Why do I feel so weak when I squat!?
rachelilb
Posts: 179 Member
ok, so here's the deal. Back In May i was squatting 150+ with no issues (i weigh 127). My PR was 200x3. At that time I was eating about 2100 calories a day or more. Since my diet sucks on the weekends in the summer I decided to cut a little during the week to make up for all the crap i eat on the weekends. I now feel so weak and struggle to get 125 on squats! Does cutting only a few hundred calories really make that much of a difference or do i have something else going on?? Help, advice, thoughts.....
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This feels like deja vu, I'm having the same problem... I was at a 1RM of 205 back in early spring, now I am struggling with 150x5. It can be a lot of things. I have a shoulder/back injury right now which has surprisingly really only affected my squats. You're in a deficit or a bigger deficit, that can throw things off too. Of all the lifting I do, squats are the most high maintenance, it is the most physically and mentally draining lift. In order for me to PR or even get in strong sets it seems like everything has to be perfect.
Things to consider aside from what you mentioned... are you training fasted or even at a different time of day then you were back then? Has anything else like frequency or accessory lifts changed since then? Sleep, are you getting enough?0 -
My schedule has changed. I used to work out at night after work (around 6pm) now i'm in the gym at 5am. I didn't even consider that being an issue but It kind of makes sense. My work schedule has changed so i'm stuck doing morning workouts. Blah!0
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I'm at a deficit right now too, but I'm not having any regression on my lifts -- in fact, last week I hit a new rep PR for squats at 245 and today I'm aiming for another one at 255. That hasn't always been the case when in a deficit, though. I've previously had a lot of trouble recovering and training just felt awful. The difference now is that I'm only hitting each lift at high intensity once a week, and I'm eating at a surplus on those days. Averaging my calories out over a full week, I'm still in a deficit, but I have enough calories on heavy lifting days to handle it. And I make very sure to get enough sleep -- I seem to need more sleep while in a deficit to recover from the same amount of work.0
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Ok, i will bump on my calories a bit and see if that helps. Thanks for the tips!0
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While meal timing is largely irrelevant for weight loss it can have a profound effect on performance. Play around with that a little bit too.
But yeah, if you've switched workout times and increased your deficit and aren't sleeping as much all of those things individually will affect your workout performance so combined it will be even more noticeable.0 -
While meal timing is largely irrelevant for weight loss it can have a profound effect on performance. Play around with that a little bit too.
But yeah, if you've switched workout times and increased your deficit and aren't sleeping as much all of those things individually will affect your workout performance so combined it will be even more noticeable.
Good point. My performance blows if I don't eat a bunch of carbs prior to my workout. I eat lower/moderate carbs normally throughout the day so it's a big difference to give me that boost for my lifts.0 -
I usually have very little carbs with dinner so I'll add more carbs at dinner since I workout early in the morning. Thanks for all the help everyone!0
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I usually have very little carbs with dinner so I'll add more carbs at dinner since I workout early in the morning. Thanks for all the help everyone!
A friend of mine gave me the carb back-loading book and it's given me a new perspective about macro-nutrient timing. If I'm suppose to consume 250 grams of carbs in a day, then almost all of them are consumed at night prior to sleep if I'm working out the next morning. Then I train fasted in the morning. So far so good... CBL isn't like IF though, which is probably why I like it so far.0 -
are you doing less squats?0
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Its the content of the calories you're eating. Not pushing it or anything but Paleo diets and the crossfit zone diet is pretty cool. When I cut out almost all carbs(breads,pastas,potatoes etc. I was weaker even though my proteins were higher to make up for it. Cutting out too much is not good, I lost muscle mass quick. I would rather weigh more than I look and have the measurements go down. I'm at 254 lbs and still wear the same jeans that I had at 220 lbs.(32").0
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Its the content of the calories you're eating. Not pushing it or anything but Paleo diets and the crossfit zone diet is pretty cool. When I cut out almost all carbs(breads,pastas,potatoes etc. I was weaker even though my proteins were higher to make up for it. Cutting out too much is not good, I lost muscle mass quick. I would rather weigh more than I look and have the measurements go down. I'm at 254 lbs and still wear the same jeans that I had at 220 lbs.(32").
Paleo/primal are high fat, moderate protein and relatively low carb diets... not sure what you're getting at here.0 -
Its the content of the calories you're eating. Not pushing it or anything but Paleo diets and the crossfit zone diet is pretty cool. When I cut out almost all carbs(breads,pastas,potatoes etc. I was weaker even though my proteins were higher to make up for it. Cutting out too much is not good, I lost muscle mass quick. I would rather weigh more than I look and have the measurements go down. I'm at 254 lbs and still wear the same jeans that I had at 220 lbs.(32").
Paleo/primal are high fat, moderate protein and relatively low carb diets... not sure what you're getting at here.
Paleo doesn't have to be low-carb by any means. Paleo approved carbs:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Red Potatoes
- Apples (pretty sure at least...)
- Bananas
- Berries
Do a Google search and you can easily find them. I just listed those because most green vegetables are so high in fiber that the net carbs are minimal to nothing.
With the proper planning you can maintain a a fairly balanced macro plan using Paleo. Paleo isn't entirely easy to maintain a high concentration of carbs unless you can handle eating tons of stuff like the above, but it's doable. I recently started doing the carb back-loading approach and i typically stay with Paleo approved type food but at night I do cheat a little and consume something like Pop-Tarts to help get the "crappy" carbs in at night. I've actually leaned out a fair amount by doing this. LOL0 -
Its the content of the calories you're eating. Not pushing it or anything but Paleo diets and the crossfit zone diet is pretty cool. When I cut out almost all carbs(breads,pastas,potatoes etc. I was weaker even though my proteins were higher to make up for it. Cutting out too much is not good, I lost muscle mass quick. I would rather weigh more than I look and have the measurements go down. I'm at 254 lbs and still wear the same jeans that I had at 220 lbs.(32").
Paleo/primal are high fat, moderate protein and relatively low carb diets... not sure what you're getting at here.
Paleo doesn't have to be low-carb by any means. Paleo approved carbs:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Red Potatoes
- Apples (pretty sure at least...)
- Bananas
- Berries
Do a Google search and you can easily find them. I just listed those because most green vegetables are so high in fiber that the net carbs are minimal to nothing.
With the proper planning you can maintain a a fairly balanced macro plan using Paleo. Paleo isn't entirely easy to maintain a high concentration of carbs unless you can handle eating tons of stuff like the above, but it's doable. I recently started doing the carb back-loading approach and i typically stay with Paleo approved type food but at night I do cheat a little and consume something like Pop-Tarts to help get the "crappy" carbs in at night. I've actually leaned out a fair amount by doing this. LOL
I have done the paleo thing, I know what it is. Maybe moderate carbs is a better way to say it, but its low carbs in relation to what most powerlifters are probably eating. It by no means is high protein. Eating "paleo" foods isn't following paleo. There is a basic macronutrient guideline associated with it as well.0
