gradual and balanced approach to dieting for long-term muscle retention.

Keywords

💡Protein

Protein is essential for muscle growth and maintenance. In the context of the video, it is emphasized that maintaining a high protein intake, at least 1 gram per pound of body weight, is crucial for preventing muscle loss during a fat loss phase. The script mentions that consuming less than this amount could be seen as not seriously attempting to mitigate muscle loss, highlighting the importance of protein in muscle preservation.

💡Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit refers to consuming fewer calories than one's body needs to maintain its current weight. The video explains that keeping this deficit smaller is key to minimizing muscle loss. It suggests that a deficit of 500 calories or less per day poses a lower risk of muscle loss, whereas a deficit of over 500 calories increases this risk, illustrating the delicate balance between fat loss and muscle retention.

💡Diet Duration

The length of time one follows a diet plan is critical in determining muscle retention. The video suggests that shorter diets, particularly those under eight weeks, are less likely to result in muscle loss, provided the weight loss is close to a pound per week. Longer diets, especially beyond 12 weeks, introduce a higher risk, which is why the video recommends cycling between periods of dieting and maintenance.

💡Meal Frequency

Meal frequency refers to the number of meals consumed per day. The video argues for maintaining a meal frequency of at least four meals per day to support muscle retention during a cut. It contrasts this with the potential risks of eating fewer meals, suggesting that more frequent meals can help in anti-metabolism and provide a better anabolic environment, which is beneficial for muscle preservation.

💡Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a key macronutrient for energy. The video emphasizes the importance of retaining as many carbohydrates in the diet as possible, especially around workout times, to fuel training and be anti-catabolic. It mentions that carbohydrates are protein-sparing, meaning they help the body to use them for energy instead of breaking down muscle for fuel, which is crucial during a fat loss phase.

💡Fats

Fats are another macronutrient necessary for various bodily functions, including hormone production. The video advises against dropping fat intake too low, suggesting around 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound of body weight per day, to support testosterone levels and muscle retention. It points out that too low a fat intake could compromise muscle mass, even if it's beneficial for creating a calorie deficit.

💡Activity Level

Activity level refers to the amount of physical activity one engages in daily. The video stresses the importance of maintaining a high activity level to support muscle retention during a cut. It argues that increased activity can allow for a higher calorie intake without risking muscle loss, as the body will burn more fat and less muscle, which is counterintuitive but effective for those aiming to lose fat while preserving muscle.

💡Dietary Fatigue

Dietary fatigue is the decline in adherence or the negative psychological effects of a diet due to its restrictive nature. The video warns against creating a large calorie deficit at the start of a diet, which can lead to increased dietary fatigue and potentially muscle loss. It advocates for a gradual approach to calorie reduction to maintain adherence and minimize the risk of muscle loss.

💡Body Recomposition

Body recomposition involves changing the body's composition by increasing muscle mass while decreasing body fat. The video's theme revolves around this concept, as it provides strategies for losing fat without significant muscle loss, which is a form of body recomposition. The various tips and strategies are aimed at achieving a leaner physique with minimal muscle loss.

💡Hormones

Hormones play a significant role in muscle growth and retention. The video mentions that maintaining adequate fat intake is crucial for hormone production, particularly testosterone, which helps in muscle retention. It implies that hormonal balance is an often overlooked but critical factor in the muscle preservation process during a fat loss phase.

💡Training Intensity

Training intensity refers to the effort put into a workout. The video suggests that maintaining high training intensity is important for muscle retention, as it stimulates muscle anabolism and provides a stimulus for muscle growth. It implies that even during a calorie deficit, engaging in intense training can help signal the body to maintain muscle mass.

Highlights

Maintain protein intake above minimum levels to prevent muscle loss during fat loss phases.

Aim for at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily for muscle retention.

Keep your calorie deficit smaller to reduce the risk of muscle mass loss.

A deficit of 500 calories or less per day minimizes the risk of muscle loss.

Diet duration plays a role; shorter diets under eight weeks are less likely to cause muscle loss.

Consider taking diet breaks after 8 to 12 weeks to prevent muscle loss and recalibrate your body.

Eating four or more meals per day can help maximize anabolism and minimize muscle loss.

