Building muscle in a deficit

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evilpoptart63
evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone have some tips for magically building muscle in a deficit? I can usually lose weight OR make progress on my lifts but lately my lifts have been going downhill and my weight is stalled. I should be losing 1.5lbs a week with 500cals earned through fitbit adjustments + the 250cal deficit that is already calculated through mfp. honestly I would ideally love to lose 0.5lbs a week and progress on my lifts but when my weight stalled I kept the calories the same and keep adding cardio to try to help it budge. I just stopped running on my rest days so Im hoping that will help soon but are there any other tips I should keep in mind?
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  • cahubbard6421
    cahubbard6421 Posts: 769 Member
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    I don’t know that’s how it works. If you’re building muscle, you’re not going to show a loss on the scale. You’ll most likely show a loss in appearance though.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Have you actually stopped losing weight or are you just confusing it with normal fluctuations?
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    Ive lost about 1.7% body fat in the past month. Im cool with that. Also my weight hasnt stalled, Im just averaging under 0.5lb/ week when I should have lost at least a full pound this last week. Its confusing. I feel like my "calories" in were at a good place so I focused more on "calories out" to try to get closer to my goal weight. I have 5-10lbs left. Not fluctuations, I go by trend on libra. Im also not underestimating my calories (thats usually the next logical step) I weigh everything I eat. The weight thing is irritating but what upsets me the most is feeling like Im losing strength. All of my upper body lifts are getting better but my lower body moves have actually gone down. I could squat more a month ago than I can now (and that wasnt much!! Haha)
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    edited November 2017
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    evilpoptart63 wrote: »
    Does anyone have some tips for magically building muscle in a deficit?

    Would PEDS count as "magic"..? That's the only thing I can think of.

    Sounds like you already know you aren't going to be able to build muscle in a deficit.
    At this point I think you are going to need to pick a goal. This is why people do bulk/cut cycles.

    How long has your weight been stalled? Is it a true stall, or just fluctuations? Are you in need of a diet break? ETA I see you addressed this while I was typing this. Oops!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    When was the last time you took a deload?
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    When was the last time you took a deload?

    Oh, this too!
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Losing strength in a deficit is common... but... there are a few things you can try to help. In your case, as mentioned, a deload can help, also diet breaks, refeeds, playing around with macros (more carbs especially around workouts), moving to a smaller deficit, I am not sure if you are doing cardio, but sometimes that can affect strength if it is too intense or too close to your lifting sessions (especially in the lower body as you mentioned)

    Also, what program are you running?
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    I have never done a deload, I usually just stop lifting when I get pregnant haha! I just dont know what the next step should be... lift more, lift less, more cardio, less cardio, eat more (probably not comfortable eating less) I had a solid few months that I was progressing on my lifts and losing weight. Im not sure what happened. I would like to focus on these last few pounds before I bulk but Im not sure how much I should ideally be eating/training at this point. I felt like I had a great understanding but now I don't know how to adjust
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    Losing strength in a deficit is common... but... there are a few things you can try to help. In your case, as mentioned, a deload can help, also diet breaks, refeeds, playing around with macros (more carbs especially around workouts), moving to a smaller deficit, I am not sure if you are doing cardio, but sometimes that can affect strength if it is too intense or too close to your lifting sessions (especially in the lower body as you mentioned)

    Also, what program are you running?

    With 3 people bringing up a deload, I will defintely look that up right now! I stalled on 1,400 cals a while ago and saw some progress when I gradually brought it up to 1,600. I thought adding cardio would increase my deficit but that's when *kitten* started to go downhill. Ill try slowly increase my cals again. The running is new so its intense for me and I was doing it on my off days. I just realized a few days ago that I should do it after I lift so my legs can recover a bit. And Im doing SL5x5+ accessory lifts after each session. Thank you for the tips!! Ill look up deload and start eating a bit more :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    evilpoptart63 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Losing strength in a deficit is common... but... there are a few things you can try to help. In your case, as mentioned, a deload can help, also diet breaks, refeeds, playing around with macros (more carbs especially around workouts), moving to a smaller deficit, I am not sure if you are doing cardio, but sometimes that can affect strength if it is too intense or too close to your lifting sessions (especially in the lower body as you mentioned)

    Also, what program are you running?

