For those of you who were told that...

[Piranha89]

it is impossible to cut and gain strength at the same time.

That's BS.

I have gone up 10 lbs on my bench in the last 10 days (among other lifts too) while losing 4 pounds.

I've never never done this. What's different?

My diet is much better. While I'd eat healthy before, I'd indulge in a bad dinner or lunch. Now I'm using my protein for my muscles (180 G) and keeping calories to a low of at the most 1900 cals. And this is with lifting 3 times and running 20 miles per week.

Moral to this story, lift hard, run your ass off, and most importantly, keep your diet as tight as a 12 year olds pussy.

[ejthomp]

Lost 4 pounds in ten days...

Gained 10 pounds in bench press in same ten days....

Wow! Now...to prove it.... do the same thing again....and then one more time after that....

[bennybenny401]

Last 3 months I've lost 63 lbs and definitely improved my lifts in basically every single thing I do. (using what I used to do before I got fat and lazy as the standard.)

I may be losing some muscle with the fat but I don't really care I feel stronger and have been losing weight as well.

[Piranha89]

Lost 4 pounds in ten days...

Gained 10 pounds in bench press in same ten days....

Wow! Now...to prove it.... do the same thing again....and then one more time after that....

I plan on doing that good sir.

For my body weight, however, 4 pounds is a 2.5% loss of my overall weight, and now my bench is 30 lbs heavier than my actual weight!

[schnell123]

Consider this:

Before your diet, your eating habits were terrible. You didn't have the proper nutrients to maximize your workouts, and you ate so many carbs and didn't drink a lot of water, so you were holding a lot of water weight.

Now you start your diet, water weight sheds off with reduced carbs/more water or even same amount of water as before and less carbs. Now you're body has the nutrients to give it the energy to truly lift as heavy as you can. This is why that happened. Not to derail you, you will definitely see progress by continuing dieting/working out, but that much progress does not come that quickly.

If you think you're still correct, then go take a video of your max bench, and a picture on the scale. Post those every 10 days. If you do that, then I will believe you.

[Piranha89]

Consider this:

Before your diet, your eating habits were terrible. You didn't have the proper nutrients to maximize your workouts, and you ate so many carbs and didn't drink a lot of water, so you were holding a lot of water weight.

Now you start your diet, water weight sheds off with reduced carbs/more water or even same amount of water as before and less carbs. Now you're body has the nutrients to give it the energy to truly lift as heavy as you can. This is why that happened. Not to derail you, you will definitely see progress by continuing dieting/working out, but that much progress does not come that quickly.

If you think you're still correct, then go take a video of your max bench, and a picture on the scale. Post those every 10 days. If you do that, then I will believe you.

I've been eating right for a while, about 4 years. I've done my fair share of cuts and bulks. I'm just getting to know my body better. People can take my word or not. I'll be posting pictures in mid august after my cut.

Each bench workout I've gone up at least 2 extra reps. today, my two rep max became my 4 bench max, could have possibly tried for 5 but didnt have a spotter.

[-TC-]

I dont think anyone here said you cant gain strength and lose fat.

[WannaBLarge]

Yeah I did the same thing when I was losing weight. I was over 255 and cut to 145 and the entire time all of my lifts were increasing. People need to be more specific when they say you lose strength when you cut. They should be saying you lose strength when you cut WHEN you have little no fat to get rid of. I see this mistake made a lot on these forums.

My bench went from 135lbs when i weighted 255 to 205lbs when i weighted 145. It was a major strength change that only took me a little over a year.

[schnell123]

I am not saying recomping is not possible. I am saying that this progress is not possible solely on a recomp unless you just fixed a major problem in your diet/workout, the OP said he has been eating right for 4 years and I am assuming working out during that too. I highly doubt that in 10 days, someone with experience in lifting/dieting was able to put on 10 lbs to their bench and lose 4 lbs without fixing their form or some other error they were making.

