The Psychological Toll of Being Too Lean and Shredded in Bodybuilding

Many people get into bodybuilding or fitness for aesthetic purposes. Besides building muscle, a huge reason people get into weight training is to look shredded and get a six-pack. However, people looking to achieve a six-pack must pay attention to every aspect of training. Simply focusing on cardio and weight training doesn’t get you shredded if your diet is not dialed in. Yet, people who got incredibly lean often have a word of warning for people struggling to achieve a visible six-pack.

That’s because while a shredded physique may look aesthetically appealing, there are multiple downsides. Besides the side effects like decreased strength and stamina, bodybuilders with a shredded physique often end up in psychological battles. The accounts of the downsides of shedding too much body fat come from those who have competed in bodybuilding shows.

How getting too lean affects hormones

Bodybuilding and fitness YouTuber Jeff Nippard has competed in bodybuilding shows in the past. Years later, the renowned fitness personality revealed his experience of dropping below 10% body fat. Nippard also used a scientific study focusing on a natural bodybuilder who dropped to below 5% body fat for a contest to explore the effects of such drastic hormonal changes.

Hormones are essential for regulating nearly every bodily function, including mood. Hormone imbalances result in severe physiological effects from depression to stress. Hence, one of the major side effects of losing too much fat to become shredded is psychological. That’s because your hormone levels get disrupted when you get to lean.

Jeff Nippard highlighted the findings of the study on the natural bodybuilder’s hormones. As the competitive bodybuilding athlete reduced his body fat percentage from 14.8% to 4.5%, his hormones went haywire. The bodybuilder maintained 922 ng/dl Testosterone before starting the prep. However, when he reached 4.5% body fat, the competitor’s testosterone level dropped to 227 ng/dl.

Jeff Nippard explained that even 80-90-year-olds have better testosterone levels. However, testosterone wasn’t the only hormone that went awry. The study found that leptin and insulin took a nosedive. Leptin helps an individual feel satiated after they eat. Meanwhile, ghrelin, aka the hunger hormone, and Cortisol skyrocketed. increased ghrelin and lower leptin mean the bodybuilder constantly felt hungry.

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Elevated cortisol levels also cause problems. Too much cortisol increases stress and also disrupts sleep duration and quality. Hence, it’s safe to say the bodybuilder was under severe physiological distress. Lower testosterone, high cortisol, and increased hunger all have negative side effects, and the study proved it.

The study also measured the physiological toll through mood disturbances. While the bodybuilder had only six mood disturbances before the bodybuilding contest prep, the frequency increased by 617% after the prep was done. After getting too lean, the bodybuilder exhibited 43 mood swings. That being said, getting too shredded might affect one’s mood indirectly as well.

A blow to bodybuilding training 

Ask any bodybuilding enthusiast, and they’ll proudly reveal their PRs. Despite not training for strength, bodybuilders also chase strength goals. However, strength levels also suffer when your body fat is too low. Many lifters who got too lean complained about losing strength. 

So besides affecting the mood directly, being too lean makes lifters feel bad about their strength loss. While professional bodybuilders deal with this side effect by lifting light. They also know they’ll regain weight and strength during the off-season. However, people who get lean simply for aesthetic purposes have to accept they’ll be weaker as long as they remain shredded.

Finally, one’s energy levels also take a nosedive when they become too lean. Low energy levels also affect mood negatively. Hence, while sporting chiseled abs and visible muscle fibers might look appealing, there are severe consequences to it. Bodybuilding competitors and influencers are aware of the trade-off. So those who plan to drop to sub-ten percent body fat levels should be aware of the psychological and physical toll of getting too shredded.

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