Strength training with calorie deficit
Idle_Moon
Posts: 151 Member
Hello everyone,
Since november I've lost 10 kg/ 22 lbs. Unfortunately, the weight loss hasn't been fat only, but muscles too.
I want to start doing fitness and strength training, twice a week besides my cardio. My goals are to lower my body fatpercentage, to get a stronger body, to flatten my stomach and maybe get some abs.
What am I supposed to do with the calories? Am I supposed to keep it at a calorie deficit, because I want to lose more fat? Am I supposed to eat more calories, because I want to get stronger? Or is it enough to only increase my proteins and eat back the exercise calories? Or only eat more calories on the training days?
Since november I've lost 10 kg/ 22 lbs. Unfortunately, the weight loss hasn't been fat only, but muscles too.
I want to start doing fitness and strength training, twice a week besides my cardio. My goals are to lower my body fatpercentage, to get a stronger body, to flatten my stomach and maybe get some abs.
What am I supposed to do with the calories? Am I supposed to keep it at a calorie deficit, because I want to lose more fat? Am I supposed to eat more calories, because I want to get stronger? Or is it enough to only increase my proteins and eat back the exercise calories? Or only eat more calories on the training days?
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Replies
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Teeny tiny weeny calorie deficit
Adequate macronutrient intake
Progressive strength training
Success!6 -
If you want to retain as much muscle as you can, increase your protein for sure. On my training days I try to get at least 100g, still not ideal but I eat fairly light at 1440 so.1
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Check out some of the body recomp threads here. That's what it sounds like you want to do. You'll either want to eat at maintenance or at a very small deficit while doing a progressive lifting program, such as stronglifts 5x52
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Thank you for your answers! I'll try to read the body recomp threads.
Tomorrow, I have an apointment with a teacher at the gym. Maybe the teacher is able to help me with a training plan and with adjusting my diet. What should I ask tomorrow?0 -
What are your stats (height, weight, age) and how much do you have left to lose?
The recommendation to recomp may be a good one if you don't have much fat left to lose but if you still have much left, recomp may take much longer than you want.0 -
Thank you for your answers! I'll try to read the body recomp threads.
Tomorrow, I have an apointment with a teacher at the gym. Maybe the teacher is able to help me with a training plan and with adjusting my diet. What should I ask tomorrow?
Tell them you want a full body strength program and have them teach you proper form on the main compound movements: squats (either back squats or a more beginner variation like goblet squats), deadlifts, pullups (or lat pulls if you can't yet do a pullup), bent over rows (or seated cable rows), bench press and overhead press.0 -
@Carlos_421 I'm a woman at 5'4, 19 years old. Currently, I weight 128 pounds and my waistline is 28 inch. I want to get my stomach flatter, so I think my waistline is supposed to be 26 inch as a flat stomach. Furthermore, I want my body fatpercentage to be around 18-20%, and I think it's 22/23% now.
Can you do a full body strenght program if you can only do 2 days a week of strenght training? I want to continue doing my long runs 3 days a week. I can do 1 day long strength training and 1 day shortish. I hope the teacher is able to figure out a training plan for me.0 -
@Carlos_421 I'm a woman at 5'4, 19 years old. Currently, I weight 128 pounds and my waistline is 28 inch. I want to get my stomach flatter, so I think my waistline is supposed to be 26 inch as a flat stomach. Furthermore, I want my body fatpercentage to be around 18-20%, and I think it's 22/23% now.
Can you do a full body strenght program if you can only do 2 days a week of strenght training? I want to continue doing my long runs 3 days a week. I can do 1 day long strength training and 1 day shortish. I hope the teacher is able to figure out a training plan for me.
From your stats-I'm not expert but it seems to me that you should start eating at maintenance and do strength training twice a week. Upper-lower split with compound movements.
It seems you are already in a healthy range and if you've never done strength training in your life before- you'd gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (beginners magic) - so eat at maintenance and ensure proper macros protein 0.8-1g per lb of lbm and rest according to how you feel.
This beginner strength training level is magical lol so give it your all and get whatever you can out of it then see what you want to do next.3 -
Then recomp or even a modest deficit (losing weight but slowly) would be a good choice so long as you're ok with taking the slow and steady to get the best results.
If you can only do 2 workouts per week then it becomes more beneficial to do full body workouts. Upper/lower splits or body part splits aren't as effective if you can't be in the gym 4 or 5 times a week.1 -
viren19890 wrote: »@Carlos_421 I'm a woman at 5'4, 19 years old. Currently, I weight 128 pounds and my waistline is 28 inch. I want to get my stomach flatter, so I think my waistline is supposed to be 26 inch as a flat stomach. Furthermore, I want my body fatpercentage to be around 18-20%, and I think it's 22/23% now.
