Something Crazy Happens When You Lift Weights While Cutting - Dr Mike Israetel

Duration: 10:45 1937 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

During a fat loss protocol, resistance training plays a critical role in preserving muscle tissue while dieting, even though it does not burn an excessive number of calories on its own. Without consistent weightlifting, individuals losing significant weight—such as 15 pounds over twelve weeks—are likely to lose roughly half that amount as muscle mass and the rest as fat. In contrast, those who maintain a resistance training regimen can expect nearly all their weight loss to come from adipose tissue, retaining only about two pounds of muscle while shedding thirteen or more pounds of fat. This distinction is vital because regaining lost muscle after stopping exercise takes time; however, continuing to train ensures that the majority of the scale change reflects actual body composition improvement rather than mere dehydration or metabolic slowdown. The most transformative aspect of combining weightlifting with a caloric deficit occurs for beginners who are losing fat for the first time while simultaneously starting resistance training. In these scenarios, it is entirely possible—and often beneficial—to gain muscle mass at the same time as burning fat, debunking the myth that one cannot do both concurrently. A prominent example cited involves UFC President Dana White, whose dramatic physical transformation included a loss of approximately 35 pounds on the scale while gaining an estimated five to ten pounds of lean tissue through rigorous weight training and dietary cleanup. This shift not only improved his health markers but also altered his appearance from looking unhealthy or "opulent" in a negative sense to appearing vital, strong, and athletic, demonstrating that significant aesthetic changes are possible without becoming overly muscular like bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. For women specifically, particularly those over forty who may worry about gaining excessive muscle mass while lifting weights, the reality is far less daunting than popular culture suggests. Biologically, females have significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to males and would require extraordinary circumstances—such as having serum testosterone at two orders of magnitude higher—to accidentally transform into a hyper-muscular physique like Arnold's within days or weeks. Instead, consistent weightlifting during a diet helps women maintain muscle shape, improve their posture, enhance the definition of their legs and glutes, and project an image that looks healthy rather than sickly or emaciated. This process creates a positive feedback loop where individuals feel stronger, look more attractive to themselves, and experience improved vitality, effectively reversing the feeling of weakness often associated with strict dieting alone. Regarding training specifics during a deficit, most people should continue their standard resistance routines without major adjustments unless they are in an extreme fat loss phase typical of competition bodybuilders. For advanced athletes nearing peak leanness, slight modifications such as reducing load and increasing repetitions can help maintain muscular endurance while minimizing injury risk, though this is rarely necessary for the general population. The primary challenge during a diet is managing fatigue; strength gains may plateau or decline slightly, but training volume must remain high to counteract the catabolic environment created by caloric restriction. If an athlete trains too easily under these conditions, they will lose muscle despite their efforts, whereas pushing limits within recovery capabilities allows them to maintain mass and potentially gain a little more. To navigate declining strength progressions during a cut, athletes should adjust expectations from adding five pounds every week to aiming for smaller increments like two pounds or one rep per session as fatigue sets in over weeks four through twelve of the program. The goal shifts from rapid hypertrophy to maintaining current levels while fighting against muscle loss; if an athlete trains with reduced intensity because they are tired, they risk losing ground entirely. Conversely, attempting to train at pre-diet intensities often leads to burnout and deloads every third week. By anticipating slower progressions and focusing on testing limits safely within recovery windows, individuals can successfully preserve their hard-earned muscle while shedding fat, ensuring that the final result is a leaner but stronger version of themselves rather than a weaker one.