Carbohydrates are crucial for sparing muscle mass; prioritize them around your workout window.

Don't drop fat intake too low as it's essential for hormone production and muscle retention.

Maintain a high level of activity to support muscle retention through increased calorie burn.

Start with a small calorie deficit and adjust as your body adapts to prevent rapid muscle loss.

The leaner you get, the more challenging it is to retain muscle mass, so adjust expectations accordingly.

Be realistic about muscle loss when pushing to extreme leanness for bodybuilding shows.

Muscle loss during extreme dieting is part of the process, but it can be regained quickly post-diet.

Use all strategies to minimize muscle loss, even when dieting to extreme leanness.

Transcripts

hey folks dr mike israel here for

renaissance periodization

video series part two of our preventing

muscle loss on a cut strategy's

nutrition this time the last video if

you want to check it out

was how do we alter our training or

really checklist our training to make

sure we're doing all the things

that basically prevent or try to prevent

muscle loss on a cut now

what can we do with our diet to make

sure that during our fat loss phase

we're not like doing anything stupid or

not doing anything

obvious that needlessly sloughs off

muscle

our hard-earned dearest muscle most

important thing in the world here we go

number one some of these are basic as

shit some more nuanced

number one keep your protein above

minimum levels for the love of god

gram of protein per pound per day

uh if you want to be extra sure are

there studies in which people don't lose

muscle unless

yes there are are there studies when

they do with contest bodybuilders

that they still lose muscle on more yes

so if you want to

shoot that middle ground but a little

bit air on the side of

plenty gram per pound is a real good

place to start so

you know if you weigh 200 pounds 200

grams of protein per day

anything less i would just describe as

not a very serious attempt to try to

mitigate muscle loss okay so if you

eat 170 grams of protein every day and

you lose a bunch of muscle on a fat loss

plan and you sort of

come to someone and you're like hey look

i lost muscle like what did i do wrong

like they're going to be like

i'm only eating less than a gram per

pound of protein per day now eating much

more than that it's probably not

super advantageous but you gotta at

least eat at least that to get like a

good old

junior varsity attempt at preventing

muscle loss number two

again a pretty obvious one keep your

deficit smaller

the greater your deficit the more likely

it is past a point

that you'll start to lose some muscle

mass so

if you have a deficit of 500 calories a

day or less

unless you're really messing up

somewhere else you're not a really big

risk of muscle loss

anything over 500 calorie deficit per

day so let's say your maintenance is 3

000 anything under 2500 in that case

is a calculated risk now look up until

you get to a thousand calorie deficit

per day for many people

it's a calculated but low risk of course

north of a thousand it's a calculated

and probably pretty high risk of muscle

loss so just know that

in other words if you're losing weight

and

you're keeping track of your body weight

really well and all the salt and water

is balancing out

anything much faster than a pound of

weight lost per week

is going to risk muscle loss somewhat

but the more that is than a pound the

more it's going to risk it so for

example if you say hey

i want to be extra careful i don't lose

muscle i'm doing a 12 week diet how much

weight should i lose i'll say 12 pounds

but no more

if you say hey i'm like you know i don't

want to lose a ton of muscle but it's

okay if i lose a little bit

i'll say you can lose up to like i don't

know like 16 pounds of

of body weight maybe 18 and i think

you'd be totally fine

if you come to me and say listen i'm

going to do a 12 week diet i want to

lose 24 pounds during that time

of tissue what are the chances that none

of it's going to be muscle i'll tell you

it's probably pretty low on average now

some people can pull it off and have

but just be aware of that what i don't

want you guys to do is get into a fat

loss plan with a crazy egregious like

i'm losing two and a half pounds a week

and then be like shit i lost muscle like

just be aware of this right because it's

a

it's not like a do this or you know this

is the right answer

don't do this this is the wrong answer

there's a spectrum just know the

spectrum

right number three keeping your diet

shorter

is a good way to ensure that muscle loss

is minimized

so if you do any diet under eight weeks

especially if it's within a pound of

tissue or close to that per week

so like if you lose eight pounds and

then take a diet break

unless you're really fucked up or you're

like super lean

you're probably not going to lose any

muscle or a tiny tiny minimum amount

anything much longer than 12 weeks

begins to be a calculated risk

