The Purpose of Resistance Training In A Deficit

The purpose of resistance training while in a deficit (i.e., trying to lose body fat) is primarily to MAINTAIN muscle, not build it.

Quite simply, there are a few special cases where you’d be likely to gain muscle while in a fat-loss phase, but if you’ve been training consistently for any meaningful length of time those probably don’t apply to you.

Instead, get to where you want to be in terms of leanness and then consider a building phase where you train hard and eat in a surplus. THAT is where real muscle is built.

PS: Time spent building is time spent NOT dieting which does great things for your metabolism and it doesn’t hurt that you get to get a lot of food as well.