Can you do a full body strenght program if you can only do 2 days a week of strenght training? I want to continue doing my long runs 3 days a week. I can do 1 day long strength training and 1 day shortish. I hope the teacher is able to figure out a training plan for me.
From your stats-I'm not expert but it seems to me that you should start eating at maintenance and do strength training twice a week. Upper-lower split with compound movements.
It seems you are already in a healthy range and if you've never done strength training in your life before- you'd gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (beginners magic) - so eat at maintenance and ensure proper macros protein 0.8-1g per lb of lbm and rest according to how you feel.
This beginner strength training level is magical lol so give it your all and get whatever you can out of it then see what you want to do next.
If she only lifts twice a week, I would suggest 2 full body sessions, that way she hits each muscle group twice/week, instead of the split you suggest which only hits them once.
OP, check out stronglifts 5x5, strong curves, or starting strength. These programs are 3 days/week but you can do it just twice.
As for caloric intake, set your goal to lose 0.5lbs/week, and eat back at least half your exercise cals.2 -
@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
@Carlos_421 @erickirb Taking it slow isn't a problem for me. I'll suggest the full body workouts to the teacher tomorrow. I've read stronglifts 5x5 trainings, but some friends told me that they aren't meant for women and aren't suited to my goals.0 -
@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
If you don't eat at maintenance and just have a modest deficit, your strenghth and muscle gains won't be quite as drastic as if you eat at maintenance or a surplus but on the flip side, you'll continue losing fat at a faster rate. And as noted, being a new lifter means you'll likely benefit from "newbie gains" (not quite magic but it is a real phenomena) so if you want to take advantage of being able to see strength gains while losing fat, now's the time to do it.
Also, it's worth noting that for the first couple months of lifting, your muscle fibers will adjust by becoming more efficient at firing in sync and only after that will you start to see actual growth of the muscles themselves.0 -
You're going to have to eat at maintenance at some point once you reach your goals. So it's no bad thing to start figuring that out now. If ice cream is a delicious way to do it then do it. You can add calories with little volume with butter, oil, peanut butter/nuts generally, chocolate, treat, whatever.
I think you're going to love the results from strength training. Oh and any lifting program can be used by men and women, despite the persistent myth that women need to train differently to men in some drastic way. It's just not true. (Aside from possible tweaks to movements to allow for hips and boobs but those are minor).2 -
@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
@Carlos_421 @erickirb Taking it slow isn't a problem for me. I'll suggest the full body workouts to the teacher tomorrow. I've read stronglifts 5x5 trainings, but some friends told me that they aren't meant for women and aren't suited to my goals.
If your goal is to build a foundation of strength, or get stronger, or maintain lean muscle, or build muscle (in a surplus) then Stronglifts would meet your goal. Also keep in mind that men and women can and should train the same way1 -
@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
@Carlos_421 @erickirb Taking it slow isn't a problem for me. I'll suggest the full body workouts to the teacher tomorrow. I've read stronglifts 5x5 trainings, but some friends told me that they aren't meant for women and aren't suited to my goals.
Never let anyone tell you that women shouldn't do weight lifting. Strong lifts 5x5 is a very good beginner program and you should do it but eat at maintenance. Just do it for the first 6 months. You will be pleased by the results if you are dedicated and eat at maintenance. This doesn't mean you will stop logging. You continue to log to make sure you are eating at maintenance.
You can look at my diary- I'm a vegetarian and my protein comes from whey protein, tofu, soya etc.1 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
If you don't eat at maintenance and just have a modest deficit, your strenghth and muscle gains won't be quite as drastic as if you eat at maintenance or a surplus but on the flip side, you'll continue losing fat at a faster rate. And as noted, being a new lifter means you'll likely benefit from "newbie gains" (not quite magic but it is a real phenomena) so if you want to take advantage of being able to see strength gains while losing fat, now's the time to do it.
Also, it's worth noting that for the first couple months of lifting, your muscle fibers will adjust by becoming more efficient at firing in sync and only after that will you start to see actual growth of the muscles themselves.
Lol yeah I was just saying that to make it sound fun haha1 -
@viren19890 Awesome! That would be really nice.
Would it have a negative effect if I couldn't eat at maintenance? Some days, it's just too much food. Or should I just buy Ben&Jerry's then lol. Also, what are easy ways to increase proteins excluding meats? Protein shakes?
