# Time-Restricted Eating Adds No Lean Mass to Strength Training

_Evidence Level: Moderate · Verdi AMOH et al., Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202620240672_

*Time-restricted feeding with resistance training is not superior to conventional feeding for body composition and muscle strength: a systematic review and meta-analysis.*

- **Evidence Level**: Moderate
- **Why this grade**: An analysis of five trials with random assignment, but only 120 participants in total, so smaller differences could go undetected.
- **Facts**: Design: Meta-analysis · Funding: The authors state they received no financial support.
- **Publication Types**: Journal Article, Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
- **Journal**: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
- **Sample Size**: 120 adults in 5 trials
- **Authors**: Verdi AMOH, Soares JM, Andrade MJ, Mazur CE, Gonçalves DC
- **Graded and published**: 2026-10-09
- **Last edited**: 2026-10-19
- **Topics**: Fasting, Strength Training
- **DOI**: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202620240672
- **Original Source**: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42879592/

## Summary

Eating only within a set window each day has become popular for shaping the body. For people who also lift weights, though, the eating window does not appear to add extra fat-free mass, which is mostly muscle. That is the result of an analysis that pooled five trials. By the end of the programs, fat-free mass was similar in both groups.

In all five trials, chance decided who ate within a time window and who ate normally. Together they included 120 healthy adults, all doing strength training. On paper, the eating-window group ended up with just under half a kilogram less fat-free mass on average. That figure was so uncertain, however, that no clear difference could be detected. For body weight and fat mass, only two of the five trials found a clear difference.

The researchers had expected the eating window to increase fat-free mass, and that idea was not confirmed. With only 120 participants, smaller differences could still go unnoticed. At the same time, this small analysis did not show a clear loss of fat-free mass from the eating window either.

## Practical Takeaway

People who lifted weights and ate within a set time window did not end up with more fat-free mass than those eating normally.

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_Canonical: https://longevity-germany.com/en/research/time-restricted-eating-shows-no-lean-mass-edge-with-weights · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-10-19_