Lifting on caloric deficit after 1.5 years off

[layarph]

Hi guys, so I'm back in the nut. forum after a very long break. I am aware this is more exercise related than nutrition, but this is where I spent much of my time helping others, after the guys in here originally helped me nutrition wise, so I trust their exercise advice more than the other forums (and any dedicated posters that have joined since I was last here) having spent a lot of time in the forum with them.

So I have been gym-free for about a year and a half, for numerous reasons, and am starting back tomorrow.

My choice, based on my appearance / bf (added too much fact) is to cut first.

Now I have always told people that the only time you can build any muscle at a cal deficit is if you are a newb, overweight, or a previously dedicated lifter returning from time off.

Now I wanted to hear some experienced views on whether I would fit into that final bracket ... I lifted and progressed from 2010-2012 and then stopped around half way through 2012 (my DP was my physique at that point).

Any thoughts on how I would benefit from lifting for hypertrophy, at a calorie deficit at my current stage? Was I routinely lifting long enough (long-term wise) to fit that bracket? Was I away for enough time/too long to fit that bracket?

Any thoughts / suggestions?!

Thanks.

[Sagaro87]

I took four months off out of laziness and just started up again back in November. I did almost exactly the same thing. I started looking into nutrition which is how I ended up here and I feel like I've made more progress in the last three months than I did in my whole first year of serious lifting. I wasn't really cutting as I gained weight, but considering I was eating less than I had previously it seemed like a deficit (it was probably more mental). Anyway, long story short, I'm pretty sure I was in the rare category of burning fat and building muscle.

And for anyone out there who is thinking this is BS. Don't jump all over me about proving this with science, all I can say is that anecdotally, looking in the mirror and at the scale, my body fat % went down and my weight went up. Also now I'm on a bulk so I only did that cut for about 6-8 weeks after taking 4 months off. So, I say go for it man. What's the worst that can happen?

[Former300lber]

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

If you make gains because of muscle memory, hooray for you, if not, who cares. You still have to lose the fat regardless, don't expect anything more then what you had when you stopped lifting because it's not gonna happen

To the user above me, it's possible to lower bf% and gain muscle, because a % is just that, a %. If you add mass to your frame and the majority of it is lean mass in the form of muscle, water, etc, and you manage to put on as minimal fat as possible then the percent of fat to overall mass lowers, however the actual mass of fat does not.

[layarph]

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

If you make gains because of muscle memory, hooray for you, if not, who cares. You still have to lose the fat regardless, don't expect anything more then what you had when you stopped lifting because it's not gonna happen

Great response. What I had when stopped lifting would be a dream for me now, and I don't think possible ... I was simply wanting to build any muscle at a deficit, period.

[Former300lber]

Great response. What I had when stopped lifting would be a dream for me now, and I don't think possible ... I was simply wanting to build any muscle at a deficit, period.

Drop the weight and reasses, you'd be amazed at your body's ability to hold onto muscle, especially if you were in a caloric surplus for those years, eating in a surplus is anabolic no matter what and you can develop lean mass without directly hitting the gym. You might look soft and fattier now, but as you lean out you quiet possibly will still have the mass you had when you stopped, it's just not very visible rate now because it's being blanketed by fat.

[Sagaro87]

Great response. What I had when stopped lifting would be a dream for me now, and I don't think possible ... I was simply wanting to build any muscle at a deficit, period.

I strongly recommend starting slow. You'll probably laugh, but my first day of working out after the four months off. I did:

5 sets of push ups to failure
5 sets of deadlift
3 sets of curls
3 sets of squats

When I woke up the next day I thought I was dead because I couldn't move anything. I was so sore at work and everyone kept asking what my problem was. I just kept shaking my head and saying, "I started working out again yesterday." So go slow, but good luck with getting back in the gym.

And to Former300lber I'm aware that I was most likely making lean gains almost accidentally, which is awesome. And thanks, I was really expecting people to attack me one that story. You're probably right in that I most likely didn't burn any fat if at all, even though I was doing cardio and HIIT, but I stopped doing cardio and limited my HIIT when I started actually bulking.

[snorkelman]

I strongly recommend starting slow.

I tend to agree. That being said, if you haven't lifted weights at all (even body weight exercises), then almost ANYTHING you do will probably result in several days of DOMS

[JakeJarmel]

I did exactly that and currently doing it.

couple years ago I took a few months off for personal reasons. Went back to gym deflated and fat. Lost a ton of bf and gained all muscle back in the process. Look at my pics for the results.

Fast forward to now. I was out of gym for almost 7 months due to shoulder injury. I've been back to gym now for about a month doing the same thing. im eating at a deficit but gaining my muscle back at the same time. It's crazy how fast it comes back.

Whether or not this is all individual I don't know

[layarph]

These responses are really encouraging.

I actually did 1 or 2 sessions a few months ago ... my chest for 5 days after ... holy crap ... it wasn't good "I worked hard" DOMS ... it was I feel I've pulled something DOMS. So starting slow goes without saying.

It's hard because you feel like you're not working hard at all, it's actually easy ... but if you lift to failure first time back ... watch out!