11/11/2025
𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐲? 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲-𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞.
Research shows energy restriction blunts hypertrophy almost completely, especially in trained lifters (Murphy & Koehler 2021; Helms et al. 2019). At best, you might maintain lean mass or gain a little if you’re new or carrying higher body fat.
𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬, (𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬), 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐓𝐏. ATP isn’t just for muscle contraction. It fuels every essential system in your body, heart rhythm, nerve signaling, organ repair, hormone production, and immune function.
When calories drop, ATP production can’t fully meet demand, so the body triages where that energy goes.
1. Keep you alive (brain, heart, vital metabolism)
2. Repair what’s essential (cell turnover, organ function)
3. Building muscle
Guess which one gets cut first?
𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦. (𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞)
ATP production still occurs in a deficit, but the ATP molecules are allocated to maintenance, not growth. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫. The hormonal environment shifts too, anabolic hormones like testosterone, IGF-1, and insulin decrease while cortisol rises further tilting the balance toward maintenance, not growth.
Anabolic’s won’t override that energy reality. They can amplify the growth signal, but the process still requires ATP and substrate. Without adequate energy, the signal hits a metabolic wall, protein turnover may increase, but net muscle gain doesn’t.
A deficit is for cutting, not building. Muscle growth requires energy, substrate, and hormonal support all of which depend on adequate nutrition.
If someone tells you otherwise, ask them to explain why their science is better than that of those doing the studies?
