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Strong Support

If young guys do really intense cycling and don't eat carbs afterward, they lose about half a kilo of lean weight in a day—mostly from lost muscle fuel and water. But if they eat carbs, their lean weight stays the same.

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Community contributions welcome

45

Muscle glycogen depletion does not alter segmental extracellular and intracellular water distribution measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy.

Randomized Controlled Trial
Human
2018 Jun 1

The study shows that when young men don’t refill their muscle energy after hard cycling, they lose fat-free mass, but not if they eat carbs to recover. This matches the claim.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

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According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Muscle glycogen depletion does not alter segmental extracellular and intracellular water distribution measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy.

Score: 45
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00666.2017

Similar Assertions

After a really tough bike ride, young guys can lose about half a kilo of 'lean mass' the next day if they don’t eat enough carbs to refuel — but it’s not muscle loss, it’s mostly water stuck to stored fuel in the body.

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45
87%

After a tough leg workout, drinking a sugary sports drink instead of water helps your muscles refill their energy stores faster, so you recover better after six hours.

37
0
78%

After biking really hard and then eating a lot of carbs for a few days, your muscles store way more energy than they do after running hard and eating the same way.

51
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76%

After a really tough workout, young guys lose a little bit of fluid from outside their cells — and it happens whether their energy stores are low or back to normal, so something other than fuel levels is affecting fluid changes.

45
0
76%

After a really tough workout, young guys lose about half a liter of fluid from outside their cells within a day — and it happens whether their energy stores are low or full, so fluid changes aren't just about fuel levels.

45
0
75%