Lifting heavy while dieting...

Zero Tolerance

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Okay. So I need to lose weight. I'm on a pretty strict diet. Actually, it's Weight Watchers.. My wife is taking care of all the cooking and figuring for me - so I have no problem with giving it a try. I'm still getting about 150 grams of protein per day - and I can probably get as high as 200 if need be. However, my calories are going to be lower than usual.

So what am I doing in the gym right now? I'm still lifting heavy.. Since I'm not gaining anything - am I just wasting time? Should I be taking a break? Am I risking injury somehow? I've never really trained heavy on a reduced calorie diet - so I'm not sure what the deal is here..

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
 
Cellardude

Cellardude

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if your trying to lift heavy the carb intake will be moderate. Low carbs will put you on the deep end when it comes to energy levels. Low carb days and high carb days are like day and night. when your cutting low carbs are usually sluggish days. high-moderate carbs when your diet is usually consistant of low carbs makes a huge difference. which is the importance of refeed.

If your planning on adding strength I suggest doing a low-moderate carb intake with HIGH protein and low fat intake.

my break up is something of the following as I dont have the actual numbers right this second.

330g protein
200g carbs
85g of fat

Even with high protein I think the importance and timing of carbs is CRUCIAL to a diet plan. high carbs = fat gains (depending on the person as well too)

The best plan is to keep carbs in low-moderate and on days when training strength bump up the carbs. Dont dip too low on cal or carbs though. You'll notice your strength dropping. The key for cutting is to drop fat while sustaining strength and size. granted 100% maintainance of strength does not happen often and usually if it does it occurs with "assisatnce"

I see guys at the gym that are bumping up 5 pounds a week on major lifts or 2 1/2 pounds a week on certian lifts while consistantly dropping body fat. Do I think there legit, na probably not.

Also weight watchers diet is a diet for overall health. Its not targetted to mass building/cutting. Its just like a general rule or plan to help maintain a healthy weight. Currently im trying to follow a contest diet and its working well. intensity is up, strnegth has dropped due to the significant drop in carbs but muscle size and all is still there. if you have any questions ask away. im not an expert at cutting but my understanding of it on par with most of the cuts out there.

Just a tip, buy some protein powder. Get raw rolled oats that arent grinded up (the instant 1 minute quaker ones are grinded, the old fashion is plain oats)

Morning time I just do 2 scoops of protein, 1/2 or 3/4 cup of oats and im good. Add some AP and youll get that physical pump and repartion effect for the carbs. Works great!
 

bassgod272

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i agree 100% with cellardude. also, i'd change your routine to 10-12 reps if you haven't done that already. with 1 minute rest times in between sets t keep the intensity level high. this will burn more cals, keep you strong, make you sweat more, and get you more defined. you're definitely not wasting your time lifting while dieting. like cellar said INCREASE THAT PROTEIN INTAKE!! check out Isopure Zero Carb Protein. the sh!t is delicious and it has ZERO carbs per serving :head: don't cut carbs from post-wo either. the insulin spike is crucial as i'm sure you already know. i recommend 8-10 teaspoonsful of dextrose to be added to the Isopure protein as a post-wo shake. try sprinting too, that is more effective at burning fat than mild-moderate jogging/walking.

EDIT: you can only physically lose about 1lb or so of fat per week. if you notice you start to lose like 3lbs per week, you're losing muscle. bump up the protein intake if that happens.
 
Cellardude

Cellardude

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i agree 100% with cellardude. also, i'd change your routine to 10-12 reps if you haven't done that already. with 1 minute rest times in between sets t keep the intensity level high. this will burn more cals, keep you strong, make you sweat more, and get you more defined. you're definitely not wasting your time lifting while dieting. like cellar said INCREASE THAT PROTEIN INTAKE!! check out Isopure Zero Carb Protein. the sh!t is delicious and it has ZERO carbs per serving :head: don't cut carbs from post-wo either. the insulin spike is crucial as i'm sure you already know. i recommend 8-10 teaspoonsful of dextrose to be added to the Isopure protein as a post-wo shake. try sprinting too, that is more effective at burning fat than mild-moderate jogging/walking.

EDIT: you can only physically lose about 1lb or so of fat per week. if you notice you start to lose like 3lbs per week, you're losing muscle. bump up the protein intake if that happens.


also isopure is a tad expensive. what I would do if I were you is to order from ATW. get 10 pounds of protein. I go through like 5 pounds in 3 weeks. Currently doing 4-6 scoops per day and 2 at night of ON caesin. Actual food comes from veggies,grilled chicken and brown rice but I try to limit too much solid food as they tend to yeild excess calories. (more than you usually gestimate.)

Pick up some xtend if you havent BCAA is important on a cut. I mega dose on that daily up to probably 10 scoops on workout days sometimes. you can find that on nutraplanet for 38 bucks

about the last part, the first month I would say is the only part where you should be losing more than 1 pound per week. I dropped like 5-7 pounds actually in that time. my muscles seem to be the same size, little to no loss at all. Just water weight being dropped thats all.

But the bump in protein is correct. increase the protein intake, protein intake is important, dont take your protein intake from stupid **** like special K protein bars. I had a good laugh when some dude was being trained and diet plan was set up and he did his own thing on his diet and went inconsistant. He failed real good at the cut. Not to mention he ate special K protein and whined about eatting certian foods. :toofunny:
 

bassgod272

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how could i have forgotten the bcaa's? tsk tsk. i love the refreshing apple flavor of xtend myself.
 
Nitrox

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Okay. So I need to lose weight. I'm on a pretty strict diet. Actually, it's Weight Watchers.. My wife is taking care of all the cooking and figuring for me - so I have no problem with giving it a try. I'm still getting about 150 grams of protein per day - and I can probably get as high as 200 if need be. However, my calories are going to be lower than usual.

So what am I doing in the gym right now? I'm still lifting heavy.. Since I'm not gaining anything - am I just wasting time? Should I be taking a break? Am I risking injury somehow? I've never really trained heavy on a reduced calorie diet - so I'm not sure what the deal is here..

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
Lifting heavy on a cut is fine if part of your goal is to preserve strength.

Yes you will lose slightly more weight if you switch to higher reps and keep the cals the same but you will likely lose more strength.

Risk for injury is pretty specific to the individual. IMO risk is slightly higher on a bulk because strength gains will be higher and hence heavier weights lifted.

Keeping cals in check is going to get you better results than micromanaging macros. Carbs themselves do not make one fat and if you are eating smaller, evenly spaced meals, then IMO, timing is also not as crucial.

GL
 
papapumpsd

papapumpsd

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You can lose ~up to 2lbs of fat/week w/o catabolizing muscle.

I am currently LOW LOW carbing and lifting "heavy" (relative term). I still dik around with 315 bench and 120lbs DB rows and 120lb DB seated shrugs. The key here is to have the correct pre-w/o nutrients to keep you movin' and groovin' son! I've repeated these nutrients ad nauseum:
1. arginine ethyl ester (capped): 2.5g 2x each day (ED) (take 1 serving pre-w/o)
2. beta alanine (2g x 3 ED, with at least one serving pre-w/o)

Now drop your carbs like demz be hawt brah! <40g ED M-F, weekends carb up. Get your cardio on 5x/week and tell wifey to send me some low carb chocolate cake :p

Also, if you're cutting, you should look into L-Glutamine (I like AST's micronized L-Glutamine). I take 10-15g x 2 ED

BOOOOYAAHHHHH BIIIIZZNAATCHHH!
 

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