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. 2020 Mar 8;5(1):19.
doi: 10.3390/jfmk5010019.

Intermittent Energy Restriction Attenuates the Loss of Fat Free Mass in Resistance Trained Individuals. A Randomized Controlled Trial

Bill I Campbell  1 , Danielle Aguilar  1 , Lauren M Colenso-Semple  1 , Kevin Hartke  1 , Abby R Fleming  1 , Carl D Fox  1 , Jaymes M Longstrom  1 , Gavin E Rogers  1 , David B Mathas  1 , Vickie Wong  1 , Sarah Ford  1 , John Gorman  2
Affiliations

Intermittent Energy Restriction Attenuates the Loss of Fat Free Mass in Resistance Trained Individuals. A Randomized Controlled Trial

Bill I Campbell et al. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. .

Abstract

There is a lack of research into how lean, resistance trained (RT) individuals respond to intermittent energy restricted diets. Therefore, we investigated body composition changes in RT-individuals during continuous energy restriction or intermittent restriction. A total of 27 males and females (25 ± 6.1 years; 169 ± 9.4 cm; 80 ± 15.6 kg) were randomized to a ~25% caloric restricted diet Refeed (RF; n = 13) or Continuous group (CN; n = 14) in conjunction with 4-days/week resistance training for 7-weeks. RF implemented two consecutive days of elevated carbohydrate (CHO) intake, followed by 5-days of caloric restriction each week. CN adhered to a continuous 7-week caloric restriction. Body mass (BM), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), dry fat-free mass (dFFM), and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were assessed pre/post-diet. Both groups significantly reduced BM (RF: baseline = 76.4 ± 15.6 kg, post-diet = 73.2 ± 13.8 kg, Δ3.2 kg; CN: baseline = 83.1 ± 15.4 kg, post-diet = 79.5 ± 15 kg, Δ3.6 kg) and FM (RF: baseline = 16.3 ± 4 kg, post-diet = 13.5 ± 3.6 kg, Δ2.8 kg; CN: baseline = 16.7 ± 4.5 kg, post-diet = 14.4 ± 4.9 kg, Δ2.3 kg) with no differences between groups. FFM (RF: baseline = 60.1 ± 13.8 kg, post-diet = 59.7 ± 13.0 kg, 0.4 kg; CN: baseline = 66.4 ± 15.2 kg, post-diet = 65.1 ± 15.2 kg, Δ1.3 kg p = 0.006), dFFM (RF: baseline = 18.7 ± 5.0 kg, post-diet = 18.5 ± 4.5 kg, Δ0.2 kg; CN: baseline =21.9 ± 5.7 kg, post-diet = 20.0 ± 5.7 kg, Δ1.9 kg), and RMR (RF: baseline = 1703 ± 294, post-diet = 1665 ± 270, Δ38 kcals; CN: baseline = 1867 ± 342, post-diet = 1789 ± 409, Δ78 kcals) were better maintained in the RF group. A 2-day carbohydrate refeed preserves FFM, dryFFM, and RMR during energy restriction compared to continuous energy restriction in RT-individuals.

Keywords: bodybuilding; diet; diet break; fat loss; nutrition; physique enhancement; refeed; resistance training; sports nutrition; weight loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

B.I.C. serves on the scientific advisory board for Dymatize Athletic Nutrition Institute. Dymatize Athletic Nutrition Institute had no role in the design, data collection, interpretation of the data or in the writing/editing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Caloric restriction during a typical week of dieting for both isocaloric diet treatments.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Individual participant changes in fat mass.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Individual participant changes in fat-free mass.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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