    With 3 people bringing up a deload, I will defintely look that up right now! I stalled on 1,400 cals a while ago and saw some progress when I gradually brought it up to 1,600. I thought adding cardio would increase my deficit but that's when *kitten* started to go downhill. Ill try slowly increase my cals again. The running is new so its intense for me and I was doing it on my off days. I just realized a few days ago that I should do it after I lift so my legs can recover a bit. And Im doing SL5x5+ accessory lifts after each session. Thank you for the tips!! Ill look up deload and start eating a bit more :)

    Definitely give the deloading a try.

    And yea be mindful of the cardio... (depending on goals of course) some is great... too much can impact strength and recovery especially running. I know for me I can't do very much or it affects me. So I walk more, and increase my day to day activity instead.

    Also... I don't know much about SL but I know there comes a point where strength gains can become very difficult on that program, so once you are out of that phase, it may be time to move on to something else.
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    thank you :) I am pretty intense so when I decided to run I went from nothing to pushing myself as hard as humanly possible 4 or 5x a week lol. Ill tone that down and just try to keep moving. And yes, that seems like the phase im in now with SL. When I start a new program, should I find a similar 3 day full body routine or move into something with a bit more volume?
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    It sounds like the running is the reason your lower body lifting started to suffer. Possibly caused you to hold some extra water too.

    How long have you been dieting? I know you want to lose the last 5-10 lbs, but maybe a diet break is in order before you go after the rest? Just bringing your cals up a little if you're still in a deficit is not going to have the same effect.
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    I feel like Ive been dieting forever but I started May this year. For a diet break, would I just slowly increase my calories until I find maintenance? If so, what would be a reasonable number to increase each week?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    evilpoptart63 wrote: »
    I feel like Ive been dieting forever but I started May this year. For a diet break, would I just slowly increase my calories until I find maintenance? If so, what would be a reasonable number to increase each week?

    For a diet break, I'd go straight to maintenance. I've done it with every diet break I've ever taken. If you're using an MFP goal, just switch it over to Maintain Weight. If you're using another goal, I'd look at how much you've lost over the past two months and add back the equivalent in daily calories (e.g., one half pound per week average over eight weeks would mean adding back 250 calories to your daily goal.)
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    evilpoptart63 wrote: »
    I feel like Ive been dieting forever but I started May this year. For a diet break, would I just slowly increase my calories until I find maintenance? If so, what would be a reasonable number to increase each week?

    People seem to like 100 cals / week.
    To speed it up you could add something like 250 right off the bat though, and then do smaller increments weekly. It's really whatever you're comfortable with. Smaller adjustments will probably result in less water weight fluctuations. But on the other hand, the quicker you get to your maintenance the sooner the "diet break" will actually begin. (If you are truly eating for a 1.5 lb deficit, it will take you over 7 weeks just to get to your maintenance if you only add 100 per week.)
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    You ladies are awesome :) thank you so much for taking the time to help me with this. I'll try to deload and I just set my cals at maintenance. Im really excited to see if I can get out of this rut....plus food is great :wink:
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    So I looked up a deload and it sounds perfect for my situation. Ill start that today. I was wondering what I should plan on doing after its over though. I feel pretty much maxed out with SL5x5. Should I find a new beginner program with 3 days of full body or a program with more lifting days? I have wanted to do more days for a while but I know this has been studied hard and found beginner programs to be more effective for...beginners lol. Ive only been consistently training for 4.5months but have also lifted on and off for several years
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Consider switching to an upper/lower split. That would give you two upper and two lower workouts per week. There are a bunch of options but here are three:

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/

    https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=1266761131#post1266761131

    https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    fantastic, that sounds way mid more fun! Thank you :)
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,978 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Does anyone have some tips for magically building muscle in a deficit?

    Short answer: No

    Long answer: Unlikely unless you're a newbie and/or can meet some other conditions that few people can ever satisfy.

    See: http://sci-fit.net/2017/bulking-deficit-gaining/

    Otherwise, just eat at a surplus and lift heavy and intensely to induce hypertrophy.

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