right how you might have more fat to

lose or want

more fat to lose then you can reasonably

with low muscle loss

in 12 weeks or less that's totally fine

what you can do then is

diet for 8 to 12 weeks then take roughly

8 to 12 weeks

or maybe more like 5 to 9 weeks

something like two-thirds or

three-fourths

of the lengths of your last diet into a

maintenance phase your diet fatigue will

fall

your body will recalibrate to its new

settling point and then you can do

another diet of eight to twelve weeks

again

each time muscle loss risk is low and

you'll say to yourself like yeah that's

cool and all but that means it's like 36

weeks or some shit

between when i started and when i hit my

goal well yeah

if muscle loss is important to you or

rather muscle retention is important

you're going to diet slower because

slower diets absolutely result in most

cases in less muscle loss

that's just how it works right so that's

just another way of saying this

if you have to diet for a show and

you've got 12 16 weeks of prep or you've

got 20 weeks of prep or something like

that you have to be in a deficit almost

that entire time comes with the

territory but look if you're dieting for

a show

you're probably accepting some risk of

muscle loss to be super lean on stage

different different uh category of

events there but nonetheless it's

accepting calculated risk and i'm just

here to tell you what that risk is

next up point number four keeping your

meal frequency

at or above four meals per day three

meals per day is pretty low risk

okay but four meals per day evenly

spread

plenty of protein in each meal plenty of

calories in each meal not exactly evenly

but pretty close

spread throughout the day four plus

meals just does a really really good job

at anti-metabolism

if you eat two meals or fewer on a fat

loss phase and you're uh

worried about muscle loss what i would

say is i would consider that as not

really a serious attempt

at muscle loss mitigation it's just not

yes your friend did intermittent fasting

and they got ripped and didn't lose any

muscle

your friend is probably fucking tiny in

a fucking noob or

lying i'm just kidding sometimes

intermittent fasting works out

but it's not dependable enough to be

that much of a guarantee

of a prevention of muscle loss so it's

one of these things where

if you're going to step on a

bodybuilding stage you need to be as

muscular as you can at a lean level

you're going to be eating four meals a

day or more in almost every case

there's a reason bodybuilders do that

and it's not all just myth

okay it fucking works and the literature

reviews on the subject

support that at least four high protein

exposures per day

probably maximizes anabolism and

maximizes anti-metabolism

so i'm not saying that eating one or two

meals a day is just a recipe for crazy

muscle loss it's not sometimes you can

pull it off and it works pretty well

it's just not our best guess as to what

works best right

so you know like if there's some kind of

uh if you're building a plane to go

really high and you have some kind of

like special coating

that has you know stability promotes

stability at high altitudes

um it's not that like if you just put a

regular plane up in at 80 000 feet it's

just gonna fucking blow up like no

you'll probably be fine

but like you know if you don't really

want to use the injection seat or

injection seat little freudian slip

there if you don't want to use the

ejection seat at

80 000 and toast 10 million dollars of

equipment you might as well put the

paint on right

so four meals a day look if if you

really hate eating frequently

one of those can be like a protein meal

replacement shake

another one can be two or three protein

bars it's not the end of the world but

it is that extra special touch

to make sure you're doing everything you

can to minimize muscle loss risk

number five leave as much carbohydrate

in as you can

so you meet your protein needs you meet

your fat needs we'll get to what those

are

actually the next point and then keep as

much carbohydrate around as possible

you in in essence from your mass gaining

diet you want to cut mostly fats to

generate a deficit a lot of times when

i'm asking your diet

eating a lot of fats especially with

cheat meals fats are aplenty if you cut

them out

unless you cut them too low you don't

pay a crazy hormonal price you don't pay

a crazy energy price you don't

pay a crazy price as far as cravings are

concerned and you have all those

carbohydrates there

to power your training and to be very

anti-catabolic one of the most

demonstrated things in the scientific

literature about carbs

is that they are protein-sparing if you

have plenty of carbs coming in with

protein of course

your body just isn't into burning muscle

much if you have a low carbohydrate

environment your body doesn't mind

burning a fuck load of muscle

to make ends meet so at the very least

if you have to cut your carbs because

the calories just have to be that low to

meet your goal

make sure you're cutting them from