@Carlos_421 @erickirb Taking it slow isn't a problem for me. I'll suggest the full body workouts to the teacher tomorrow. I've read stronglifts 5x5 trainings, but some friends told me that they aren't meant for women and aren't suited to my goals.
Stronglifts is for anyone who wants to focus on gaining strength and utilizing compound lifts, which suits your goals just fine.
That said, women are generally able to handle higher volume workouts than men so for advanced female bodybuilders, the low rep, high weight approach may not be optimal. However, for a beginning lifter still building a foundation of strength and getting familiar with the basic movements, it's fine for women.
NROL4W (new rules of lifting for women) is another good one.
ETA and yeah, other than meat (chicken, pork, turkey, lean beef...) whey protein is gonna be your best option for adding protein.0 -
@Carlos_421 Well, you convinced me. I'll do my best to eat more and eat the exercise calories!
@VintageFeline Oh, the joy! Eating chocolate daily.
@erickirb @viren19890 I'll ask about the weight lifting then. And I'll continue logging. Making sure I get the calories and proteins.
Thank you all very much! You've really motivated me to do this.4 -
Today was my apointment. They have a basic trainingplan for beginners. It's a fullbody workout for 10 weeks:
10 mins cardio as warming up.
Chest press, seated row, ab crunch, leg extension, shoulder press, pull down, leg curl and squat. Everything 3x 10 sets, with 60-90 sec rest. And as last some endurance training as cardio.
She couldn't help me with adjusting my diet. I'll have to make another apointment with a different person for diet advice. But the dietist could be on vacation.
So... MyFitnessPal says my maintenance is around 1800 calories, I now eat 500 calories less. Am I supposed to eat around 1800 calories when I start lifting? Am I supposed to eat 0.8 x 58 kg = 46,4 g proteins, or should I eat more than that on lifting days? How do you know how much calories I've burned from lifting?
Also, what should my expectations be? How fast is my body going to get slimmer and tighter, especially my stomach? 2 months, 6 months?0 -
Today was my apointment. They have a basic trainingplan for beginners. It's a fullbody workout for 10 weeks:
10 mins cardio as warming up.
Chest press, seated row, ab crunch, leg extension, shoulder press, pull down, leg curl and squat. Everything 3x 10 sets, with 60-90 sec rest. And as last some endurance training as cardio.
She couldn't help me with adjusting my diet. I'll have to make another apointment with a different person for diet advice. But the dietist could be on vacation.
So... MyFitnessPal says my maintenance is around 1800 calories, I now eat 500 calories less. Am I supposed to eat around 1800 calories when I start lifting? Am I supposed to eat 0.8 x 58 kg = 46,4 g proteins, or should I eat more than that on lifting days? How do you know how much calories I've burned from lifting?
Also, what should my expectations be? How fast is my body going to get slimmer and tighter, especially my stomach? 2 months, 6 months?
You really don't need a dietitian, just use MFP. As for protein, that would be what you need if you were sedentary and eating maintenance cals (not exercising in a deficit), this requires more, much more. I would sugges doubling that number to have a minimum of 92 grams of protein.
As for how fast, well 1 lb/week, as per your goal of 500 cal deficit. the lifting and protein will help ensure most of the 1lb is fat, and not muscle. For your stomach, that depends on how much fat you have and genetics, as genetics will determine where you burn fat from first to last.
For eating, I would suggest upping your activity level to light active, and not eat lifting cals back as that would be accounted for in the higher activity level.0 -
Today was my apointment. They have a basic trainingplan for beginners. It's a fullbody workout for 10 weeks:
10 mins cardio as warming up.
Chest press, seated row, ab crunch, leg extension, shoulder press, pull down, leg curl and squat. Everything 3x 10 sets, with 60-90 sec rest. And as last some endurance training as cardio.
She couldn't help me with adjusting my diet. I'll have to make another apointment with a different person for diet advice. But the dietist could be on vacation.
So... MyFitnessPal says my maintenance is around 1800 calories, I now eat 500 calories less. Am I supposed to eat around 1800 calories when I start lifting? Am I supposed to eat 0.8 x 58 kg = 46,4 g proteins, or should I eat more than that on lifting days? How do you know how much calories I've burned from lifting?
Also, what should my expectations be? How fast is my body going to get slimmer and tighter, especially my stomach? 2 months, 6 months?
Google "Scooby Calorie calculator" -it will give you caloric levels based on your daily needs known as "TDEE".
You would eat that many calories everyday.
Don't eat below maintenance because well it'll defeat the purpose. Also
here http://stronglifts.com/5x5/#Spreadsheets
Just copy paste the link and download the spreadsheet. It's good for beginner gains once you stall/plateau then you would need something different like 5/3/1 Wendler.
