Articles-Nutrition
Lean and Not So Strong
Trying to get down to single-digit body fat percentages? Dieters beware!
By EAS Research Team
Are you leaning out for your Body-for-LIFE photo shoot or trying to get down to single-digit body fat percentages for an upcoming competition? Dieters beware: In a recent study, researchers evaluated three weeks of calorie cutting—defined as 40 percent of caloric needs—on turnover of the essential branched, chain amino acid (BCAA) leucine, lean body mass and exercise performance in young, healthy, normal weight males. Calorie restriction did not greatly impact their endurance exercise performance or work capacity. However, strength in the large muscle groups did tend to decrease with body weight losses of more than 6 percent.
Also, the subjects’ turnover of leucine was reduced. Both the preservation of work capacity and the reduction in leucine is the body’s attempts to preserve lean mass and exercise performance during severe catabolic periods. However over the 21 days, despite not seeing an appreciable difference in exercise performance, the men lost over 8 pounds of body weight and 50 percent of this weight loss was due to loss in precious, hard-earned lean body mass. The men also lost on average 12 percent of their basal resting metabolic rate, which means a slower metabolism.
The results of this study indicate that if you are at or near your competition body weight, be careful during periods of severe calorie restrictions or you could be wasting your muscle mass and not reaping the rewards of your intense training program.
Where EAS comes in: Call our Fitness Experts at 1-800-297-9776 or visit eas.com for ways to lean down while still maintaining muscle.
Reference cited:
1. Friedlander, A.L., Braun, B., Pollack, M., et al. (2005) Three Weeks of Caloric Restriction Alters Protein Metabolism in Normal-Weight, Young Men. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.; 289: E446-E455.
Original Article:
http://www.eas.com/NutritionArticles/Lean-and-not-so-strong
