Losing muscle on a diet is often unavoidable, but Arnold Schwarzenegger has a solution to help preserve lean tissue. In his July 15 Arnold’s Pump Club newsletter, he revealed why dieting without strength training can lead to muscle loss.
“When you eat less than you burn, you lose weight. But it’s not all fat, unless you do something about it. Otherwise, your body pulls fuel from its own tissue. Muscle is expensive to maintain, so if you’re not using it, your body sees little reason to keep it.”
Throughout his career, Arnold Schwarzenegger proved himself in the Golden Era with size and aesthetics. He battled against stars of the Men’s Open, including Lou Ferrigno, Sergio Oliva, and Frank Zane. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger secured seven Mr. Olympia titles.
At 78, Schwarzenegger still trains regularly and pays close attention to his diet in retirement. Aiming to retain as much muscle as possible, he broke down why pairing exercise with an effective diet is a game-changer for progress.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Diet and Muscle Loss
In the newsletter, Schwarzenegger looked at a new study examining diet, muscle loss, and exercise. He revealed that those who lifted weights while dieting reduced the muscle they lost by nearly half:
“Why Dieting Causes You To Lose Muscle – Cutting calories gets all the attention when you want to lose weight. And many have suggested that diet deserves all the credit for fat loss.”
“But a new study highlights why focusing only on what you eat paints an incomplete picture of how your body changes when you reduce how much you eat. Adding exercise while you diet — especially lifting weights — cuts the lean mass you’d lose by nearly half.”
In 34 randomized trials, subjects who reduced their calories and trained were able to retain around two pounds of lean mass.
“Researchers reviewed 34 randomized trials comparing people who cut calories only to those who cut calories and trained. The exercisers retained about 2 pounds of lean mass, offsetting roughly 46 percent of what they’d otherwise have lost.”
According to Schwarzenegger, a lifting and cardio program helped the most in preserving muscle.
“When the team ranked training styles, a lifting-and-cardio mix came out on top, with resistance training next. Cardio alone trended in the right direction. The takeaway isn’t that one style wins. It’s that doing something beats doing nothing, and the something is best if it includes added resistance, like a barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, cable, or machine.”
Schwarzenegger also unpacked some of the health benefits associated with more lean muscle:
“Training changes that message: load a muscle, and you signal it still has a job, so your body keeps it and burns fat instead. That’s the likeliest explanation for what these researchers found. And holding onto that lean mass won’t just change how you look when you’re done cutting calories — it also supports how your body functions, processes food, and performs.”
“If you’re looking to lose some weight, diet does the heavy lifting. But that doesn’t mean you should ditch the heavy lifting. Keep training, and more of what you lose will be fat instead of muscle.”
Muscle growth isn’t Schwarzenegger’s only priority; he’s also focused on promoting longevity. He shared that 90–120 minutes of strength training per week can reduce the risk of premature death. The longitudinal study was conducted over three decades among healthcare professionals.
Schwarzenegger continues to offer his fanbase science-backed diet and training wisdom. He believes that resistance training, coupled with a strong diet, is the best strategy for maintaining lean muscle mass.
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