Strength Loss When Cutting?

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not_a_runner
not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been maintaining weight the past few months while working on strength gains after getting back into heavy lifting from about a 6 month hiatus this year, and my squat/bench/dead are finally close to or above previous PR's while at 30 lbs higher body weight.
I would like to lose another 30 lbs, but not *kitten* (yep I wrote kitten) around as much as I did previously. Ideally I would like to maintain as much strength as possible.
So what I'm wondering is, would I be better off to aim to lose it slowly (about 1 lb/week) or is it ok to push it and aim closer to 1.5-2 lbs per week? Greatly reducing my time in a deficit, although I'll obviously be running a much larger deficit.
Any experienced lifters have any feedback one way or the other relating to strength? I've heard that both are "ideal" for different reasons.
Stats because you'll ask - 23 yo female, 5'1'' 185 lbs. (with plenty of fat to lose) I've been lifting about 3 years and this past week my gym maxes were 295 squat/ 165 bench/ 345 dead.
I'm not ruling out the idea that I could potentially gain some strength if I ran a moderate deficit for this cut, but I'd say it's not super likely at this point. I would really like to get the cut over with though.
Thoughts?

Replies

  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    You're in a similar situation to me. Same amount of time lifting, experience, etc.

    What I've found, cutting, is that I can maintain strength as long as I get adequate protein intake and hit every major body part twice per week. Take advantage of the MPS window. When the 48-hours is over, I hit that muscle group again.

    My current cut, now into it's 121st day, I've gained a lot on my lifts since start of September. But I'm only down 10 lbs., so it is not been an aggressive cut.

    I cannot give you personal experience for a 1.5-2 lb. per week cut because that sort of aggressive cut is really hard for me to achieve. One of the biggest issues I've faced when trying to cut hard like that is simply not enough energy to really hit my workouts at the intensity level I enjoy. So, keep that in mind... You may find the same thing.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
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    I tried cutting...and it didn't go well for me. I was around 125 at the time (5'3). I dropped by about 200 calories a day; things went well for about 3 weeks...and then I felt horrible and lifts started to suffer. The calorie deficit was likely to aggressive for my size at the time. I worked on recomp, which went much more smoothly, and have recently been working on a bulk (which has been fantastic...and easier than cutting). Currently, I'm at 137. My total on lifts has increased 45lbs since August. I prefer bulking...b/c pancakes and lifts.

    After the comp I'm doing in Feb., I'm going to give cutting another try, but am going to take a really slow approach this time.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    I would not aim for too aggressive a cut. Maybe aim for 1 lb loss a week, you can always adjust depending on how you feel. Meet your protein goals. Try to keep lifting the same weight, but scale back a bit on volume.
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    If you're losing strength then you're likely cutting too aggressively. Possible causes are not recovering / sleeping enough, not eating enough calories, not eating enough carbs. Personally, if I start to lose strength I up my calories slightly until I maintain strength or get stronger. You can expect to have bad workouts, and lose a rep or two, but you shouldn't be losing strength regularly over time.

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