Strength loss from extended cut and IF

[Low]

It's been awhile since I have been on here.. I reset my phone and never reinstalled the app, being on my own I followed my own path and lost some serious weight on my first REAL cut. But i feel im losing strength. I used to be 191 I shredded down to 163 in a month, on a 5'9 frame bf around 8%. I look better than I ever have! IF last meal at 7, breaking fast around 12-2pm. I will workout fasted around 9 workout for an hour and a half 2 hours and do 30 minutes of cardio and eat sometimes 2-3 hours after training. Breaking my fast with 50g of protein and some carbs. Eating window closes between 7-8pm finishing the day between 1800-2200 kcals, sometimes more, sometimes less. I have noticed that I have been losing strength, I can no longer hit 225, I used to put up 185 10x.. now I'm pushing 185 5-6x and 205 2-3x at my max, I have been on this since may and have been dealing with bingeing on healthy foods but still having that eating urge sometimes 2x a week for the last 30 days. Just wondering if anyone else has advice for me. I am about to go on vacation in a couple of weeks and I am trying to stay shredded, it's getting hard to maintain, I'm back up at 165-167 I still look great I was just wondering if binge eating cravings are common on an extended cut and if strength loss is a sign I need to switch to maintenance. And will maintenance calories keep me shredded? Is working out and not eating anything but drinking water for hours after a workout killing my strengh? Any help much appreciated! Thanks!!!

*also I am doing supersets on almost all my exercises and going till failure, I workout 6 days a week and I have been noticing I am not getting sore, is this normal?

 

[The Solution]

First if your binging you have an eating disorder that needs to be taken care of. Limiting yourself to a small window could be a recipe for disaster which leads to you having that issue with food. There are a lot of people who have bad issues with food when limited to a small window and give them self a short frame to fill their daily allowance. It’s actualky very common . Remember it’s a lifestyle if it’s causing an issue there is an underlying factor

Step 2 - when dieting more volume and super sets is not optimal. Your in a deficit so volume
Has to be deceased as cardio rises and calories drop. Your trying to expand excessive glycogen your body doesn’t have.... IE the big myth of
More reps is optimal for dieting it’s the exact opposite. Train heavy and keep intensity high or else you will burn yourself out which is what is happening . Prolonged diets will lead to strength loss its inevitable

3 - not eating for hours after a workout is dumb. You just put your body into a catabolic state and then you give it nothing for hours. Just think about that for 2 minutes . Any athlete do you see them not eat or refuel after training or a practice? They are intaking something shortly after. If your training fasted and on empty your trying to run a car with no fuel. So if you wait hours to fill it up your not taking an opportune time to refill lost glycogen stores and when insulin sensitivity is highest .

I would personally drop a day of training . Go to maintence calories for 3-4 weeks and then continue dieting if you want to shred a bit.

Your lifestyle and IF eating pattern doesn’t seem to help you with your eating habits I would ditch it instantly. Learn to improve your relationship with food or else it will only get worse and lead to a larger problem in the future . Remember there is no advantage to IF compared to a spread out eating pattern given calories are the same for your deficit. There is better MPS (muscle protein synthesis) when you spread our meals compared to jamming it into a small window.

Fix your food problem first and then drop a day of training and increase calories for a few weeks

 

[Low]

I thought a lot about what you said. Today I ate immediately after training. I feel a lot better. I will continue to eat right after training and bump up to maintenance. Thanks again for your help, and time!!

 

[AlexPowell]

Try eating a half teaspoon of salt before you drive to the gym
In powerlifting I guided many people into competitions at specific weights and whenever the cut resulted in strength loss adding sodium back in fixed it

No-one was on starvation diets though. 1800-2200kcal a day seems like enough. Try adding more activity. A 10 minute walk after each meal will work great for increasing your NEAT (which is ~70% of your daily caloric usage) and will let you eat higher calories for longer

 

[Low]

Try eating a half teaspoon of salt before you drive to the gym
In powerlifting I guided many people into competitions at specific weights and whenever the cut resulted in strength loss adding sodium back in fixed it

No-one was on starvation diets though. 1800-2200kcal a day seems like enough. Try adding more activity. A 10 minute walk after each meal will work great for increasing your NEAT (which is ~70% of your daily caloric usage) and will let you eat higher calories for longer

Yes I have heard about the "pickle pump" going to try it tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for your help.

 

[AlexPowell]

Ha ha, yes I suppose eating pickles would work also

 

[Low]

Ha ha, yes I suppose eating pickles would work also

Hey check it out. I have been using salt in my ON amino energy and have had a HUGE improvement in my strengh gains!! Awesome tip and it truly works! Thanks again!!

 

[Pinggolfee96]

no shyt youre gonna lose strength....your deficient in proper calories/ energy for your body. you think your muscles wanna lift the same weight without proper nutrition? nope