Lifting progress while cutting.

BeccaLoves2lift
BeccaLoves2lift Posts: 375 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Question... So I'm eating at a slight deficit to lose about 5 pounds. Should I expect to still progress in my lifts? Or will they likely stay pretty stable? Or will they decrease? Last time I was at a deficit I started weight training and made lots of progress but then stalled out. I then went into maintenance where I have made tons of strength gains. I realize that this may be very individual.

Replies

  • Inspirationalwaterjug
    Inspirationalwaterjug Posts: 384 Member
    edited January 2018
    If you're still relatively new to lifting you shouldn't notice a considerable change; even less so if the deficient is small and over a longer time.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,436 Member
    BeccaLoves2lift wrote: »
    Question... So I'm eating at a slight deficit to lose about 5 pounds. Should I expect to still progress in my lifts? Or will they likely stay pretty stable? Or will they decrease? Last time I was at a deficit I started weight training and made lots of progress but then stalled out. I then went into maintenance where I have made tons of strength gains. I realize that this may be very individual.

    Yeah. That's your answer.

    I'm usually good if it's a slow cut. Trying to drop weight faster definitely affects my strength.
  • Inspirationalwaterjug
    Inspirationalwaterjug Posts: 384 Member
    My poverty bench does when I start cutting.
  • BeccaLoves2lift
    BeccaLoves2lift Posts: 375 Member
    heytimsla wrote: »
    If you're still relatively new to lifting you shouldn't notice a considerable change; even less so if the deficient is small and over a longer time.

    I've been lifting for about 8 months so still pretty new. I'm trying to cut slowly because I don't have much to lose. I guess I just don't want to feel disappointed if it's normal to have to go down in weight when cutting. I also want to lose as little muscle as possible. When I lost weight last year I didn't know what I was doing and ate at a huge deficit and did mostly cardio
  • Inspirationalwaterjug
    Inspirationalwaterjug Posts: 384 Member
    If you manage the deficit over a long time you'll be fine. Five pounds really isn't that much. I'd say you're still very well into the newbie gains category. You'll be fine.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    If you don't want the weight to go down, you can always slightly decrease the volume if you need to. Try to keep the weights up, but maybe decrease by a rep or a set.
  • chase7612
    chase7612 Posts: 24 Member
    I just started lifting a few months ago and a few months before that started dieting, i too often wonder if my gains would be much better if i wasn't dieting...
  • JustaJoe00
    JustaJoe00 Posts: 777 Member
    You can still build muscle if you're forcing them to grow. Of course everybody's body is its own machine but i've found i can increase muscle even when i'm not eating as much because my bmi is higher. I guess what i'm saying is if you have certain amount of fat you can still grow muscle. Right? I"m not claiming to be an expert.
  • chase7612
    chase7612 Posts: 24 Member
    Ya I'm gaining, quite a bit actually... Just wondering if the diet is slowing me down. I take special care to get plenty of protein but I'm not an expert either. =\
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    Tapering for a meet while cutting (12 pounds) and my RPE for my openers has consistently become easier, ie from a 7.5 or 7 to a 6 or 5.5.

    So no, you do not necessarily become weaker.
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