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what about the role of resistance training during a fat loss protocol super resistance training doesn't really help you lose weight uh it does in the sense that it burns calories but it doesn't burn a crazy amount of calories it's a good amount but nothing to and say resistance training builds and preserves your muscle tissue so if I have someone lose 15 pounds over the course of 12 weeks reasonable for a larger sized person they don't resistance train at all many of the OIC studies showed something like this they'll lose like you know half of that will be muscle maybe five pounds will be muscle 10 pounds will be fat if you're lucky you're healthier you look better your blood work is better you feel better it's not amazing if you resistance train and you've been resistance training consistently already almost all of that weight loss will be fat maybe like 13 lounds of it and only two pounds of lost muscle and because you keep resistance training after you regain that two pounds back like three weeks later and then so measured at 3 weeks after you finish that 12we diet you lost well 13ish pounds of fat and no muscle visually healthwise feeling wise night and day here's a real kicker if it's your first first time losing fat and you don't train with weights starting to train with weights while you start to kind of clean up your diet and lose a little fat you can gain pounds of muscle while losing pounds of fat I thought it was impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time yeah a lot of people uh misinterpret more difficult than average to mean impossible it's like saying flight is impossible and that a helicopter goes by like [ __ ] [ __ ] so really good example of this recently in the media was uh UFC president Dana White Dana White had an unreal transformation as health markers just through the roof and I think he lost something like a total of maybe 35 PBS on the scale but because he started taking weight training very seriously during that time he must have gained anywhere from five to 15 lounds of muscle I mean 15's a bit extreme but I'm willing to go 5 to 10 for sure just guessing and that means he actually lost maybe 45 pounds of fat while gaining muscle so he didn't go from with all total respect looking like geez is Dana gonna be okay not really gez Dana's really enjoying his wealth kind of look yeah it was that opulent weight my man that Caesar type of [ __ ] other people feed yeah the the biggest concern is gout exactly oh again so is this something wine can cure Jesus he went he could have gone from that with no resistance training to like oh Dana White lost weight and that's nice to hear but he went from that to like yo what the [ __ ] Dana is Superman when the hell is he getting in the Octagon you feel me that's a big deal it's a big deal at Deep Health markers it's a big deal at how you feel some people feel weaker after a diet cuz they are they lost a bunch of muscle you gain muscle or maintain it through a diet you feel stronger after a diet and the look and since I'm on the modern wisdom podcast I can say this and it's fit for purpose how attractive you are to yourself [ __ ] everybody else matters and if you lose exclusively or mostly fat [ __ ] even gain some muscle during that time you transform your attractiveness in most cases up a bunch of notches it's a positive feedback cycle for yourself as well as opposed to going from God I was overweight to H well I'm not overweight anymore but I'm not I look sick yeah yeah emaciated and and look most people prefer bodies that are smaller and Slimmer that's just a a statistical fact but even more people prefer fit bodies for the themselves and definitely for other people so if you resistance train when you're losing weight and yes this is a message to almost all modern women that are in their 40s and 50s get in the weight room lift weights hard get a good personal trainer download the RP hypertrophy app link in BIO what was I did I just say something and while you clean up your diet while you lose fat what you can do is see a completely transformative effect and know you will not turn into Arnold Schwarz [ __ ] by accident overnight I mean I used to be biologically female and 120 lbs body weight yesterday and it took one day for me to do this dude that's the my favorite scop is the one that women give to themselves which is if I lift weights I will become too jacked meanwhile those of us that have desperately been lifting weights for approaching two decades now in the hopes that one day I might look remotely like I do someone will be able to tell I work out at the store I'm like the chance that you're going to wake up one day and become an given how hard me and all of my friends have worked at doing that and he still not achieved it is zero it's you don't need to worry it's real close to zero uh it's one of these things where they're doing it at like two orders of magnitude less serum testosterone as well all women are hypogonadal if you're a female and you show up the doc and you're like heyy my testicles don't produce testosterone he's going to do blood work he's like oh my God you're right you have almost no testosterone you're not the candidate for rabid muscle growth what's going to happen is you're going to diet down and you're going to look less like you're sick at the end and more like you look healthy and vital and like a little young B bopper like you know when younger women almost don't walk they kind of just bounce around that like [ __ ] they have you can have that it's called muscle mass it changes the shape of your body it does this to your ass it makes your legs look awesome it does everything wonderful and it does not turn you into Arnold schwarzer overnight it's a huge deal are there any specifics when it comes to training during a fat loss phase resistance wise we did a great breakdown that everyone can go and watch on how to train for muscle growth are there any adjustments when you're in a deficit for most people no if you are at the very end of it uh insane fat loss phase if you're a competition bodybuilder you might want to try to reduce the amount of load you're lifting by a little and increase the repetitions just because it's the same hypertrophic drive on average but uh you're marginally reducing the risk of injury by a tiny little bit it's also through some bio biochemical mechanisms easier to maintain your muscular endurance and improve it as you're dieting down than it is to maintain or increase your strength and so that is like a very exotic concern for almost everyone is just kind of the same resistance training as we talked about on our earlier video all the time should people be trying to increase the weight and the Reps that they're doing as they go through fat Los should they have it in the back of their mind ah I might get a bit tired you know I'm four weeks in I'm 8 weeks in I'm 12 weeks in uh about dealing with the mental pain of maybe not being the progress of strength not going in quite the the direction question the RP hypertrophy app does that for you Mike seriously shot the hell up about your stupid apps uh um you should anticipate that the rate of progression is going to decline maybe you've been really gunning it for a while and adding five pounds to the bar and everything every week and when you're not adding weight you might be able to add two reps to the exercise especially at the tail end of a fat loss phase try to aim for adding 2 and 1 12 pounds to the bar every week and maybe adding a rep every week or if you're pretty Advanced and things really slow down every other week go up by 2 and2 PBS or a rep and every other week just maintain and so instead of trying to gain at a fast rate you're trying to either gain at a very slow rate and in the end you win some you lose some and you end up maintaining but you still got to try to push it what you don't want to do is start trying less hard to really take it to the teeth when you're in a fat loss phase because the total catabolic muscle destroying muscle burning stimulus is high as [ __ ] now you got to fight against it by keeping your training volume up of course within the ability to recover which is going to decline you still have to test your limits a little bit because if you train easy and you diet really hard for fat loss you might lose some muscle still if you train as hard as you're capable of you might lose no muscle and maybe gain a little if you train or try to train as hard as you were when you were massing you'll just overreach and have to de lo every third week and that might not be a fun experience in other news this episode is brought to you by momentus two fundamental parts of recovery are proper Sleep Quality and proper hormone levels which is why momentus is sleep packs and that tonat Ali yeah there it is have helped me recover they contain only the most evidence-based ingredients at perfect doses to help you and your body recover 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