I need help! Deficit or no deficit?

If you eat at a deficit you will lose weight and if you lift at the same time you won't lose much muscle. To gain muscle you need to eat surplus.

cmriverside wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Yes.

at the lost-bet AV.

It could have been worse!

"I know that I must eat at an excess to gain muscle."
Not true.
Maybe true to add a LOT of muscle.
Maybe true if you are a very highly trained lifter.
You certainly want to avoid a large deficit though.

"So the question is, while lifting heavy weight should I still eat at a deficit?"
Yes, if you want to lose weight. No if you don't want to lose weight.


Assuming you still want to lose weight then small deficit, higher than normal protein and an effective lifting program should give you the best possible results. Even if you don't add muscle you will be conserving the maximum amount of existing muscle.

Regarding the deficit - Depends on if you are still trying to lose weight. If you are, I assume you still are, you HAVE to eat a deficit. Unless you eat a deficit, you WILL NOT lose weight. Trust me, eating a deficit does not reduce your muscle as long as you lift weights. I have been doing cardio and plyometrics HIIT for the past 2 months and in a calorie deficit of 600 calories per day and I have still gained muscle in my lower body. (You don't have to have that huge a deficit but I can maintain it and it causes weight to lose faster.) Since I have not done much weight training and only little bit of body weight training for upper body, I haven't gained muscle but I haven't lost it either. I shall add that to my routine once I am near 20 pounds of my target body weight.

The simple mechanics of weight loss is quality calories in < calories out. The simple mechanics of muscle building is work the muscle hard enough to break weak fibres down (by weight training, body weight training or plyometrics) and provide sufficient quality nutrition to build them back up. You have to maintain both if you want to put on muscle and lose weight (not just fat but weight).

Make sure that the composition of your meals is right. 50% -60% of your food must comprise of lean, healthy proteins, even with the calorie deficit. 40-45% should be high fiber and complicated carbs. The remaining 5% should be fats. Fats are essential to the satiety and proper functioning of your nerves and body organs. DO not cut them out completely. Just have healthier versions of fat eg. not more than 1 egg yolk per day, nuts, olive oil etc. As for the deficit, if you are lifting heavy weights or doing HIIT with weights, I suggest not to go lower than a 200 - 300 calorie deficit. But you still have to maintain your deficit.

Focus on upper body weight training once every 2 or 3 days. That means leaving 2 or 3 days between every upper body weight lifting workout. Do not remove cardio from your routine completely. It is essential for heart health and improving your Resp health. Consider adding one HIIT workout per week atleast. Do not do HIIT (considering its not upper body HIIT) and lower body weight training on consecutive days. HIIT generally is and should be treated like lower body weight training. I always recommend a balanced workout for an overall fitness instead of just numbers on the scale or on the measuring tape.

Once you have reached your target body weight and body fat percentage, after that you can go on a proper body building diet. If you try to fiddle with the deficit before that, your weight loss will suffer.