Take measurements use a tape measure and take progress photos. DO NOT worry about weight on the scale during this time. Sometimes when you gain muscle body retains more water especially if you take creatine. So focus on your workout and diet.
At least give it 6 months then see what you want to do next.
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@erickirb 92 g proteins is really a lot. Hopefully, I'll be able to eat that many proteins.
I'm eating at a 500 calories deficit now, but I'm willing to change that to maintenance. I'm scared that I won't give my body enough sources to build the muscles.
@viren19890 The calculator says that my TDEE is 1696, if I choose desk job. With light exercise, it's 1944. Is that how much I should eat? And not eat the exercise calories?
I'll save the spreadsheet and read it sometime. And I'll try to not worry about my weight, but still track everything.
I'm really excited, thank you guys! We'll see what the next 6 months will bring me.
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The workout is one exercise per muscle group. After a few weeks you may need to progress to a split program to really get some muscle fibres working and breaking. Or maybe add some more compound exercises if you can't commit to 3 sessions a week.
Just remember not to have anything planned after leg day.0 -
@viren19890 The calculator says that my TDEE is 1696, if I choose desk job. With light exercise, it's 1944. Is that how much I should eat? And not eat the exercise calories?
I'll save the spreadsheet and read it sometime. And I'll try to not worry about my weight, but still track everything.
I'm really excited, thank you guys! We'll see what the next 6 months will bring me.
So punch in 3-5 hours of exercise because if you follow the program at the very least you would get 3 hours worth of exercising via weight lifting and then you do your running and all.
If that's what you did and you get 1944- then that's what you'd be eating with exercise. There is no "extra" calories that you would be eating because you already have everything plugged into the calculator.
It's called Today Daily Energy Expenditure. This allows you to have a same number everyday. What mfp does is that it'll give you basic minimum calories you need based on activity level and then you can either eat exercise calories back or not depending on how you feel.
TDEE give you a number that you need.
Btw newbies can gain muscle and lose fat even in deficit but I would highly suggest against it since you already seem in a healthy range-so I'd go beast mode with strength training (proper form and all).
All you need is dedicate 6 months-then decide what's next.0 -
A 500 calorie deficit might be too steep. You really don't have much weight to lose to get you to your body fat goal. Pay attention to how you are feeling - run down, cranky, tired. Consider eating at a 250 calorie deficit. It should make the whole thing less sucky
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@viren19890 With 3-5 hours of moderate exercise, I get 2191 calories and 108 gram proteins. Should I eat this much everyday, or only on training days? It seems so much.
@bioklutz I think I'm switching to not eating at a deficit anymore.
@scoii I'll consider this after the 10 weeks, thank you!0 -
@viren19890 With 3-5 hours of moderate exercise, I get 2191 calories and 108 gram proteins. Should I eat this much everyday, or only on training days? It seems so much.
Yes, lol - although for building muscle people usually need more as in (surplus) but since you'd be a beginner maintenance is fine.
Think of it this way - when you are in deficit -we eat 500-600 less than maintenance right so when you add additional workload wouldn't that put you in higher range?
You can also go by eating what you feel like but I'd really suggest input proper variables in the calculator and use those.
Some people do go by eating higher on workout days and lower on other days. You can also do that.
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@viren19890 I think I'm going to do that last one.
How do you track how much calories you burn while doing strength training? I can't fine my exercises in MyFitnessPal, and it doesn't give calories burnt for strength training. Only for cardio.0 -
@viren19890 I think I'm going to do that last one.
How do you track how much calories you burn while doing strength training? I can't fine my exercises in MyFitnessPal, and it doesn't give calories burnt for strength training. Only for cardio.
I never bothered with that. Now admittedly, I started off on the portly side, at 265/5'10", but I just ate 1600 per day, low carb as hell, and made the 495 pull in my picture within five months. YMMV obviously, but I had no problem in the initial stages of strength training, running what was essentially a 40% caloric deficit by most calcs that I have seen.0 -
@viren19890 I think I'm going to do that last one.
How do you track how much calories you burn while doing strength training? I can't fine my exercises in MyFitnessPal, and it doesn't give calories burnt for strength training. Only for cardio.
I thought you were doing the TDEE method? TDEE already includes your exercise calories.
If doing the MFP eat back exercise calories on the day method then log duration of your workout under the Cardiovascular part of the exercise diary for a very rough estimate based on METS. Search for strength training - it's not a lot of calories.
But keep coming back to your actual results over time - not the method of logging you choose.0
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