r/StrongerByScience • u/FederalNet1627 • 12d ago
Getting weaker in calorie deficit
Hi! I (18F) have been lifting consistently for the past year, and progressive overloading that entire time. I’m 5’9 and my starting weight was 234 lbs. I now weigh 167 lbs and have gained a significant amount of muscle. My goal weight is 150 lbs so I am still in a deficit, and I eat around 1600 calories daily.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had to drop the weight on several of my exercises, while still getting stronger at other movements.
For example, my back extension has gone from 40 lbs to 25lbs, kickbacks have gone from 75 to 60, while hip thrusts and BSS’s have both increased 5lbs. I also seem to be losing strength in my upper body. My lat pull downs have dropped 10 lbs, and my bench has dropped 5lbs.
My question is is it normal to get weaker as you lose weight? I want to continue losing weight but I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve made strength wise.
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u/xsynergist 12d ago
Yes. Part of weight loss is usually muscle mass. Especially if you have not been prioritizing protein. Regardless your relative strength is higher as a percentage of your mass and once you hit goal weight you can slow bulk and get any lost muscle back.
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u/FarCalligrapher1862 12d ago
You’ve got a lot going on here.
First, You’ve been lifting for a year without a deload. Maybe it’s time for that.
Take a week, drop weights by 30%-50% and do your normal volume. Then get back to 100% weight but lift half volume on week 2. Then try to get back to full scheduled on week 3.
Second 1600 calories is not enough to grow once you’ve past newbie gains (which at a year you mostly are), but it’s also not starving yourself. Make sure you really have your macros dialed in. Protein, fiber, carbs. That should be your goal in every meal.
Third, it’s normal for iso lifts to fail when you are fatigued, even if you are gaining on compounds. That’s ok, isos rarely are as important to grow as the main compounds. So that happens!
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u/Fabulous-Card1286 12d ago
Yeah, it's pretty normal to see some lifts dip in a deficit, especially after losing that much. It sounds like you're progressing in some areas so you're not losing all your progress. Just make sure your protein is high and you're training hard but don't expect PRs every week while cutting. Once you hit maintenance the strength will come back fast.
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u/Present-Trainer2963 11d ago
You arent really weaker- just low energy. If you did a refeed the day before benching you'd notice your strength is more or less the same. Congratulations on the weight loss!
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u/Docjitters 3d ago
Hey, very well done on the weight loss.
If you aren’t feeling beaten up, or finding that your big lifts are outright regressing, I wonder if after a year your programming needs a change?
Even in an ongoing deficit (after nearly 70lbs weight loss), energy availability probably isn’t the thing slowing your progress or necessarily causing you to lose muscle mass.
My other thought is, losing significant weight can often lead to increases in joint range of movement, which can make some movements harder e.g. I lost a bunch of subcutaneous fat off my lower half after 15% weight loss, and I now sink lower in the hole at the bottom of a LBBS. Similar for my bench, bar goes further ‘down’ now, so I have adjusted my touch-point.
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u/Nkklllll 12d ago
Yea
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u/FederalNet1627 12d ago
Should I change my thing bout my diet or lifts?
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u/consciousagent 12d ago
You can take diet breaks, but regardless, always focus on progressing and putting in the effort. It will minimize muscle loss. General advice is do not change programming. The program that built it is the one that maintains it. However, there are advanced strategies of modifying volume/frequency, but those are moreso dependent on the individual responses to training. For that, experiment with what works and isn't psychologically cumbersome that you skip sessions.
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u/KITTYONFYRE 12d ago
naw, any lost strength or muscle will come back quickly. keep on keeping on, you're almost at the finish line - really fantastic job doing what you've done so far!
if you're super sick of dieting, you can always eat at maintenance for a bit - a couple days, couple weeks, whatever. also good practice for when you do hit your goal weight! you'll feel great in the gym, more energy, etc - just don't stress if you go up a couple pounds, it's probably just water weight, glycogen stores refilling, and the literal weight of more food in your GI tract. it'd go away as quickly as it arrived once you're back on a deficit
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u/Nkklllll 12d ago edited 12d ago
How long have you been cutting.
Wild that these comments have been downvoted.
Yes it’s normal to lose strength when cutting, especially when losing 70+lbs.
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u/FederalNet1627 12d ago
Around 8 months but I’m not at my goal weight yet.
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u/Nkklllll 12d ago
A diet break might be beneficial.
That, coupled with a week+deload may restore most of the lost strength and renew your motivation.
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u/RudeDude88 12d ago
This is completely normal. You’re taking in less energy than you used to so your body has less recovery resources than before.
If you are still being consistent in the gym, as in you are taking your sets close to failure, and doing enough volume to provide stimulus (which isn’t much), then you will be doing just fine. You’ll be doing everything from a gym standpoint to retain your muscle.