Lifting weights in a high calorie deficit

[SuperDavid1994]

Hey i want to know if it's okay to lift weight in a high calorie deficit of 1500 calories. The thing is that i used to lift weight for 4-5 years and put on some solid muscle. Then i kind stopped completely and put on about 30 pounds. I still have some muscle under the fat. Right now my goal is to lose a lot of fat first, so im going to the gym and running. I was wondering if lifting weights is more harmful than good with a 1500 calorie deficit? I know i wont gain much muscle, but maybe a little considering i used to have a lot and my Body should remember.

[sandcar3]

A 1500 calorie deficit seems too extreme to me. I would recommend starting around a 500 calorie deficit for a couple weeks first and see how you are progressing.

To more directly answer your question regardless of your deficit I think you should also be lifting weights. You will potentially be building muscle, but you will definitely be burning calories. So if you burn say 200 calories lifting weights you'd potentially be in a 1700 deficit, or you could eat 200 more calories and still stay at 1500.

[SuffolkPunch]

What are your stats? Height, weight, waist circumference. A 1500 calories deficit is only likely to be appropriate if you are obese.

[SuperDavid1994]

What are your stats? Height, weight, waist circumference. A 1500 calories deficit is only likely to be appropriate if you are obese.

5'10, 24 years old, 220 pounds. I want to get down to 190 really fast (i have my reasons). My main goal is to lose as much fat as possible in a short amount of time. So i chose to a 1500 calorie deficit. My calorie maintenance is at about 3000. I feel that i should also lift weights just because i want to build some of that old muscle back up again. Just dont want to lift the weights if im not gonna gain anything at all or even hurt my muscles

[SuffolkPunch]

Hmm, I suppose it may not cause too much damage for a few weeks. Normally we don't recommend trying to lose more than 1% of your bodyweight per week.

You will certainly not build any muscle and may lose some. Weight training and high protein intake will help ameliorate that.

[SuperDavid1994]

Hmm, I suppose it may not cause too much damage for a few weeks. Normally we don't recommend trying to lose more than 1% of your bodyweight per week.

You will certainly not build any muscle and may lose some. Weight training and high protein intake will help ameliorate that.

I guess i should just do pure Cardio then Right? My only objective is to lose fat Right now. If i can't build muscle weight lifting and probably Will lose muscle anyway i might as Well just only do cardio

[MeadxHole]

I guess i should just do pure Cardio then Right? My only objective is to lose fat Right now. If i can't build muscle weight lifting and probably Will lose muscle anyway i might as Well just only do cardio

Other way around. Just do weight training if you want to preserve muscle.

Cardio will burn more calories and you are more likely to lose muscle without activating/using your muscles with weight training.

[ncsuLuke]

5'10, 24 years old, 220 pounds. I want to get down to 190 really fast (i have my reasons). My main goal is to lose as much fat as possible in a short amount of time. So i chose to a 1500 calorie deficit. My calorie maintenance is at about 3000. I feel that i should also lift weights just because i want to build some of that old muscle back up again. Just dont want to lift the weights if im not gonna gain anything at all or even hurt my muscles

Look into PSMF (Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss Diet) if you want to cut fat as fast as possible. You could probably drop 18 lbs of non-water weight in 6 weeks if you can stick to the diet (it isn't fun). I ran it for 4 weeks and dropped 12 lbs. You do lift weights because you want to maintain lean mass but you cut the volume down. Also, doing lots of cardio in a major caloric deficit can do wonky things and isn't really advised.

[SuffolkPunch]

I guess i should just do pure Cardio then Right? My only objective is to lose fat Right now. If i can't build muscle weight lifting and probably Will lose muscle anyway i might as Well just only do cardio

Other way around. Just do weight training if you want to preserve muscle.

Cardio will burn more calories and you are more likely to lose muscle without activating/using your muscles with weight training.

^ That - just doing cardio would accelerate the muscle loss

[bowtourking]

I'm about the same as you man i'm 5'10 200 lbs when I was 220 I did like a 800-1000 deficit with good protein and it went well but 1500 deficit? That may be a bit much

[RobertAu1990]

I'll the devil in your ear in this one. Do it, except I'd recommend get a bit of that deficit from cardio. Skip 15mins in the morning and 25mins at night, eat a Lil extra. Lift heavy 2-3 times per wk, do heaps of Liss. Once you've hit your goal up calories(add carbs) and see how much you bloat.
Keep fats above 55, I usually don't let my protein drop below 180 for no other reason than I like protein high food

[PhiDelt234]

Hmm, I suppose it may not cause too much damage for a few weeks. Normally we don't recommend trying to lose more than 1% of your bodyweight per week.

You will certainly not build any muscle and may lose some. Weight training and high protein intake will help ameliorate that.

May be possible to gain muscle in his case if he meets his protein requirements, Lyle McDonald has an article on it. Also, op may be fine to go in an extreme calorie deficit for about a few months without having caused severe metabolic damage. I believe the range was 6-8 weeks, not any longer or will you cause damage.

[hardyboysare]

May be possible to gain muscle in his case if he meets his protein requirements, Lyle McDonald has an article on it. Also, op may be fine to go in an extreme calorie deficit for about a few months without having caused severe metabolic damage. I believe the range was 6-8 weeks, not any longer or will you cause damage.

Not sure what articles you are indicating of Lyle's but these articles of his say the near enough the same as SuffolkPunch:-

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo...g-fat-qa.html/ - Building muscle will only occur when taking a small deficit and generally at the beginner of a training programs as quoted by him:-

It’s probably possible briefly at the start of the diet to get some caloric shunting but it’s never going to approach a 1:1 gain in muscle with fat loss; the potential rate of fat loss (1-2 lbs/week) to rates of muscle gain (0.5 lbs/week if you’re lucky) simply doesn’t exist.

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo...olism-qa.html/ - Talks about a high calorie deficit can maintain/ very minimal muscle loss with high protein and a decent workout but not building muscle.

https://beastsbynature.com/build-muscle-and-lose-fat/ - useful article which references Lyles work.

As for then stating metabolic damage afterwards......

From Lyle again

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo...amage-qa.html/ - Not a thing more of adaptation of dieting.

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo...c-damage.html/ - Basically says no.

Metabolic slowdown yes that is a thing due to being leaner, lazier, hormonal drop to conserve energy, body effectiveness improved to utilise energy etc but not damage.

https://mennohenselmans.com/metabolic-damage-science/ - No science to support it.

https://www.sciencestrength.com/scie...ic-damage-myth - Doesn't exist

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/arti...550-2783-11-20 - Eric Helms and Alan Aragon suggest metabolic adaptation but not shutdown.

As for your question OP you are very unlikely to make any muscle gains whilst on a large calorie deficit and especially if you add in cardio but skip weight training. If you wish to run a high calorie deficit you must focus on weight training first and foremost whist consuming a high amount of protein (around 1g+ per lb of body weight for you at 220lbs you should aim for your goal weight not actual weight) and I would advise minimising cardio to ensure minimal muscle loss.