Weight lifting in a deficit

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Turtle003
Turtle003 Posts: 133 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I already know I can't gain muscle eating in a deficit. My question is while I am eating in a deficit to lose my last 10lbs I'm also weight lifting...what will this do? Should I expect to just get leaner and see my existence muscle and realize I'm not gonna increase it?

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  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
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    It will help retain the muscle you already have.
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
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    You can still get stronger and more fit. Go for it.

    Train hard but with common sense.
  • Johns_Dope_AF
    Johns_Dope_AF Posts: 460 Member
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    You may wanna give yourself a little bump up in calories if you are just beginning to weight train. Maybe cut the deficit in half, possible recomp.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    It really depends on how much weight you have to lose. If you're already pretty lean, you won't gain much of anything in a deficit, but you can burn a little fat, maybe build some strength and definition. If, however, you have a lot to lose yet, you can certainly build some muscle, might not be as much as being in a surplus of calories because your body isn't usually that efficient at burning fat, but it can use some fat stores as extra calories (which is obviously what you want).
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    You can gain muscle with a small deficit.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    You can gain muscle with a small deficit.

    Especially if you're a beginner
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited December 2017
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    Turtle003 wrote: »
    I already know I can't gain muscle eating in a deficit.

    No you don't - that's a ridiculous generalisation.
    Minus one calorie a day would be a deficit and your body has no sense of calorie balance let alone a mode switch to say "OMG - I'm in a deficit, lets completely stop MPS...."

    Of course it's sub-optimal but that isn't the same as "can't".

    At the worst you will be the best that you can be in terms of muscle, strength and body composition. Whether that's more muscle or just retaining what you have is irrelevant, it's still the best that you can be.

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