Regaining Lost Strength.

GW4321

I’ve lost 113 lbs over the past year. I’ve been strength training during that time, but my strength/muscle gains have been very minimal due to a large calorie deficit. I should be finished with my diet by the end of December, so I’m looking forward to actually being able to gain strength in 2017.

That brings me to my question. Is it easier to regain previously acquired strength and muscle? I’ve seen it referred to as “muscle memory” on some websites. I lifted weights during high school and was able to develop a decent amount of strength. I stopped working out after that and rarely lifted for a 13-14 year period, so I’ve lost a lot of those previous gains.

Does anyone have experience with returning to strength training after not lifting for several years? Did you gain strength and muscle more quickly the second time? The information about “muscle memory” seems to be encouraging, but I wanted to hear from people who’ve actually experienced this.

Can I regain my former level of strength while eating at maintenance or will it require a calorie surplus?

sgt1372

I would suggest not dwelling on it. Given the amount of your wt loss and the time that has passed since you lifted regularly, I wouldn't expect much carry over and would treat your situation as "starting fron scratch."

If you aren't doing so already, I would just suggest doing the Starting Strength or Stronglifts progressive linear lifting programs and go from there. It would be good to get a DXA scan or hydrostatic test to determine your BF & LBM baseline and to get rescaned or tested every 3 months thereafter to monitor your progress.

Also bear in mind that if you want to regrow muscle that you'll have to start eating an excess of cals over your TDEE in order to do so. You can grow muscle in a deficit but it is more difficult to do that. So, you should be at or below your goal wt before you start doing this.

Good luck!

newbie3122

Yes. It is easier to regain previously acquired muscle and strength.
I stopped weight training back in ~March 2013 and just started it again in August 2016. After 3.5 years hiatus, my strength was mostly gone, but I've regained it fairly quickly over the last 3 months.

A caloric surplus will help you regain strength and build muscles more quickly

Gallowmere1984

Relative strength will come on quickly, and probably even exceed your original point. Using my own personal experience as an example:

I started at 265 and ran a pretty strong deficit (1600 kcal/day) while strength training my way down to 184 lbs. My strongest absolute deadlift was a 495 at about 208 lbs. which I hit five months in. However, I caught a case of the lazy and stopped lifting for three years while maintaining around 180-190.

This past year I decided to hellcut again and went from 195 to 150 in about five months, while completely sedentary. After realizing that I was skinnyfat as *kitten* I decided to take up lifting again this past August, and switched into a surplus. Well, I overdid it and fulked like a boss. However, because I was so detrained, I was riding the noobgains all over again.

Two weeks ago, I pulled 405 at a bodyweight of 163. That puts my relative strength a bit above above my old best (2.48x vs. 2.38), and it only took me three months to get back here. My squat and bench are followigg a very similar trend, but the real standout has been my OHP, which is actually higher at my current weight than it ever was when I was 200+ lbs.

GW4321

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate all of the information and advice.

It's good to know that people have regained past strength after a long break from lifting. I realize that my extended period of no lifting will probably work against me, but I’ll see how it goes. I should make some gains either way. Just hoping to get a boost from my past lifting experience.

It sounds like a calorie surplus will be necessary to gain/regain strength (after I finish losing a little more weight). When I previously trained, I gained strength really fast without focusing on the nutritional aspect. However, I was overweight, so it is probably safe to assume that I was eating above maintenance without realizing it.

The “relative strength” concept is interesting. I haven't really thought about that. For example, my best bench press was 320 lbs when I was 18 years old. I also weighed significantly more than I do now, so it wouldn’t take the same max bench at my current weight to be equal in terms of relative strength. That’s definitely something that I’ll keep in mind.

canadianlbs

GW4321 wrote: »

When I previously trained, I gained strength really fast without focusing on the nutritional aspect. However, I was overweight, so it is probably safe to assume that I was eating above maintenance without realizing it.]

you were also 10-15 years younger, by the sounds of it.

The “relative strength” concept is interesting.

any 'strength standards' that i've looked up, they've been classed by bodyweight and sometimes by height and age too. so yeah.

i'll just mention that you could also get started on the training right now unless there are factors i missed. even if gaining actual muscle in a deficit is hard [slash impossible according to some], you could still get a start on the neurological-adaptation part for more effective recruitment of the muscle you already have. and it would give you a jump on the whole 'initial death by doms' break-in period. so then by the time you were ready to eat more and go for the hypertrophy you could already have that phase of it done and dusted.

just thoughts. i'm a recreational kind of lifter myself so not speaking from any official-expertise base.

Gallowmere1984

A caloric surplus is not required for strength increases, at least not in the beginning when most all of it will be coming from neuromuscular adaptation. I actually made that 405 pull right after coming off of a PSMF. My strength was increasing in tandem with an 800 kcal/day cut, so yeah, ride those noob gains all over again and enjoy them. So long as you put in the work, the food matters less in the beginning.

sijomial

I dieted down for about 6 months and this was me swapping (mostly) from dieting to weight maintenance and working on fitness/strength goals at age 53.
Had previously been strong in my 30's but in my 40's I had been struggling with chronic back injuries and building a new career which meant I was cardio fit but strength well below previous best levels, training very sporadic.

Set initial modest target of equalling my bodyweight on bench press and lat pulldown which I really regarded as "normal" for me when training with any regularity.

Jan - BP 139lb, LP 152lb
Feb - BP 139lb, LP 169lb
Mar - BP 161lb, LP 174lb (goal achieved for LP)
Apr - BP 174lb (goal achieved for BP), LP 174lb
Jul - BP 186lb, LP 174lb
Sep - BP190lb, LP 190lb
Nov - BP 220lb, LP 190lb
Dec - BP 220lb, LP 205lb (LP - elbow tendon limit reached!)

So a pretty rapid initial progression for 3 months and then rate slowed down as I got back to more normal (or previous) trained levels.
I didn't need a calorie surplus and would be surprised if you do OP - in fact I trimmed off another few pounds (to help with my bicycling goals) during Jan to August.

GW4321

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. You provided a lot of good information.