My question was how important protein is in the cutting process. Now with a calorie deficit, i can't be gaining muscle, so how important is consuming things like whey protein. Also, if i work out with weights at intense levels, what is this doing for my body while trying to cut? Is it just making sure i dont lose the muscle, or is it somehow leaning the muscle, or possibly giving it more endurance? Or are intense weight workouts just burning calories?
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Protein in Cutting
- Thread starter jkjk8991
- Start date
Dietary protein, as well as resistance training will help you keep your muscle mass through a cut. It is also possible to gain muscle, but pretty hard since you're in a deficit.
Your protein needs go up when you're in a deficit, so protein becomes even more important.
Elaborate please. I have alwasy been taught- through PT and nutrition certification- that unless you are a beginner or juicing, this is not possible.
To lose fat you need to eat a bit less than your body needs so that it has to use its own storage while to build muscle you need some nutrients to be put away and built into muscles.
So I'm also interested how is it possible to eat not enough and too much at the same time.
I've heard alredy people saying that it's possible to gain muscle in a deficit but I'm really curious how does the process occur as for me it's pretty imposible.
Or maybe it's just the illusion - when you lose fat without burning muscles, your muscles start to look bigger..
So I'm also interested how is it possible to eat not enough and too much at the same time.
I've heard alredy people saying that it's possible to gain muscle in a deficit but I'm really curious how does the process occur as for me it's pretty imposible.
Or maybe it's just the illusion - when you lose fat without burning muscles, your muscles start to look bigger..
Elaborate please. I have alwasy been taught- through PT and nutrition certification- that unless you are a beginner or juicing, this is not possible.
Muscle hypertrophy is a very local process. Goldberg's rats in 1975 showed that hypertrophy could occur even in a large calorie deficit after synergistic ablation. Of course, that's in rats, and synergistic ablation is rather extreme, but it shows that the process is not dependent upon a calorie surplus.
I think it requires a very good diet. When you're in a deficit, the body takes energy not only from stored carbs and fat but also protein. It could also be that protein synthesis, which requires energy, would be inhibited to save energy, but I don't know if that actually happens or if it's just protein break down that increases.
As for studies.. A lot of studies use very low calorie diets and/or don't do resistance training or high protein diets in addition to their calorie deficits, so it's hard to find science to back this up.
I did find this, only abstract, though:
They entered into positive nitrogen balance after 2 weeks in a rater large deficit.
Also this, again, just an abstract, but only group A entered into negative nitrogen balance:
These are only abstracts, though, and the nitrogen balance method isn't the most valid measurement of true nitrogen balance. It has some weaknesses.
In this:
deficits induced by exercise did not lead to a statistically significant loss of muscle size in the lower extremity. Lean mass did decrease, but that doesn't have to be muscle.
Also, none of the participants in the exercise group induced it by resistance training. We can only speculate what would have happened if they had done resistance training.
This abstract from a review claims
Although resistance exercise will not cause an improvement of aerobic performance, increase in muscle size and strength have been noted concurrent with substantial weight loss.
However, I don't have access to the full text there either. These studies were done long ago, so full texts are hard to come by on the net.
I didn't see anything there, though, that would lead me to believe you can build muscle in a calorie deficit. I found these two that show with untrained individuals it is possible, but for those of us who are not beginners I can find nothing.
Demlin RH, Santi L. Effect of a hypocaloric diet, increased protein intake and resistance training on lean mass gains and fat loss in overweight police officers. Ann Nutr Metab 2000; 44 *(1): 21-9.
Donnelly JE, et al. Muscle hypertrophy with large-scale weight loss and resistance training. AM J Clin Nutr 1993; 58 (4): 561-5.
Demlin RH, Santi L. Effect of a hypocaloric diet, increased protein intake and resistance training on lean mass gains and fat loss in overweight police officers. Ann Nutr Metab 2000; 44 *(1): 21-9.
Donnelly JE, et al. Muscle hypertrophy with large-scale weight loss and resistance training. AM J Clin Nutr 1993; 58 (4): 561-5.
Yeah, the science is pretty thin. I haven't found any good studies in trained individuals on muscle gain concurrent with weight loss. But I don't see any physiological reason why it should be impossible. Harder, sure, but not impossible.
If people on an extreme deficit can be in a zero nitrogen balance after 2 weeks without any strength training, then I'd think that with a smaller deficit and weight training, that nitrogen balance should become more positive. Also if people who did aerobic exercise induced weight loss didn't lose muscle volume, I'd think that if they included resistance training, which is much more anabolic on skeletal muscle, they might even gain muscle.
I guess I should revise my previous statement and say that I think it's possible, but hard, to gain muscle in a calorie deficit for trained individuals.
If people on an extreme deficit can be in a zero nitrogen balance after 2 weeks without any strength training, then I'd think that with a smaller deficit and weight training, that nitrogen balance should become more positive. Also if people who did aerobic exercise induced weight loss didn't lose muscle volume, I'd think that if they included resistance training, which is much more anabolic on skeletal muscle, they might even gain muscle.
I guess I should revise my previous statement and say that I think it's possible, but hard, to gain muscle in a calorie deficit for trained individuals.