Based on what you’ve written here, I’ve learned that a calorie restriction does not have as much - if any - impact on strength improvements in individuals. My understanding is that this premise is less true for hypertrophy specific training. What about cardiovascular training? How much does a moderate calorie deficit impact (~300-500 calories below maintenance) affect cardiovascular improvements in moderately trained individuals looking to improve their cardiovascular abilities?
Thank you for taking your time to answer my question.
We should be thinking about these questions not from a Calorie deficit standpoint per se’, but a weight loss standpoint. Any sustained Calorie deficit will cause weight loss, but daily energy intake varies wildly day to day and it’s near-impossible to suss out what effect that has, if any.
Weight loss on cardiorespiratory fitness seems to improve the economy of the activity, as less energy is expended during the task. This is especially true as the source of weight loss gets further away from the center of mass of the individual.
Jordan, thanks for answering the question and providing a clarification. I now understand that weight loss has second order effects that are probably outweigh a decrease in energy intake.
A quick follow up on this statement “but daily energy intake varies wildly day to day and it’s near-impossible to suss out what effect that has, if any.” Is this still true for someone who monitors their calorie intake?
The data here is mixed depending on context, but in free-living individuals there’s going to be some variance even if they’re professionals (RDs) told to monitor their intake. I think my interpretation here is that the variability decreases and people who are more mindful of what they’re eating via monitoring tend not to overeat and adhere to a better dietary pattern in many cases.