Strong lift this AM...why?

[bigperm0107]

I am on All Pros beginners routine and today was my new cycle because I graduated last week so I pushed my weights up 10%. I am on a cut and have been eating in a deficit but yesterday since I didn't lift and I was stressed I ate over my TDEE. My TDEE is just over 2500 calories and I ate 3200 and over 300 grams of carbs (hit fats and protein macros). I also rested over the weekend and came in fresh but with pushing the weights up 10% they seemed easier to lift than they have been. Is that due to eating more carbs and excess calories the day before or do you think it has more to do with that I had the weekend to rest up and didn't come in as sore as I have been?

I know that not eating at a deficit helps with stronger lifts but I have never felt it first hand if that is the case. Any idea if that is why? Thanks in advance for the replies.

[deadrats]

i would guess the extra rest probably did you a world of good and that is why you saw easier lifts than what you were expecting. the extra carbs probably didn't hurt, as your body was set up to burn the extra carbs for energy.

[bigperm0107]

i would guess the extra rest probably did you a world of good and that is why you saw easier lifts than what you were expecting. the extra carbs probably didn't hurt, as your body was set up to burn the extra carbs for energy.

Thanks, that is kind of what I thought. It was nice yet I kind of felt like a slacker because it did make it easier. Wondering now if on Sundays I shouldn't eat extra carbs and a little higher calories since Monday is the heavy lifting day in the routine that I am following.

[ironwill2008]

I am on All Pros beginners routine and today was my new cycle because I graduated last week so I pushed my weights up 10%. I am on a cut and have been eating in a deficit but yesterday since I didn't lift and I was stressed I ate over my TDEE. My TDEE is just over 2500 calories and I ate 3200 and over 300 grams of carbs (hit fats and protein macros). I also rested over the weekend and came in fresh but with pushing the weights up 10% they seemed easier to lift than they have been. Is that due to eating more carbs and excess calories the day before or do you think it has more to do with that I had the weekend to rest up and didn't come in as sore as I have been?

I know that not eating at a deficit helps with stronger lifts but I have never felt it first hand if that is the case. Any idea if that is why? Thanks in advance for the replies.

Feeling stronger that day was probably a combination of more calories, a couple of consecutive days of rest, and the program working as it was intended--to make you stronger (and in turn, bigger).

Wondering now if on Sundays I shouldn't eat extra carbs and a little higher calories since Monday is the heavy lifting day in the routine that I am following.

Try the same thing again next week and see if you get the same results. Of course, you'll need to keep all other factors (activity, sleep, nutrition) the same during the week so your results don't get unintentionally skewed by some other variable.

[bigperm0107]

Feeling stronger that day was probably a combination of more calories, a couple of consecutive days of rest, and the program working as it was intended--to make you stronger (and in turn, bigger).

Thanks, I will keep things the same and see if it works again. one thing that I need to work on is my sleep. I have read that you are supposed to get a minimum of 6 hours but for some reason the most that I can get is 5 hours no matter how hard I try. I actually function best off of about 5 hours..I pulled down 8 one day this weekend and felt like garbage. But anyways, hopefully my sleep doesn't mess with things too much.










Try the same thing again next week and see if you get the same results. Of course, you'll need to keep all other factors (activity, sleep, nutrition) the same during the week so your results don't get unintentionally skewed by some other variable.

Thanks, I will keep them the same and see if it works again. I sure hope so. I know one thing that I need to work on is my sleep. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get more than 5 hours but I feel great on 5 hours. This weekend I got 8 hours one day and felt terrible so hopefully my sleep doesn't slow things up for me too much.

[ironwill2008]

Thanks, I will keep them the same and see if it works again. I sure hope so. I know one thing that I need to work on is my sleep. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get more than 5 hours but I feel great on 5 hours. This weekend I got 8 hours one day and felt terrible so hopefully my sleep doesn't slow things up for me too much.

The deal with sleep is this; we're all a little different in our particular requirement (just like in calorie intake, how frequently to train, and all the other dozens of variables in how we function), so the common mantra of "Get at least 8 hours sleep every night," just doesn't fly.


If you '"feel great on 5 hours sleep," then you're getting enough----for you.

The simplest way to determine if your sleep is adequate is if you need an alarm clock to awaken you every morning. If so, your sleep amount isn't enough. If you awaken at about the same time every morning before the alarm clock goes off, your sleep is adequate.

[marceson]

I haven't used an alarm clock to get up for work in about 6 years... since my mid 30's I can't just "sleep in". Blessing and a curse.

[yaaar]

I can't sleep in either, 5:30 every single day. Whether its Saturday, Sunday, if I went to bed at 4am... Doesn't seem tto matter.

I can, however, take a nice nap in the afternoon though.

[tomnationwide]

Sometimes the body is perfectly rested and well fed and ready to explode. It just happens. Maybe you had a spike in levels and the extra energy translated to a big lift.

[theunsunghero]

It shouldn’t have made a whole world of difference. Probably a combination of everything but more than likely a placebo effect you got from eating something you like and haven’t been able to eat during your deficit. In other words you were probably happier with the extra calories and rest you received. Mind over matter baby!

A higher state of mind will affect you in the gym just like a mental slump will. Don’t believe me? Next time you get some good news go the gym and pump out a workout. I guarantee you’ll come back saying something like best workout you have had in a while or you broke some of your plateaus.

[bigperm0107]

It shouldn’t have made a whole world of difference. Probably a combination of everything but more than likely a placebo effect you got from eating something you like and haven’t been able to eat during your deficit. In other words you were probably happier with the extra calories and rest you received. Mind over matter baby!

A higher state of mind will affect you in the gym just like a mental slump will. Don’t believe me? Next time you get some good news go the gym and pump out a workout. I guarantee you’ll come back saying something like best workout you have had in a while or you broke some of your plateaus.

That very well could be. I know that I had some raisin bran that I had been craving for a while but could never bring myself to eat it because of its lack of protein and amount of calories. Maybe that could have done the trick because I had been wanting it for a while.

[chodan9]

Another thing to be aware of especially if you are just starting (I am guessing so since you are on a beginners routine) then your progress will be more erratic and less linear than if you have been training for years.
Meaning you can have jumps in strength that you may not see later on, even on a deficit.

[GnomusMaximus]

Local Gravity fluctuations happen all the time, generally can not be predicted. They are normally an increase in the local gravitational field, you should consider yourself very lucky.

[bigperm0107]

Another thing to be aware of especially if you are just starting (I am guessing so since you are on a beginners routine) then your progress will be more erratic and less linear than if you have been training for years.
Meaning you can have jumps in strength that you may not see later on, even on a deficit.

Awesome! I guess I will just have to enjoy that and know that it won't always be that way. Thanks for the post.

[bigperm0107]

Local Gravity fluctuations happen all the time, generally can not be predicted. They are normally an increase in the local gravitational field, you should consider yourself very lucky.

Now you have me concerned... I think I might have to buy a space suit to work out in just in case its a weird day and the gravitation is so low that I float up and mess up my form. Wouldn't want to pull down an injury due to gravity.