SRS question about muscle loss on a cut

[dyelTexan]

What's so bad about losing a little bit of muscle on a severe cut if you are not competing? I have been on a pretty severe 1400 calorie cut with 3x full body a week and no cardio. I have been seeing about 2 lbs a week loss in weight. However, most of my friends say that I will lose muscle even though I eat about 160g protein a day and have not been losing strength on my lifts.

Even if I do lose muscle, wouldn't I be able to gain that muscle back during the time I would save by having a more severe cut than a slow cut? Wouldn't it be easier to gain the muscle back because of "muscle memory" as well?

[juggernaut74ia]

For the simple reason that it's a lot harder to gain it back than it is to just maintain it in the first place.

[MillerTime07]

Weight lifting is a marathon, not a sprint. Look around the gym, how many guys do you see that actually make progress year after year? Its a slim minority. So no, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. If you are okay with aggressive cuts then have a go at. I do not advise it though because sometimes after you rebound it can be tough to control your hunger.

[Xplicit001]

For the simple reason that it's a lot harder to gain it back than it is to just maintain it in the first place.

Nothing more to be said then this really.

I know cutting can be difficult for some but its really fricken simple and whats more EASY. People just dont have patience and find ways to screw it up. Building muscle is far more difficult then losing some extra fat.

[NotThereYet25]

Different opinions on this.
Some believe you can get away with big deficits without losing muscle, and even if you do lose some it's no big deal because you get it back quickly. Others will argue that this can and should be avoided by going for a moderate deficit.

It comes down to your personal preferences. If you're aware of the risk and are willing to take it - do it!

Here's a good read on this topic:
http://sigmanutrition.com/is-slow-an...ie-deficits-2/

[Tommy W.]

I'm here to tell you that once you have it it comes back in lightning speed. I was in an accident and got down to a ridiculously low weight and looked like skin and bones. A few months later when I started training and eating again it all came back. Losing some muscle on a severe cut is sometimes worth it if you don't mind a short period of looking substandard. It is cool though to lean out then watch it come back so quickly.

When you build muscle you increase the amount of nuclei in the cells and these don't go away. The cells may atrophy overall however these nuclei drive the train and when you go back in a surplus and train hard the cells regain their mass quickly. The naturally predisposed successful natural bodybuilders posses a larger amount of nuclei in the muscles, hence their success.

[ErikTheElectric]

Why are you starving yourself on such limited calories? If LBM preservation is your goal, I suggest increasing them.

[Jherewhoisdere]

Depends on the person tbh, some people can go very aggressive and lose quite a bit of strength but when they increase calories back in they gain all that strength back extremely fast.

[VIsland]

Your friends are correct. Regardless of your protein intake, a calorie reduction that extreme (unless you're morbidly obese), will yield muscle loss regardless of what anyone says on this forum. Dramatic bulking and cutting protocols aren't the best plan. You're far better off to start with a 10 percent of TDEE calorie deficit and tweak as required every few weeks.