Research

Hormonal

Female resistance-trained athletes tend to spare more lean mass than males during caloric restriction, potentially due to differences in training experience, pre-diet volume, and energy deficit.

Female athletes may naturally preserve muscle better during a cut than males, but they should still prioritize high training volume to maximize this benefit.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The effects of CR on lean mass sparing seem to be mediated by training experience, pre-diet volume, and energy deficit, with, on average, women tending to spare more lean mass than men.
Christian Roth et al. · European Journal of Applied Physiology · 2022

Why this rating

Based on qualitative synthesis of 15 studies, but evidence is insufficient for a definitive conclusion.

Source

Lean mass sparing in resistance-trained athletes during caloric restriction: the role of resistance training volume

Christian Roth et al. · European Journal of Applied Physiology · 2022

DOI 10.1007/s00421-022-04896-5

systematic_review · n=129Cited 12×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →