Why do you lose so much strength when cutting?

[chris5]

the way i look at it is that you are losing fat, not muscle, so why lose the strength as well? ever since i've been cutting all my lifts have gone down. it's almost as if my benchpress if proportional to my weight, if i lose 5 lbs, my bench goes down 5 lbs. whats the science behind this?

[krustster]

Sorry to break it to ya chief, but the science behind it is that you ARE losing muscle while cutting. If you're losing strength, it means you're losing muscle.

[KingOfChaos]

Not just lost muscle, but also lost fuel. When cutting you don't eat as many carbs and thus, you can't lift as much or as many reps. Kinda like how you can't run a car when the tank is on empty.

[bbronswyk2000]

Have no fear because after the cutting and you want to put on more size and strength it wont take nearly as long to get it back. Muscle has memory and you will be lifting what you did in no time. I was cutting for about 8 weeks and I started my strength training almost 2 weeks ago and my strength is completly back already. Remember also whe you are cutting you are taking shorter rests between sets so your muscles dont get as much rest between so they cannot handle the load as much. Also you do more reps which fatigues the muscles more. When I was cutting I was benching about 185, 2 weeks after my cutting I am benching 245 so dont put too much into it.

[dyhp]

the way i look at it is that you are losing fat, not muscle, so why lose the strength as well? ever since i've been cutting all my lifts have gone down. it's almost as if my benchpress if proportional to my weight, if i lose 5 lbs, my bench goes down 5 lbs. whats the science behind this?

I'm cutting right now, eating 2000 calories per day (6' 205) and have had no problems with decreases in strength. In fact it has been the oppisite.

[gymratluke]

I am cutting, gaining muscle, and strength, but this is a rare occurance and you must have routine, diet and cardio all in check.

[Khryz]

I believe if you just load yourself up with carbs early on in the day, cut all carbs and just eat veggies for later in the day, even while cutting you will have enough energy and you will still be able to build muscle. I've been cutting for almost 4 weeks and my strength continue's to increase while I'm losing weight. And to add to it, I'm still lifting Max-OT. Next will I'm starting 10-12 rep range and only 1-2 minute rest periods. That should be interesting.

[dyhp]

Next will I'm starting 10-12 rep range and only 1-2 minute rest periods. That should be interesting.

Why are you doing that?...........If you do that you will probably lose the gains you made with MAX OT.

[Khryz]

Why are you doing that?...........If you do that you will probably lose the gains you made with MAX OT.

Because using Max-OT my strength has gone up a lot, but I haven't really made any gains in physical appearance or size. Back from October to December I did 10 reps per set and high sets and I gained a lot of mass, 15 pounds to be exact, but I wasn't that strong. I've been doing Max-OT for around 10-11 weeks and want to shock my muscles with something different.

My friend here used to lift for strength and power in the low rep ranges and he said he had some good gains, then over this past summer he lifted in the high rep ranges and toned down a lot, but it wasn't until this September when he went back to low reps that he gained even more mass than before and strength went even higher than prior to lifting high reps.

So I might even try lifting high reps for 2-4 weeks and see what happens. Maybe that'll end up working for me and I'd do something liek switch back and forth every 2-4 weeks.

[A.FreeRadical]

the way i look at it is that you are losing fat, not muscle, so why lose the strength as well? ever since i've been cutting all my lifts have gone down. it's almost as if my benchpress if proportional to my weight, if i lose 5 lbs, my bench goes down 5 lbs. whats the science behind this?

Losing energy can make you feel like you are losing strength. When cutting, it is difficult to juggle between getting enough protein to feed muscle growth and getting enough carbs to fuel the weight training. Bracket carbs around your workouts (before and after). I also use caffeine (strong coffee before a workout) to help in getting energized before a session.

If you have done the above for enough energy and you still are losing "strength", you will need to change your routine to one that builds strength. This means a low number of exercises (3-5) per session, low number of sets (2-3) per exercise, low reps (4-6). (I use Max OT and periodically change to doing higher reps and lower weights when I get a strength plateau. Right now I have a plateau on the bench.)

Also, I have found that varying your caloric deficit (surplus) from day to day helps to refeed and give your muscles room to grow. You need protein everyday, so keep that up. This means some days allow yourself more carbs (or good fats) for energy and growth and on other days you will allow yourself a lot less. Try to plan these mini refeeds around your heavy workout days (legs, chest, back) and the bigger deficits around your days off. (You do take days off, right?)

Keep the faith bro. It isn't easy cutting and gaining muscle. It can be done, but you have to do a lot of things right.

*
aA.FreeRadical a
Visit my 8 week cutting journal. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=382697

[chris5]

i've been cutting for around 5 months. and no i wasn't really fat to being with, i've lost 20 lbs. i guess i wasn't strict enough with my diet that's why it is taking so long. i notice you all cut for like 3 months max and get results. should i just go back to bulking and then start another cut in a few months?