How do people train and cut at the same time?

[kegels]

All of my lifts are just shooting through the floor while I'm cutting and it hurts so much more to do the same basic exercises. I'm not at much more than a -500 cal deficit and I'm so weak that my squats/DLs are cut in half. I feel like it keeps getting worse the more weight I lose.

Does this happen to you? How do you manage it?

[oregonchick76]

Why would you go for such a large deficit? How overweight are you?

[mysticpenguin]

What are your stats like? (How much have you lost, how quickly? What were your one rep maxes at the starting weight & what are they now?) What kind of diet are you on? Ketosis diets can adversely impact workout energy for some people, especially for the first few weeks.

[ozziefitchick]

What do you mean hurts more? you feel more fatigued quickly orr..?
You shouldn't go balls to the wall whilst you are cutting for that reason, you're diet is doing majority of the work.
Yep you won't be as energetic or as strong, do you max and be happy with that and switch it up high rep, low weight etc
Also depends what kind of foods you are eating.
Since switching to a Very high protein, moderate carb and super low fat diet I have much more energy and put more into my workouts, I also just feel better mentally and I've been cutting for awhile now!
Make sure you are supplementing your workouts correctly too, this will help.
Do you take BCAA's?

[megdaig]

When I was cutting my workouts didn't have anywhere near the intensity that they do now...but I still lifted heavy...I just took more rest time between sets. Hell, I think it was about 3 or 2 weeks out from competition and I almost fell asleep in the power rack between deadlift sets but was still lifting near max weight.

Like mentioned above, your diet is doing most of the work for you...all your lifting is doing is telling your body that it needs keep the muscle that it has.

[EricEst1978]

have you tried intermittent fasting kegels? what are you cutting out? just calories all together or certain macronutrients?

[kegels]

What do you mean hurts more? you feel more fatigued quickly orr..?
You shouldn't go balls to the wall whilst you are cutting for that reason, you're diet is doing majority of the work.
Yep you won't be as energetic or as strong, do you max and be happy with that and switch it up high rep, low weight etc
Also depends what kind of foods you are eating.
Since switching to a Very high protein, moderate carb and super low fat diet I have much more energy and put more into my workouts, I also just feel better mentally and I've been cutting for awhile now!
Make sure you are supplementing your workouts correctly too, this will help.
Do you take BCAA's?

Yeah I get fatigued/muscle failure very quickly.

I'm on a high protein low fat diet, w some complex carbs. I spend about 4 months on and 4 months off at a time, but when I'm on by about 3 weeks in I'm exhausted.

Never tried BCAAs, gonna have to look in to that, thanks!

And thanks everybody, I should just probably take it easy. My vanity is getting the better of me and I'm afraid of losing my squat ass, haha.

[rdferguson]

Last time I cut, I made sure that my pre-workout nutrition was the same as it had been while bulking prior. I learnt while I was bulking what it takes for me to perform well on any given day, and so I stuck to the same preparations. It was just how I ate after training and on my off-days that changed. Managed to maintain most of my strength and feel good in the gym whilst losing about 1lb/wk.

[ozziefitchick]

I find BCAA's really help with recovery, I use them before during and after exercise and I do early morning cardio plus weight training at night nearly every day.

[CajunSpecial]

Yeah I get fatigued/muscle failure very quickly.

I'm on a high protein low fat diet, w some complex carbs. I spend about 4 months on and 4 months off at a time, but when I'm on by about 3 weeks in I'm exhausted.

Never tried BCAAs, gonna have to look in to that, thanks!

And thanks everybody, I should just probably take it easy. My vanity is getting the better of me and I'm afraid of losing my squat ass, haha.

4 weeks on, 4 weeks off? Do you mean you are cutting the same length as a bulk? That's not a good idea. Your cut should be about 1/3 the length of a bulk (half the time at most). Long cuts are never a good idea so I hope you don't mean you are cutting for 4 months.

[rdferguson]

4 weeks on, 4 weeks off? Do you mean you are cutting the same length as a bulk? That's not a good idea. Your cut should be about 1/3 the length of a bulk (half the time at most). Long cuts are never a good idea so I hope you don't mean you are cutting for 4 months.

That's relative to current body composition. Someone starting out with a low bodyfat percentage would be fine to bulk for 3 months, cut for 1, and repeat. Someone starting out with 50% bodyfat would be better off doing it the other way around.

