Low Energy Availability (LEA)LEA is not about eating less — it is about the gap between what you eat and what your training costs. When that gap becomes chronic, everything breaks down.

She increased her training volume by 3 hours per week but did not increase her food intake. She is not dieting. She is not restricting. She simply did not adjust. Three months later, she has lost her period, her erg times are 5 seconds slower, and she has a stress reaction in her rib. The problem is energy availability — the gap between intake and expenditure that her body cannot bridge. Flowbase Energy Availability Calculator HEALTH FIRST Real-time energy availability calculation from training and nutrition data. Energy Availability Equation Energy intake − Exercise energy expenditure ÷ Fat-free mass = Energy availability Total daily calories Training expenditure Per kg of lean mass > 45 optimal < 30 danger

Loucks & Thuma (2003) identified 30 kcal/kg FFM/day as the critical threshold below which hormonal function becomes disrupted. Below 25 kcal/kg FFM/day, disruption is severe and rapid — affecting thyroid hormones within 5 days, reproductive hormones within 2 weeks, and bone metabolism within months. For a 65 kg female rower with 50 kg FFM, this means maintaining at least 1,500 kcal/day AFTER accounting for exercise energy expenditure. ∧ Flowbase Low Energy Availability (LEA)LEA is not about eating less — it is about the gap between what you eat and what your training costs. When that gap becomes chronic, everything breaks down. Noah Wickliffe, M.S. · Founder, MyoSport Inc. · 7 min read

The insidious nature of LEA is that it often develops gradually and without the intent to restrict. A rower who increases training from 10 to 14 hours/week without changing nutrition may shift from adequate EA (40 kcal/kg FFM) to dangerous EA (25 kcal/kg FFM) — a 37.5% decline — without any change in eating behavior. The problem is not what she eats; it is what she trains. Early indicators of LEA include: increased resting heart rate, mood disturbances, declining performance despite maintained training, increased injury frequency, and (in females) changes to menstrual cycle timing or flow. These signs precede clinical diagnosis by months, making daily EA monitoring a powerful early-warning system. “Energy availability is not a diet metric — it is a health metric. When EA drops below threshold, your body does not get leaner. It gets sicker.” — Noah Wickliffe, Flowbase Performance Series 30kcal/kg FFM: threshold for hormonal disruption 45+kcal/kg FFM: target for optimal health 5 daysFor thyroid disruption at very low EA

The Flowbase AI Coach calculates your daily energy availability from training and nutrition data, flagging when you drop below safe thresholds. It adjusts intake recommendations when training volume changes — catching the gradual drift that leads to LEA before symptoms develop. The AI Coach makes energy availability visible — a number you can track daily, like your erg split, that tells you whether your body has what it needs. Know Your Energy Availability Calculate your daily EA. Get alerts when you drop below safe thresholds.