Muscle gain and caloric deficit

Calliope610

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

grantdumas7

You just opened a can of worms. There are too many threads on this topic. Eat at your TDEE deficit. Do strength training to increase your strength and help preserve the muscle you currently have. If you are a beginner then it's possible to lose fat and gain muscle. You will have to adjust your calories and macros accordingly and find your sweet spot.

Calliope610

I can understand why it would be difficult to build muscle at a BMR deficit, but after searching the forums regarding this topic, I was unable to figure out a "deficit" of what?

tonytoo

A deficit of TDEE.

People who are new to lifting weights (or coming back after a break) can put some muscle on. But at some point you end up just maintaining muscle. Either way it's a Good Thing.

Sarauk2sf

You just opened a can of worms. There are too many threads on this topic. Eat at your TDEE deficit. Do strength training to increase your strength and help preserve the muscle you currently have. If you are a beginner then it's possible to lose fat and gain muscle. You will have to adjust your calories and macros accordingly and find your sweet spot.

^^yep (or significantly overweight)

Plus improve bone density.

jacksonpt

Deficit is related to TDEE - burn more cals in total than you consume in total.

I'm not sure which side of the fence I fall on relating to muscle growth and calorie deficits. The one things I do believe is that if you can, it's soooo slow it's all but non-existent. In which case people are much better served by picking 1 thing to focus on and working towards that singular goal.

As for the advice you are getting... I haven't seen the specific advice, but most posts I've seen talk about lifting to retain muscle and increase strength (not gain muscle), both of which are very good and very doable on a deficit.

jonnythan

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

TDEE just means total daily energy expenditure. It literally means the total number of calories your body consumed for a given day.

If you eat more than your body burned on a given day, you gain weight. If you eat less, you lose weight.

BMR is what your TDEE would be if you slept all day long. BMR is the lowest possible value your TDEE could be, assuming you don't move.

Anyway, if you lose weight without doing strength training you will lose muscle along with your fat. You do the strength training not to build muscle, but to preserve the muscle you already have. It's possible some people may gain small amounts of muscle while losing, but it's a small amount. Either way it doesn't change the fact that if you don't do strength training while in your deficit you will end up with way less muscle than you would if you did strength train.

cats121

You can eat at a deficit and gain muscle but you need to really make every calorie count. If possible, try to work with a trainer or someone who can help you understand what *your* body needs! I've been losing weight for about a year and hit a plateau a few months ago and I knew it was time to add in strength training. I now work out with trainer 2x's per week and do some kind of cardio the other 4 days (spinning, zumba, running, yoga) at various intensities each day. I also changed up my diet so that I'm eating more protein and some combination of protein, good fats and carbs each meal (50% carbs or 135g/day; 30% protein or 80g/day and 20% fats or 20g/day). I'm just barely 5'1" and have a really crappy metabolic rate due to thyroid disease so I eat around 1100 calories/day (I have had my resting metabolic rate measured AND discussed this with my doctor and my body is not going into starvation mode but what I do is definitely NOT for everyone!!). In 6 weeks, I've gained 8 pounds of muscle and lost 5 inches over so yes, it is possible but it's can be different from person to person which is why it's really helpful if you can get some expert advice!

Good luck!

Calliope610

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

TDEE just means total daily energy expenditure. It literally means the total number of calories your body consumed for a given day.

If you eat more than your body burned on a given day, you gain weight. If you eat less, you lose weight.

BMR is what your TDEE would be if you slept all day long. BMR is the lowest possible value your TDEE could be, assuming you don't move.

Yes, I understand the concept of TDEE vs BMR. What I don't understand (or need clarification on) is whether or not strength training in effective when on a TDEE-20% caloric intake necessary to lose an excess of 70lbs.

jonnythan

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

TDEE just means total daily energy expenditure. It literally means the total number of calories your body consumed for a given day.

If you eat more than your body burned on a given day, you gain weight. If you eat less, you lose weight.

BMR is what your TDEE would be if you slept all day long. BMR is the lowest possible value your TDEE could be, assuming you don't move.

Yes, I understand the concept of TDEE vs BMR. What I don't understand (or need clarification on) is whether or not strength training in effective when on a TDEE-20% caloric intake necessary to lose an excess of 70lbs.

Yes, it absolutely is.

Calliope610

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

TDEE just means total daily energy expenditure. It literally means the total number of calories your body consumed for a given day.

If you eat more than your body burned on a given day, you gain weight. If you eat less, you lose weight.

BMR is what your TDEE would be if you slept all day long. BMR is the lowest possible value your TDEE could be, assuming you don't move.

Yes, I understand the concept of TDEE vs BMR. What I don't understand (or need clarification on) is whether or not strength training in effective when on a TDEE-20% caloric intake necessary to lose an excess of 70lbs.

Just read your edit. Now that makes sense to me.

cwolfman13

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

deficit from TDEE. You can't build appreciable muscle while at a deficit (some noob gains), but you can make awesome strength gains. You also maintain your current LBM so you look better when you reach goal weight...leaner than you otherwise would. You also burn a lot of calories withing the 48 hours after you lift when your muscles are repairing themselves.

When people neglect their muscles while dieting, they get to some arbitrary goal weight and are usually unhappy with body composition because they've completely ignored their muscle structure and have a higher relative BF% than they otherwise would if they would have strength trained.

grantdumas7

In a nutshell if you do ignore strength training and only diet and cardio you may become a smaller version of yourself. If you weigh 200 LBS with 40% bf you may drop down to 150 LBS but still have around 40% bodyfat.

nytius

I have seen countless times that one can not gain in muscle while eating at a deficit. Is that a deficit of TDEE or deficit of BMR? And if I can't gain muscle while eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, why are many people suggesting strength training in order to build muscle to increase my caloric burn to assist in weight loss?

Thanks

deficit from TDEE. You can't build appreciable muscle while at a deficit (some noob gains), but you can make awesome strength gains. You also maintain your current LBM so you look better when you reach goal weight...leaner than you otherwise would. You also burn a lot of calories withing the 48 hours after you lift when your muscles are repairing themselves.

When people neglect their muscles while dieting, they get to some arbitrary goal weight and are usually unhappy with body composition because they've completely ignored their muscle structure and have a higher relative BF% than they otherwise would if they would have strength trained.

This is the best way I have ever read this put. Thank you for clearing up some things for me!

Liz_Mfp

I'm so glad you asked that. I get mixed up by all the sayings/methods I read on here.
:-)