Why you can’t build muscles in a calorie deficit despite weight training

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After getting into weight training, something is confusing me. They say that you cannot gain muscles by weight training if you are in a caloric deficit. But if someone is actively working on their muscles through weight training, why is this?

Would this rule carry over to someone who had a high % of body fat or does this only apply to people with low body fat %? If someone had a high body fat %, will they still not gain any muscles if they are weight training but in a calorie deficit?

I genuinely don’t understand! TIA!

In: Biology

18 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The analogy I use is in terms of financial budgeting. Fat is like cash or your checking account. It’s easy to make and easy to break down. When your body needs energy, breaking down fat gets you most of the energy back. Muscle is more like long term investments such as property or high yield saving accounts: it’s harder to make and break down. If you end up needing energy, your body doesn’t get as much back from breaking down muscle.

Now, let’s answer your question about building muscle in a deficit. If you’re spending more money than you make and decreasing your cash (ie burning more calories than you consume and losing fat), the last thing you want to do is lock up assets in non-liquid investments like property. You don’t want to risk running out of cash.

Your body is stingy and risk averse. It only wants to invest in stuff like muscle when it feels like there’s plenty of cash flow. In terms of your body, this means you’re eating in a surplus or you have a lot of body fat, which are exactly the scenarios where it’s possible to gain muscle.

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