[WannaBLarge]

I am not saying recomping is not possible. I am saying that this progress is not possible solely on a recomp unless you just fixed a major problem in your diet/workout, the OP said he has been eating right for 4 years and I am assuming working out during that too. I highly doubt that in 10 days, someone with experience in lifting/dieting was able to put on 10 lbs to their bench and lose 4 lbs without fixing their form or some other error they were making.

Agreed. I was a big ol fatty when I started with no idea what I was doing.

[Piranha89]

Yeah I did the same thing when I was losing weight. I was over 255 and cut to 145 and the entire time all of my lifts were increasing. People need to be more specific when they say you lose strength when you cut. They should be saying you lose strength when you cut WHEN you have little no fat to get rid of. I see this mistake made a lot on these forums.

My bench went from 135lbs when i weighted 255 to 205lbs when i weighted 145. It was a major strength change that only took me a little over a year.

Well, I am weighing in at 157.4 right now, at 5-11 somewhere around 17% BF. My bench has gone from 175 to 185.

I am not saying recomping is not possible. I am saying that this progress is not possible solely on a recomp unless you just fixed a major problem in your diet/workout, the OP said he has been eating right for 4 years and I am assuming working out during that too. I highly doubt that in 10 days, someone with experience in lifting/dieting was able to put on 10 lbs to their bench and lose 4 lbs without fixing their form or some other error they were making.

I am doing the EXACT same workout I did last summer. While I made nice progress then, my strength went down. This summer I'm eating better and just "want" it more!

[Sith Emperor]

Consider this:

Before your diet, your eating habits were terrible. You didn't have the proper nutrients to maximize your workouts, and you ate so many carbs and didn't drink a lot of water, so you were holding a lot of water weight.

Now you start your diet, water weight sheds off with reduced carbs/more water or even same amount of water as before and less carbs. Now you're body has the nutrients to give it the energy to truly lift as heavy as you can. This is why that happened. Not to derail you, you will definitely see progress by continuing dieting/working out, but that much progress does not come that quickly.

If you think you're still correct, then go take a video of your max bench, and a picture on the scale. Post those every 10 days. If you do that, then I will believe you.

You are 100% correct but stop ruining our hopes and dreams

[ChiefRocka]

I dont think anyone here said you cant gain strength and lose fat.

Exactly.

Gaining strength does not mean you are gaining muscle MASS. In fact I see lots of people get stronger when they drop weight.

[UCFBuilder]

yeah i gained some strength at the beginning of my cut as well...dont think that will continue to happen as you get further into it tho and you cals start dropping..ull be struggling to maintain what strength you already have

[cheeseandrice]

nobody says you lose strength on a cut

people say you cant add SIZE on a cut, which by and large, is true

[Piranha89]

Exactly.

Gaining strength does not mean you are gaining muscle MASS. In fact I see lots of people get stronger when they drop weight.

Most of the things I've seen on the boards do not say that.

In fact, many use it as an excuse to losing fat.

BTW, I'm eating 750 cals/day below my maintenance.

[surfergirl36]

Lost 4 pounds in ten days...

Gained 10 pounds in bench press in same ten days....

Wow! Now...to prove it.... do the same thing again....and then one more time after that....

and leave the 12 year olds out of it...

[ChiefRocka]

Most of the things I've seen on the boards do not say that.

In fact, many use it as an excuse to losing fat.

BTW, I'm eating 750 cals/day below my maintenance.

Maybe you've misinterpreted...Most things I read say you cannot cut and gain mass at the same time. I even made a thread about that recently. Adding strength is a different dynamic than the process of adding muscle mass. I was stronger at 205 than I was at 235. For real. Could bench 225 for 20 reps at 205, when I was 235 I couldnt do anywhere near that.

[Piranha89]

Maybe you've misinterpreted...Most things I read say you cannot cut and gain mass at the same time. I even made a thread about that recently. Adding strength is a different dynamic than the process of adding muscle mass. I was stronger at 205 than I was at 235. For real. Could bench 225 for 20 reps at 205, when I was 235 I couldnt do anywhere near that.

I'd agree about the muscle mass. But I can pull some posts from this board saying it's "normal" and "expected" to lose STRENGTH while on a cut.

