The desire to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable fashion.

During any fat loss protocol, there is a risk for muscle loss. The best fat loss protocols are designed to promote the largest amount of fat loss with the least amount of muscle loss. This is because muscle is your body’s fat burning machinery. The more muscle you have, the better your metabolism will work, burning significantly more calories throughout the day.

That doesn’t mean that you should strive to look like the Incredible Hulk. Instead, you should focus on losing weight healthy, while placing focus on protecting your muscle quality.

Here are three ways to protect against muscle loss while losing weight:

1. Lift Heavy Weights

The simplest way to avoid significant muscle loss on your weight loss journey is to lift heavy weights 2-4 times per week, focusing on compound movements such as the deadlift, barbell back squat, bench press, and overhead press. These exercises engage some of your body’s largest muscle groups, promoting anabolic (growth) hormones and decreasing the risk for muscle loss. 

Takeaway: Perform each of these exercises 2-4 times per week, staying in the 6-8 rep range for 3 sets per exercise. 

2. Prioritize Protein

When eating at a calorie deficit, your body enters a catabolic state, causing muscle loss. Without eating a calorie deficit however, you will not lose weight. 

So what is the solution?

Prioritizing protein in your diet will help you maintain the most amount of muscle mass while losing weight. We recommend that our clients eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. In other words, if they weigh 175 pounds, they should consume 175 grams of protein while they are losing weight. Focusing on lean meats, fish, eggs and high-quality protein powders are a good way to keep your calories low while still consuming the proper amount of protein to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. 

Takeaway: Protein is your best friend when it comes to nutrition during weight loss. Prioritize protein by focusing on lean meats, fish, and eggs. 

3. Use the sauna

While we don’t recommend using the sauna as a weight loss tool, we suggest that our clients spend 10-20 minutes in a sauna 3 times per week during their weight loss protocol in order to maintain muscle mass. New research shows that spending time in the sauna can prevent muscle degradation by activating “heat shock proteins”, a family of proteins that are produced by cells in response to heart exposure. Additionally, studies show that spending time in the sauna can cause a significant increase in growth hormone release, aiding in the prevention of muscle degradation.

Takeaway: Spend 10-20 minutes in the sauna 3 times per week during your weight loss protocol, being sure to stay hydrated and replenish lost electrolytes during the process.