[Kemo1990]

oooo heavenly blessed kegels where has thou been

[CajunSpecial]

That's relative to current body composition. Someone starting out with a low bodyfat percentage would be fine to bulk for 3 months, cut for 1, and repeat. Someone starting out with 50% bodyfat would be better off doing it the other way around.

Not really, if they only bulked for one month, they certainly didn't put on enough muscle to cut from, so it wouldn't be cutting, but rather dieting till they get to the bodyweight they would be satisfied with to begin their first real bulk.

[erinlee01]

If your lifts are cut in half, something is off in your macros. I did a contest prep diet and was able to maintain my lifts and hit PRs on occasion. I didn't start losing strength until around 3-4 weeks ahead of my competition, which was when I dipped below 1500 calories.

You say you're on a high protein, low fat, with "some complex carbs". That right there is your problem. You shouldn't do low carb and low fat. If you want to go high protein, low carb, you need to raise the fats to replace the carbs. The body needs an energy source.

[oregonchick76]

Yeah I get fatigued/muscle failure very quickly.

I'm on a high protein low fat diet, w some complex carbs. I spend about 4 months on and 4 months off at a time, but when I'm on by about 3 weeks in I'm exhausted.

Never tried BCAAs, gonna have to look in to that, thanks!

And thanks everybody, I should just probably take it easy. My vanity is getting the better of me and I'm afraid of losing my squat ass, haha.

Why low fat? Fat doesn't make you fat. You need at last .4g per lb of body weight for proper body function. And low carb makes my energy tank too. If you are eating low carb, maybe take some carbs right before a workout. How big is your deficit? How fast are you losing? How much do you weigh?

[kegels]

Why low fat? Fat doesn't make you fat. You need at last .4g per lb of body weight for proper body function. And low carb makes my energy tank too. If you are eating low carb, maybe take some carbs right before a workout. How big is your deficit? How fast are you losing? How much do you weigh?

The exact macro ratios of my diet is governed by medical issues at the moment, I get the fats I need (and trust me I know fats are fine) but much more than that and I get pretty sick. That might change, but for now I definitely envy the people who can just bacon and coconut oil their way through a cut.

I've lost about 54lbs over the last two years and it's very VERY slow (and I like it better that way). I cut about 500 cals from maintenance and the more I drop the worse the fatigue seems to get.

4 weeks on, 4 weeks off? Do you mean you are cutting the same length as a bulk? That's not a good idea. Your cut should be about 1/3 the length of a bulk (half the time at most). Long cuts are never a good idea so I hope you don't mean you are cutting for 4 months.

I don't bulk for the entirety of the time that I'm off, but longer cuts are okay if you're someone starting out at a higher bf%. I know most of bb.com can cycle through the same 20lbs really quickly but I would drop only maybe about 4lbs in a month.

[cdombrowski]

I was feeling really weak out side of the gym and lacking motivation to lift while I was training. It started 5 weeks into my cut. I posted on here and the advice I got was to look at how low my carbs were, training volume and sleep. I made changes to all of these over the lasst few days and I had a great session back at the gym this morning. I dialed in my sleep...now 7-8 hours upped my carbs to 150 and took two consecutive days off. I was over eager to drop the body fat and I crashed.

things to look at:
-do you track your macros? play with your fat and carbs to see if it helps energy. I find I need sufficiant fat to feel good.
--how much sleep are you getting? recovery happens at rest...especially when we sleep.
--Hydration...drink water...I may be stating the obvious but we know we lose strength when we are not hydrated.
For me cutting while keeping my strength in the gym has been much more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I find I do a lot more talking to myself with thoes last few reps. I just try to leave every thing I have to give at the gym. No regrets.

[kimm4]

If your lifts are cut in half, something is off in your macros. I did a contest prep diet and was able to maintain my lifts and hit PRs on occasion. I didn't start losing strength until around 3-4 weeks ahead of my competition, which was when I dipped below 1500 calories.

You say you're on a high protein, low fat, with "some complex carbs". That right there is your problem. You shouldn't do low carb and low fat. If you want to go high protein, low carb, you need to raise the fats to replace the carbs. The body needs an energy source.

This^^

[kegels]

Thanks for the suggestions everybody, I'll start playing around with my macros and try to get more sleep and see how it works out. Higher fats kind of make me ill at the moment so lol more carbs here I come.