Building strength on a deficit

Llamapants86
Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,
One of my goals/motivation for getting into better shape and losing weight is to be able to get my dirt bike on the back of our truck without help. Now we have gone and got a new truck that has an even higher bed. So even more hight to get my beast of a bike up.

That being said, I keep reading that you can't build muscle mass while on a deficit (totally makes sense). I am just wondering if I can still gain strength to reach my goal. I have noticed an increase in my strength and endurance at first but now I seem kind of ... stuck. I start T25 soon so I am hoping that changing things up might help.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Replies

  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    You will gain strength but at a deficit you will eventually plateau and need to up the calories
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    You can absolutely gain strength on a deficit.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Yes you can.

    Get to it.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Absolutely you can.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Yes...strength gains are largely about neural adaptation, not necessarily mass. You can make outstanding strength gains without adding and ounce of actual muscle. Eventually you will plateau, and that plateau will come sooner in a calorie deficit, but you can make really good headway even at a deficit.
  • theopenforum
    theopenforum Posts: 280 Member
    yes you can, I can promise you this one just from my experience alone I know that to be true. Yeh you can plateau but I have yet to do so so the bar varies.

    Hope that helps :)
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    Im working on gaining strength on a deficit. It means that my deficit is less than someone who is just dieting. I eat between 1800-2100 calories, depending on the activity that day. My exercise is split betwen cardio, strength training, and stretching. I really focus on getting my protein macro up as high as I can because this supports muscle development. And I dont let hunger dictate when and how much I eat. There are a lot of days when 1600 calories would statisfy my "hunger" and some when I would actually be incline to eat less. i started off at my BMR number and as I successfully added an exercise activity to my routine I reevaluated my calorie intake goal.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,982 Member
    Yes...strength gains are largely about neural adaptation, not necessarily mass. You can make outstanding strength gains without adding and ounce of actual muscle. Eventually you will plateau, and that plateau will come sooner in a calorie deficit, but you can make really good headway even at a deficit.
    This. Progressive overload (adding resistance when an exercise gets easier) has been used for decades to increase strength without adding muscle.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    use the friction zone- loading a bike in a truck has nothing to do with strength.
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Thanks for the replies! Good to know I probably don't have to pick a goal yet. Just gotta push harder.
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
    use the friction zone- loading a bike in a truck has nothing to do with strength.
    That's what I was doing for a while, until I slipped, let go of the clutch and revved the **** out of it (just due to the way I feel). Now I prefer to do it under my own strength.
  • MisterDerpington
    MisterDerpington Posts: 604 Member
    Power Cleans and Overhead Presses.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    Of course you can, it's exactly what I'm doing now. Strength programs and gains are usually built around maximal strength with minimal muscle gain. As someone else said it's more about neural adaptations. That said, gains might be slightly slower and you may stall more frequently and quicker but the strength will still come :)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    use the friction zone- loading a bike in a truck has nothing to do with strength.
    That's what I was doing for a while, until I slipped, let go of the clutch and revved the **** out of it (just due to the way I feel). Now I prefer to do it under my own strength.

    You're more likely to wrench your back trying to muscle around a bike.... revving it won't kill it- as long is it didn't go handle bars *kitten* over tea cup- you're fine.

    I've been pushing around my 450 lb bike for years- sometimes it's better to push- sometimes it's just better to use the friction zone.

    That being said- being strong certainly will help manipulating it.
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Oh it did terrible things to the bike and the truck as well as myself. It would have been a fail army moment if it was caught on tape.

Categories