Blog · 2 min · figures checked on 9 November 2026
Cutting: what rate of weight loss keeps your muscle?
By Nicolas Papon, founder of Live For Fit ·
Between 0.5 and 1% of your body weight per week. Faster than that, you risk losing muscle.
What the research says
Garthe et al. (2011) compared two rates of loss in athletes: the slower one preserves lean mass better.
Helms, Aragon and Fitschen (2014) recommend this rate in contest preparation, with fat between 15 and 30% of calories.
What Live For Fit does
At Live For Fit: The app aims for a loss of 0.5 to 1% of your body weight per week and warns you if you go too fast.
At Live For Fit: It adjusts your calories each week on your real measurements, keeping your protein high and your fat between 15 and 30%.
- How much protein a day for strength training? ›
- How to work out your basal metabolism and your calories ›
We publish Live For Fit. This information does not replace medical advice.