[MCrow]

People can add both muscle mass and weight to their lifts while on the cut. However, the longer you train and the more lean you become the less likely it is that it will happen. The first couple of months that you lift you are pretty likely to put on mass even on a huge deficit.

Then you have to take into account supplements and improved form over the course of time. There are supplements out there that can help improve your lifts pretty soon after you start on them. Probably the most scientificly proven one is Creatine. Some energy boosters like Jack3d have been known to improve lifts just due to the raw energy boos,plus it has creatine in it as well.

However, if you are lean and have been lifting for a while and have not started any new supplements you are unlikely to gain mass or improve lifts too much while on a cut.

[Piranha89]

People can add both muscle mass and weight to their lifts while on the cut. However, the longer you train and the more lean you become the less likely it is that it will happen. The first couple of months that you lift you are pretty likely to put on mass even on a huge deficit.

Then you have to take into account supplements and improved form over the course of time. There are supplements out there that can help improve your lifts pretty soon after you start on them. Probably the most scientificly proven one is Creatine. Some energy boosters like Jack3d have been known to improve lifts just due to the raw energy boos,plus it has creatine in it as well.

However, if you are lean and have been lifting for a while and have not started any new supplements you are unlikely to gain mass or improve lifts too much while on a cut.

This is what I am talking about... I DO NOT take and supps other than multi, fish oil, whey. I havent taken creatine for 18 months. This IS NOT noob gains either, I've been lifting for nearly 4 years.

[csb5731]

I'd agree about the muscle mass. But I can pull some posts from this board saying it's "normal" and "expected" to lose STRENGTH while on a cut.

It is fairly "normal" to lose strength on a cut, but not 10 days into one. It's also not as common when higher levels of bodyfat are present.

I guarantee you that I've made strength progression well into cuts before, and eventually started losing strength, and it wasn't because I just turned into a pansy one day and decided that I wasn't going to lift heavy and eat crap.

[gooseguy312]

People can add both muscle mass and weight to their lifts while on the cut. However, the longer you train and the more lean you become the less likely it is that it will happen. The first couple of months that you lift you are pretty likely to put on mass even on a huge deficit.

Then you have to take into account supplements and improved form over the course of time. There are supplements out there that can help improve your lifts pretty soon after you start on them. Probably the most scientificly proven one is Creatine. Some energy boosters like Jack3d have been known to improve lifts just due to the raw energy boos,plus it has creatine in it as well.

However, if you are lean and have been lifting for a while and have not started any new supplements you are unlikely to gain mass or improve lifts too much while on a cut.

exactly@@@

as long as thiers a stable energy source (fat) present your body wont mind putting on extra "muscle" (not strength).

You can absolutely build muscle and burn bodyfat at the same time, but the bodyfat has to be pretty high for this to happen. Its not going to happen at lower than about 10% while on a calorie deficit, anything under that presents an energy crisis.

Muscle itself is made mostly of water anyway, its not the food itself that turns into muscle, its the fact your body thinks its getting enough energy, thats the main reason muscle gets put on (and ofcourse proper stimulation)

[JeffyDOS]

I dont think anyone here said you cant gain strength and lose fat.

Seriously. The main debate is whether or not you can gain muscle mass on a cut.

[Piranha89]

exactly@@@

as long as thiers a stable energy source (fat) present your body wont mind putting on extra "muscle" (not strength).

You can absolutely build muscle and burn bodyfat at the same time, but the bodyfat has to be pretty high for this to happen. Its not going to happen at lower than about 10% while on a calorie deficit, anything under that presents an energy crisis.

Muscle itself is made mostly of water anyway, its not the food itself that turns into muscle, its the fact your body thinks its getting enough energy, thats the main reason muscle gets put on (and ofcourse proper stimulation)

What would you say is a high BF? I'm 17, is that high enough to correlate to your post?

[gooseguy312]

What would you say is a high BF? I'm 17, is that high enough to correlate to your post?

Speaking out of experience, all muscle gains for me stopped when i hit 10% (while cutting), my best guess is very close to that.