everywhere first other than your workout

window which is to say

if you have any carbs left in your day

at all they had better be in the

pre-workout meal

and the post-workout meal the

pre-workout meal gives you crazy energy

because look if you're on a low-carb

diet you get some carbs you're like a

fucking psycho

have a great workout put in tons of

anabolic and anti-catabolic stimulus

through that workout

in addition to that the post-workout

meal if you have carbohydrates in it

probably helps

the anabolic machinery and thus the

muscle sparing machinery

get rolling a little bit better promotes

recovery so on and so forth

next point number six don't drop your

fats too low

you need them for hormone production for

testosterone production

which means you spare a ton of muscle

not only through

you have uh more drive to train more sex

drive which is just fun

and also more actual chemical drive by

directly by testosterone

to keep muscle on your body huge factor

if you're enhanced if you're not drug

free less of a factor but it still plays

a role in other hormone

areas so cutting your fat like crazy

usually isn't worth it

if you're at about .3 grams per pound

per day which if you weigh 200 pounds

that's like 60 grams of fat per day for

example

anything lower than that probably not

worth the trade-off

but anything much higher than 0.4 which

means like 80 grams of fat per day or

above for some of the weighs 200 pounds

then you're starting to get into the if

i'm eating more fats than this i might

as well just take out those fats

go down to somewhere between 0.3 and 0.4

grams per pound per day

and just use uh the calories to have

extra carbs

because extra carbs up until the fats

get super low are more anti-catabolic

they do spare more muscle mass

number seven keep your activity high

lift plenty do plenty of cardio or just

be more active as even the best

this is because at some level just

eating a small amount of food is the

trigger for muscle loss

doing plenty of activity means your

calorie burn is so high

you can eat lots of food and that feeds

your muscles and does everything else

especially supports your hormones

you never really have this huge

catabolic influence

from just not eating enough because

you're eating plenty and even though you

have plenty of activity

most of that just burns fat and doesn't

touch your muscle what you don't want to

do

is have a super low level of activity

just basically sit on the couch all day

because then in order to lose weight at

the prescribed date you want

you're gonna have to dip your food so

low you start losing muscle just because

of that

so a little bit counter-intuitively make

sure you're plenty doing plenty of

cardio

lifting weights aggressively and often

and having plenty of daily activity

point number eight don't slash tons of

calories up front

create the minimum deficit that you have

to in order to get going

that's it you want to lose a pound a

week cut 500 or so calories and go

it's always tempting to be like oh i

have so many calories left i could slash

way more of them i feel great

and i'm gonna lose tons of weight well

yeah you are for a short term

your diet fatigue is going to spike up

and then you'll have to

recede from that if you don't want to

lose muscle so when starting a diet

think of it as the start you don't rev

into 10th gear right away

right just start nice and easy fat loss

is easy at the beginning of the diet

use the easy times with plenty of food

not crazy drop calories

as your body begins to resist fat loss

more you have that high of a calorie

load

to slowly take away from and because

you're never pressuring your body to

lose too fast

muscle loss risk isn't ever as big as it

could be

now lastly the leaner you get

the harder it is to keep muscle on your

body

you have to be realistic here if

you're wondering why you're losing

muscle and why your strength is going

down

when you're dieting from i already have

abs and veins to

question mark question mark question

mark i want face striations

then it's not really much of a question

shit happens

when you push your body to the extremes

so if you're starting out at 20

body fat you're dieting to 15 or 13 you

can reasonably lose no muscle at all

if you're starting at 10 body fat and

you're dieting to 4 for a bodybuilding

show

you can expect to lose a little bit of

muscle i shouldn't shock you it

shouldn't surprise you

and it's not like you did anything wrong

it's just part of the process and you

will regain it back quite quickly i

might add

but it's a thing it's just a thing so

know what you're getting yourself into

so you're not unrealistic

about what's going on that means even if

you're dieting from ten percent to four

percent then you know you probably run

into some muscle loss

you should still use all these

strategies because when we say sum it

could be this

it could be that you want it as little

as possible do all these tips

hopefully you have some good luck see

you guys next time for the cardio

portion

you