Low Energy Availability (LEA) In Male Endurance Athletes

Video Transcript:

About a week ago I reviewed a study on low energy availability in female athletes and how not eating enough calories to support their training led to a 22% increase in the stress hormone cortisol and a 22% drop in power output. 

Know a lot of times I feel like people think that not eating enough calories is a female athlete specific problem but this is definitely not the case as there are plenty of male athletes who aren’t eating enough to support their training and activities of daily living…ultimately leading to a decrease in day to day performance and overall health.

And a recent study demonstrates this point

So, in this study, male recreational runners—guys who are already in pretty good shape—were put on different diets. The researchers wanted to see what would happen if the runners didn’t get enough calories while exercising a lot. This state is called Low Energy Availability, or LEA.

For four days, the runners followed three different diet plans. One plan gave them plenty of calories…..3167 to be exact… to support their training and activities of daily living, another cut their daily calories a bit to 2375, and the third really slashed their intake down to 1583 calories daily. During all of this, they kept up with their daily runs and their average daily exercise energy expenditure…..or calories burned by exercise…. was 792.

Here’s what happened: When the runners were on the lowest calorie diet, their testosterone levels dropped by over 16%, and they felt way more tired—like 86% more fatigued! They also lost more weight, but it wasn’t the good kind—there wasn’t any extra fat loss compared to the other diet plans.

The takeaway? If you’re pushing your body hard with training, you’ve got to make sure you’re eating enough. Skimping on calories might seem like a shortcut, but it can actually  lead to fatigue and mess with important hormones like testosterone, which can really impact your performance and health.