Strength Loss

[mikecc]

Hey guys,

I recently started dieting a couple months ago. I have always been a little overweight, but also very strong, worked out hardcore in gym. Was prolly around 16-17% bf. At my heaviest, I was 216. I am 5'10" btw. I was benching around 270 and that was the most I ever did. I started dieting, well not really dieting, just stopped eating a lot, and just started doing portion control, eating healthy. I dropped down to like 206 after a month with increased cardio. My bench went way down, to approximately ~240. (I am using my bench as a strength meter) I then got on an actual 5-6 meal a day diet, and I have been dieting for 2-3 months, and I am down to 193. Everyone says I look a lot skinnier, but I am not satisfied, so I am starting up another diet with a goal of 180. But after I got down to 193, my strength (or bench at least), further decreased to probably around 215. It's very frustrating to see myself not being able to put up the amount of weight I was before. Is it normal to go down this much in strength? Am I not taking in enough protein? I guess I have to admit, when I do other exercises (such as dumbbell based workouts, biceps, etc) my strength doesn't seem THAT much lower than when I started.

Basically, I am questioning whether or not its really worth it to me to be losing all this strength and weight, seeing as how I really wasn't THAT fat. I am hoping once I go down to 180, or lower, that I'll be able to re-gain my strength. I realize that when you diet and do cardio, you do tend to lose muscle, I just did not think I would get this much weaker.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Caesar]

can you post what you are eating? chances are something is wrong in your diet. If you keep a clean diet written up you can track and modify your diet based on progress. Your strength decrease is much more than normal. I've been cutting for a month or so and my bench has dropped about 25 pounds and i thought that was bad. Something is wrong. You shouldn't be losing that much strength.

 

[NEW_IN_THE_GAME]

I thought losing 20 pounds sucked, dude eat more carbs or somehting.

 

[dontsurfonmytur]

try supps liek creatine and glutamine, good for preserving muscle while cutting

 

[budhicks1]

Are you doing cardio the same time you lift? If so, I would stay away from that. Instead eat normally but clean 5-6 meals(Heck with portion control). Do cardio in the morning and lift at night. Worked for me!

 

[emunah]

Strength loss usually means you are losing muscle.

 

[mikecc]

Well what I am afriad of is that I'll lose all my muscle because I am not dieting correctly. Here is my current diet:

Morning - Chicken Breast, multivitamin, 1 slice toast (no butter, whole wheat), 8oz OJ
Mid-Meal - 2 Non-Fat yogurts
Lunch - Tuna sandwich, whole wheat bread. Small-Medium serving of grapes/apples/etc
Mid-Meal - Some grapes/apples. If i go to the gym, I will have a powerbar or something.
After-Gym - Whey Protein Shake
Dinner - Lean beef, low-fat steak, etc. Small-Medium serving of salad. Complex carb such as yams/bread.
Before Bed - Whey Protein Shake

10-12 glasses of water a day.

Dinner and gym sometimes switched.

 

[Jodi]

Well, it doesn't look too bad but it's not the greatest either. It appears that you may be getting enough protein. However, your carb choices are poor as is your healthy fats.

Have you read the stickies called Guide to Cutting?

 

[mikecc]

No i have not.. will find it and take a look, thanks.

 

[ava]

I'm bumping this because I'm interested in mikecc's progress if he changed up his diet. I too am cutting and noticed yesterday that my strength is starting to go down slightly and I was curious if it was because the total caloric had dropped or if I'm losing a bit of LBM. This is my first cut so I'm not sure what to expect as far as what type of strength loss is typical on a cut.

However, your carb choices are poor as is your healthy fats.

While I can see he's not getting any EFA's other than from the Tuna, what is wrong with his carb choices? To me, it appears most of them are complex carbs from whole wheat, yams, etc and the other carbs are from fruit.

Hopefully Jodi can answer my questions on the diet and mikecc will see this and let me know how he's progressing.

 

[Nigeepoo]

While I can see he's not getting any EFA's other than from the Tuna,...

If it's tinned tuna, there are no EFAs in it.

 

[33sun33]

Mikecc, let us know if changing your diet helps. Like Ava and you, Ive noticed that my strength has decreased during my cut (this is my first cut btw). Ive lost about 12lbs over the course of maybe 6-7 weeks (going from 217 to around 205 at 6"3), and I seem a little tighter but I still need to cut my BF a bit to reach my summertime goal (bf under 10%). Unfortunately, I have been really frustrated with the strength I have lost -- going down from 10 reps of chest press with 80lb DBs to maybe 8 reps of the 70s. I blame my diet, as Ive been doing a lot of traveling recently (poor excuse) and sometimes have only been able to eat 3 decent meals throughout the day instead of 5 or 6. Plus my efas have sucked, so Ill rectify that. I also havent been doing much cardio -- mostly relying on diet. I think Ill add in some HIIT 3 times a week to speed up the process.

Good luck!

I'm bumping this because I'm interested in mikecc's progress if he changed up his diet. I too am cutting and noticed yesterday that my strength is starting to go down slightly and I was curious if it was because the total caloric had dropped or if I'm losing a bit of LBM. This is my first cut so I'm not sure what to expect as far as what type of strength loss is typical on a cut.

While I can see he's not getting any EFA's other than from the Tuna, what is wrong with his carb choices? To me, it appears most of them are complex carbs from whole wheat, yams, etc and the other carbs are from fruit.

Hopefully Jodi can answer my questions on the diet and mikecc will see this and let me know how he's progressing.

 

[P-funk]

if you are losing strength on a diet, look at:

a) the possibility that you are cutting calories (or body weight) to fast

and

b) the possibility that your training program is not condusive to maintainin adequate strength levels by having the necessary tension work in there. The biggest problem people make is doing more metabolic work and not enough tension work to maintain strength levels. I am 20lbs less than my heaviest ever and I can still do pretty much every thing now that I could then.

 

[DiGiTaL]

Go up the list and read my thread for my cutting diet, P-Funk wrote some good information to always keep in mind.

 

[vortrit]

If it's tinned tuna, there are no EFAs in it.

Really?

 

[Nigeepoo]

Yes, really. "No" is probably putting it a bit strongly. Just look at the label on the tin. How much fat/100g? How much omega-3/100g?

 

[vortrit]

Yes, really. "No" is probably putting it a bit strongly. Just look at the label on the tin. How much fat/100g? How much omega-3/100g?

Good point. I usually take fish oils when I eat tuna anyway, but I think I may get the pouches. Those are better, aren't they?

 

[Nigeepoo]

Good point. I usually take fish oils when I eat tuna anyway, but I think I may get the pouches. Those are better, aren't they?

Don't ask me! I'm a wild red Alaskan salmon kinda guy. What does it say on the pouch?

 

[vortrit]

Don't ask me! I'm a wild red Alaskan salmon kinda guy. What does it say on the pouch?

I'm not exactly sure, but I will give it a look. I think Jodi is always going on about them being better than the can.

Yeah, Salmon is the best way to go I understand, I just don't like it much for some reason. The only way I like to eat it is to make Salmon cakes.