ERIC HELMS: TRAINING IN A DEFICIT: WHAT THE RESEARCH ACTUALLY SAYS ABOUT VOLUME, MUSCLE LOSS & FAT LOSS PHASE PROGRAMMING | EP. 222
Chasing Clarity: Health & Fitness PodcastShow Notes
How you train during a Fat Loss Phase determines whether you finish the diet leaner and more defined or just smaller and softer. But the conversation around how to actually train during a deficit has become one of the most polarized debates in the evidence-based fitness space.
One camp says you should proactively reduce training volume the moment you enter a deficit because recovery is compromised and you need to focus on the minimum stimulus required to maintain muscle.
Another camp says you should increase training volume to offset the catabolic environment of a deficit and use training as an additional energy expenditure tool.
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Eric Helms to break this debate down piece by piece. We interrogate the research each camp leans on, talk about where it holds up and where it falls apart when applied to intermediate to advanced trainees.
HERE’S WHAT WE COVER: THE TWO CAMPS DOMINATING THE TRAINING IN A DEFICIT CONVERSATION WHY THE TRAIN LESS POSITION HAS LEGITIMATE PHYSIOLOGY BEHIND IT BUT GETS MISAPPLIED THE BICKEL 2011 PAPER AND WHY IT GETS PULLED INTO THIS DEBATE INCORRECTLY WHY MAINTENANCE TRAINING IN ENERGY BALANCE IS NOT THE SAME AS MAINTENANCE TRAINING IN A DEFICIT THE TRAIN MORE CAMP’S CASE AND WHERE THE LOGIC BREAKS DOWN THE ROTH 2022 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY SHOWS WHY THE THRESHOLD TO MAINTAIN MUSCLE MAY GO UP AS WE BECOME MORE ADVANCED HOW ERIC’S 2023 AND 2025 PREPS SHAPED HIS THINKING ON TRAINING DURING CONTEST PREP THE COACHING FRAMEWORK FOR ADJUSTING TRAINING REACTIVELY RATHER THAN PROACTIVELY DURING A CUT
If you’ve ever cut volume the moment you entered a deficit because you assumed your body couldn’t handle the load, if you’ve ever cranked up training volume in a cut to try to drive more output, or if you’ve finished a Fat Loss Phase feeling smaller but not leaner and wondered what your training should have actually looked like, this episode will give you the framework to approach your next cut with clarity rather than guesswork.
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