How much muscle does someone actually lose when losing weight?
If I were to try to cut by 500-750 calories for the next 4 weeks, should I be expecting to lose 1lb of muscle or more? For context, I’m about 154lb @~16.5% bf.
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05-14-2022, 05:26 PM #1Registered User
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How much muscle lose is typical when cutting?
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05-14-2022, 05:29 PM #2Registered User
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The biggest thing you'll notice is your strength will go down the chitter
Muscle loss while cutting is extremely over exaggerated.
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05-14-2022, 07:03 PM #3Registered User
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Probably minimal for people already about 20% eating the minimum protein recommendation as per the stickies here, although an apparent loss will occur as you lose fullness through glycogen depletion, which is psychologically challenging and hard to accept. If you're really at that bodyfat level, I couldn't say, although at that point muscle loss probably is a valid concern.
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05-15-2022, 12:55 AM #4Moderator
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Each lb of bodyfat can supply a maximum of 31 calories per day. So if you have 25lbs of fat on your body (I am assuming your numbers are correct when BF% readings can be way off) then 750 is safe.Originally Posted by Lizzy3200
Individual variability means that an exact answer is not possible but I doubt it will be even noticeable if you do everything right - train hard and get enough protein.
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05-15-2022, 06:48 PM #5Registered User
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I didn’t know that about the amount of calories a pound of fat can give per day. That’s good to know. 16.5% bf is just a rough estimate from my scale I have, so I take it with a gain of salt. I’m definitely not below 16% bf, so if 750 calories is safe at about 16% then I’m 100% safe if I’m above that.Originally Posted by SuffolkPunch
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