Metabolic Damage: Fact or Fiction?

Steve Doucette is a national level bodybuilder and a member of Team Cygen Labs.  Here he talks about the facts and fiction of Metabolic Damage and how to avoid it…Enjoy!

Lately this issue has become somewhat of a hot topic, particularly in competitive female physique events (figure, fitness, bikini, bodybuilding). It’s no secret that as competitive athletes taking the stage, getting lean will require caloric deficit. For years, much of the population involved competed in local or national shows, perhaps once a year, for a few years. As the sport became more popular we began to see athletes appear at a number of shows throughout the year. And with the increase in popularity, so did the increase in elite competitors. Diets became stricter, cardio levels began to rise. Guru trainers capitalized on training these individuals, and to no surprise, the diet/training programs became more competitive. It was not unreasonable to see diets severely low in calories, coupled with high cardiovascular regimes.

Metabolic damage became a hot topic along the way, where we see people claiming to have slowed their metabolism to a degree where they could not get ‘in shape’ using previous standard protocol diets. Were they completely ruining their metabolism by the constant yo-yo diet approach? My answer is maybe. The basic premise in yo-yo dieting causing metabolic damage is intuitive, and part of a cycle of dieting without allowing recovery. Essentially, the competitor competes in a show, and throughout the process, the inevitable drop in metabolism occurs. With a drop in body weight, the body requires fewer calories to sustain that bodyweight. Contest is over, and the individual returns to not only previous normal caloric intakes, but likely excess intakes – cravings from a long grueling season of dieting kick in, perhaps multiple binge eating episodes… This can continue for weeks (or months) as part of a psychological and physiological process that is trying to get your body back to where it ‘belongs’. The problem is that during this ‘eating phase’, not nearly enough time was given for the body to adjust to the caloric needs. This is why it is not uncommon to see an individual return to or exceeding pre dieting bodyweights / bodyfat in a short time post-contest. At this point, because of the sports continued popularity, and addictive-like properties (let’s face it, many of us get addicted to the stage limelight), another contest is just around the corner.

Therefore the athlete once again returns to the ‘diet’. This time, at perhaps a slightly higher bodyweight but a still yet-to-be normalized metabolism, the individual discovers fat loss was not quite as easy. Perhaps this means a slight drop in calories or increase in cardio that they were accustomed to on ‘diet #1’. The athlete was however successful, but the problem may become an issue if this cycle continues. The contributors to metabolic damage include:

1.       Competing multiple times per year

2.       Adding too much bodyfat between diets

3.       Most importantly the combination of 1&2

But just how common is metabolic damage? I don’t know the answer to this. However what I do know is that it has become an excuse for many rather than truth. I am ok with that. The sport requires discipline, and more than many can afford to give. Again, no problem with that. The sport is not meant for everyone. However, the term metabolic damage has been tossed around in the fitness community freely without being educated on the matter. Individuals with better than average knowledge on nutrition and fitness will often roll their eyes at an obese individual claiming they do everything right but still don’t lose weight due to their underactive thyroid. Meanwhile, that said individual does almost no activity, and eats 2-3 large bags of potato chips in front of the tv before bed each night. Seriously… the thyroid wasn’t the problem! On the other side of the coin, having an underactive thyroid is a valid excess in some cases, yet perhaps not as often as it seems to be used as a scapegoat. In my mind, metabolic damage is a real thing. Just as the issue of underactive thyoids. However, both problems have solutions, and neither is an excuse. If you actually do have metabolic damage, this is not something to ignore. Take as much time away from competing as you can and get it corrected, SLOWLY. But on the flip side, do not blame metabolic damage for being unable to get lean unless you know truthfully this is the cause. The body is an amazing thing – it can recover from even the most grueling periods of time in a relatively short window. There is a difference between metabolic damage, and simply over-doing it post contest.