Combine enough truisms that lack precision and nuance and people get confused. This is exactly what happens in typical discussions of hypertrophy training while dieting. When a deficit is framed as a “state” rather than the cumulative effects of long term (body comp) and short term (acute energy balance) energy availability, and tropes like “volume is the primary driver of hypertrophy”, “intensity is more important than volume” and “dieting is catabolic” are stated without nuance, logic disconnects from physiology. In this episode we discuss the nature of caloric deficits, the effects they have in the long and short term, why and how you lose muscle while dieting, and the role of training for muscle retention in this context.