Which diet helps keep muscle while losing fat when lifting weights?
Intermittent fasting and continuous energy restriction result in similar changes in body composition and muscle strength when combined with a 12 week resistance training program
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Whole-body muscle gain was identical, but leg muscle size increased more with daily calorie restriction.
Most people assume intermittent fasting protects muscle better during weight loss, but here it didn’t—even with protein matched and training controlled.
Practical Takeaways
If you're trying to lose fat and gain muscle, focus on lifting weights and eating at least 1.4 g/kg of protein per day—whether you fast or eat less daily doesn’t matter much.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Whole-body muscle gain was identical, but leg muscle size increased more with daily calorie restriction.
Most people assume intermittent fasting protects muscle better during weight loss, but here it didn’t—even with protein matched and training controlled.
Practical Takeaways
If you're trying to lose fat and gain muscle, focus on lifting weights and eating at least 1.4 g/kg of protein per day—whether you fast or eat less daily doesn’t matter much.
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Nutrition
Year
2022
Authors
Stephen Keenan, M. Cooke, E. Hassan, W. Chen, J. Sullivan, Sam Wu, D. El-ansary, Mahdi Imani, R. Belski
Related Content
Claims (6)
For people with extra weight who are lifting weights and eating less, doing 5:2 intermittent fasting works just as well as cutting calories every day when it comes to getting stronger and building muscle endurance over 3 months.
For people with extra weight who don't exercise much, eating fewer calories every day — while lifting weights and eating lots of protein — might build more leg muscle than doing the 5:2 diet, even if both help keep the same amount of overall muscle.
If you're an untrained adult with extra weight, doing strength training for 12 weeks while eating less and getting enough protein (at least 1.4g per kg of body weight) can improve your muscle quality. This improvement shows up as cleaner-looking muscles on an ultrasound, and it doesn’t matter whether you cut calories every day or just on two days a week.
If you're an untrained adult with extra weight, doing resistance training for 12 weeks while eating less—either through intermittent fasting or cutting calories every day—and getting enough protein, gives you similar gains in muscle, strength, and fat loss, no matter which diet approach you pick.
If you're someone who lifts weights regularly, whether you're eating more or fewer calories than your body needs is one of the biggest factors in how fast you gain muscle or lose fat.