Slimming, as you know, is not so much a process of losing weight, but a series of treatments calculated to get rid of excess fat.
Unfortunately, ill-conceived slimming treatments often lead to a marked loss of heavily worked musculature and make them look smaller, but not better, sculpted. How to prevent this?
The introduction of energy deficit is one of the basic nutritional measures aimed at reducing excessive body weight.
Due to the caloric restriction, the body is forced to reach reserves accumulated in the form of adipose tissue, which results in desirable changes in the aesthetics of the figure. Unfortunately, if the energy deficit is too deep, the body will begin to degrade muscle proteins massively, selecting amino acids from them, which if necessary are also converted into energy. So caloric restriction should be introduced carefully because otherwise you can get rid of muscle instead of fat.
Too low protein supply in the case of energy deficit may increase muscle catabolism.
The mechanism of this phenomenon is described briefly in the previous paragraph. It is worth remembering that the more we practice and the less we eat, the more amino acids participate in energy processes. By providing the right dose of protein along with food, we make the body’s amino acids have enough and instead of stealing them from the muscles it uses those circulating in the bloodstream. The protein supply during fat reduction should be in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 g per kg of lean body mass.
The widespread belief that two additional series on the chest and another aerobic session are a universal way to speed up skeletal muscles is unfortunately incorrect. Yes, increasing physical effort results in increased energy expenditure, but at some point the effects become inadequate to the efforts made. The blame is mainly borne by cortisol, which increases when training loads become too high. The increased activity of this hormone causes increased degradation of muscle proteins.
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