IIFYM not fitting....

ana3067

myrasays wrote: »

ana3067 wrote: »

myrasays wrote: »

Oh and if anyone is wondering why I originally quoted 60-70lbs for squats/deadlifts and now it's up to 80lbs for each - I went up for each. Also, yes - I am lifting at 3 sets for 8 reps on heavy loads @ana3067

Heavy is usually considered 3-5 reps. 8 is pretty moderate, and once you get to heavier weights it will probably not be as sustainable while in your deficit.

Are you able to do 8 reps no problem? Like breeze through them? If so then increase the weight. Although I definitely recommending aiming for below 6 reps while you are eating at a deficit.

Not able to breeze through them at all. It is usually quite the sweaty workout. I am working on building strength towards that 3-5 with heavier weight, but I pace myself & allow my tendons to catch up before I attempt.
Just curious about the logic behind keeping the reps low while in a deficit? (Energy expenditure?) That would explain why I feel so hungry/low energy - but I can't imagine I am really burning that much if I am only lifting? I have cut out cardio for now and limited any thing I do to two HIIT/Plyo sessions at 20 min max on off days from lifting.
It just doesn't seem enough, to me, to qualify for the "workout 6x a week" status when calculating my macros. Over thinking things?

Logic for lower reps is that higher rep range is just harder to recover from, and from what I recall lower rep range is more useful while in a deficit because the lower rep range deals with your central nervous system. Higher rep ranges are more to help with hypertrophy (building muscle) and when in a deficit.. you aren't building muscle. So it tends to be recommended to go with lower rep. You could easily just add 5-10lbs to your current lifts until you can only do 5ish reps comfortably.

If you are low energy and hungry you are probably not eating enough, unless you are also eating too high carb. I had a 2500 calorie day a few weeks ago. It was like 400+g of carbs and I was STARVING. On 2500 calories! Did you wind up changing your calorie goal at all or are you still on 1500 and less?

Yea, overthinking a bit. Calculators are just estimates. So if you lose slower than expected, lower your calories a bit. If you lose faster, raise them a bit. but I do prefer calculators like exrx.net and health-calc.com because they don't use generic dials/drop-downs and are more customizable.