any powerlifters on here?

dirtydirtysouf
dirtydirtysouf Posts: 26 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Trying got my body fat% under control but i seem to fall back into the old PL See food diet. Anybody have any luck of keeping strong and PR'ing while losing bodyfat?

Replies

  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
    I always try to look at it as a percentage of body weight PR, not a raw number PR. Makes it a lot easier to deal with controlling weight.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    how much do you have to lose? If it's a significant amount- then you might want to put PRing on hold and just focus on cutting- once you get to a more reasonable body fat percentage- then start working for PR's.

    I personally find I'm happy when I just don't LOSE strength when I'm trying to drop weight. If it's not that far- slow and steady will win the race on this one.
  • dirtydirtysouf
    dirtydirtysouf Posts: 26 Member
    JoRocka wrote: »
    how much do you have to lose?.
    Right now im 320# and i want to get to 275#....at 320 my trainer did a fat caliper test and im 30'ish% BF
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    i'm never successful at cutting bf, cause i get so darned hungry . but some of the people i train with have had good luck with a keto diet. With bf loss, you will also have muscle loss its just the way it is, our trainer says if we're gonna try to drop a weight class, to make that the goal and don't expect to PR and drop a weight class. Pick one or the other, but not both.
  • Larissa_NY
    Larissa_NY Posts: 495 Member
    Add in a couple of days a week of prowler sprints, or some kettlebell work. Those are both pretty effective at cutting fat without eating your muscles. But honestly if you want to lift heavy and be lean there doesn't seem to be any way around doing meal prep and making sure you're getting a ton of lean protein and vegetables.
  • Alec118
    Alec118 Posts: 2 Member
    I've had a little success losing weight and still hitting my weights and even pr'ing. In hopes to not lose my strength I am losing it as slowly as possible. If anything I am fatigued a lot quicker by my speed and rep days, but heavy days have been awesome moving less body weight and more bar weight. Granted I've only lost 10 pounds since I started this journey a little over a month ago. It's tough to change your nutrition, but once you look at food as purely a source of energy, it becomes much easier to shovel in massive amounts of chicken, brown rice, and broccoli at each meal.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    i'm never successful at cutting bf, cause i get so darned hungry . but some of the people i train with have had good luck with a keto diet. With bf loss, you will also have muscle loss its just the way it is, our trainer says if we're gonna try to drop a weight class, to make that the goal and don't expect to PR and drop a weight class. Pick one or the other, but not both.

    nods nods nods

    You have a ways to go- I'd give up on the idea of PRing- that's enough weight to lose you probably won't bak slide tremendously- I lost 20 pounds after my bulk and managed to only lose 10 pounds off my DL and my squat went up by another 5-10.

    Focus on the weight first- and then get back to where you want to be with the right training program.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
    I've got teammates who have maintained strength while doing slooooooow cuts. Lucky for me, I'm more competitive in my current weight class then if I dropped to 72, so I don't have to worry about it.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,689 Member
    I dropped 20# over six months, slow and steady. Takes longer, but smaller calorie deficit is easier to bear hunger-wise. It's also a lot easier to hit 1.5x BW bench press at 182 than it was at 202! Besides, my squat went up, since I had 20# less of BW to move along with the weight on my shoulder.
  • dirtydirtysouf
    dirtydirtysouf Posts: 26 Member
    nossmf wrote: »
    I dropped 20# over six months, slow and steady. Takes longer, but smaller calorie deficit is easier
    Im def going to try for the long haul for this....im heading to a sports nutri dr to help learn to eat the right way....learn to time carbs and all that jazz......
  • VanillaGorillaUK
    VanillaGorillaUK Posts: 342 Member
    Cutting for a comp or in general?

    For general fat loss, unless your new to lifting, the difference in energy level is too much. You won't hit PRs and progression is super slow. I found it impossible to progress on the bench press while in a deficit, infact I lost strength.

    Eventually I dropped the weight for higher reps and sets (60-70%), which I still do now. I'm able to add a few reps each week while still in a deficit. Once my BF levels are 10%, I will go back to powerlifting.
  • dirtydirtysouf
    dirtydirtysouf Posts: 26 Member
    VanillaGorillaUK wrote: »
    Cutting for a comp or in general?
    Just in general.....i turn 40 in may so i want to just drop bodyfat and keep what muscle i can
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