Dr. Vonda Wright

If I put a cast on your leg for one week and you're not contracting that muscle, your body will view it as non-vital and will start using it and you will have atrophy.

It's interesting what the body does because, back to the hierarchy of needs, in a situation where we're calorie-restricted,

Our brain still is a very hungry organ and needs energy, and your body's going to take it from somewhere.

So if we're not intaking enough food, our body is going to start using the storehouses to convert to energy for the brain, to keep it alive, for the heart, to keep it alive, right?

The vital functions.

If we want to minimize muscle loss during the period when we're calorie restricting, then

We need to feed ourself enough protein so that we have the protein building blocks to maintain our muscle mass.

We should also be lifting to try to build muscle that we feed with the protein as we calorie restrict.

Because for instance, you can eat a lot of protein on a 1500 calorie meal plan, right?

If your maintenance is 1800 calories and you're trying to restrict by 300, you can still eat a lot of protein within that number of calories.

You have to choose, you have to eat lean meats and lean sources, but it's completely possible.

Your cardio needs to be 80-20, 80% base training, 20% high-intensity sprinting.

That's about two days a week.

And you need to lift weights.

My goal is strength and power.

Strength, meaning what I can lift in a single lift.

Power in what I can lift over time.

So to lift for strength and power, you have to lift heavier weights.

And the ranges on those lifts are three to six reps for four sets.

To build muscle for strength and power, four reps times four sets.