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I’m about 240 lbs and want to lose another 10-15 lbs of fat. So I’m taking about 200 mg test and 200 mg dhb per week as I’m cutting.
I noticed today the 95’s felt Like 120s and I’m only down about 7 or 8 lbs from my starting weight. So my question is, for those who cut and maintained it, does the strength come back once you stop starving yourself?
It depends on whether you lost strength because of the low caloric intake or because you now weigh less meaning less relative strength. If I gain even 2-3lbs, my lifts for the week are much easier.
You likely have a combination of both going on and I wouldn't worry too much about it. Once you start eating at at least maintenance again, you will see the strength come back up but if you go from 240 to say 215, I don't think you should expect to lift the same weights... not right away anyways but maybe after a strength training regimen.
BTW this is a bro science answer I am giving you based off my own personal experiences as well as clients.
Could also just be a bad day as well.
Dieting or not, sometimes I’ll unrack 315 and it’ll feel like a house is sitting on my back. Others, 405 feels like nothing. Whenever the former happens, I just take an extra warmup single or two with the weight that feels like shit and my brain eventually stops being stupid and realizes this is light.
agree with both answers above...
in my experience, you will lose strength will losing weight....
once your weight stabilizes or regains a couple of pounds you will gain back about half or more of the strength lost
That's good to know... I will sacrifice some gains for cuts, but it's a mental struggle to see yourself getting smaller or weaker in general. For years I have been steady bulking. Maybe I should have waited until the beginning of my next cycle to cut as I'm now basically at the end of what was a cycle and turned into an advanced TRT. But at the end of the day, I hated having to pull my gut in when my shirt was off... although I don't think I'm ever going to complete rid the gut at this age..
I really feel this. Cutting is my least favourite phase as well. Just recently I split a training session in two because I don't have the drive to do it in a single day, in caloric deficit. And gym feels less intriguing when you don't add plates continuously and then reward yourself with some sweet carbs, lol. At the moment I'm taking longer breaks between sets, just to avoid dropping the weight.
It's something about human nature that makes us perceive "keeping" as boring and "gaining" as intriguing.
I suppose I should learn to love cutting, because in the end you're still gaining if you do the same stuff with less bodyweight.
You wont lose the strength forever. Get your protein in and keep the intensity up, even if your discouraged. You can always bulk the next cycle and gain the strength back. Depending on how advanced you are you may end up stronger than ever during the next bulk (if you run the right compounds and eat enough)
You need another anabolic in that stack. Your basically cruising right now. Throw some anavar in there, it helps with strength and doesnt create alot of water.
You can also run winny with var and really keep the existing muscle protected. Id also increase the current injectables slightly. Just my opinion.
Best to learn to love it anyway. If you’re a lifer, you will eventually reach the point where your “gains” are just slowing the rate you lose strength and lean tissue as much as you possibly can. Drugs help a lot, but only so much.Quote:
Originally Posted by sv.elia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Octaneforce
Well, like I said, I'm just coming off a cycle that I started beginning of October. I took off about a month in Nov-December and then started again, at a lower dose. Maybe I will do what you suggest and increase the dose a little. I'm not a fan of orals tbh, and I've heard DHB is toxic to the liver already.
My idea was to bulk in the beginning and then cut toward the end. But you know, it really doesn't feel like I'm on anything right now during the cut - I feel pretty natty tbh. Haven't done bloodwork in a while so I don't know where everything stands and I don't want to push it too far now at almost 4 months. Maybe I'll up the DHB.
You will feel strength going doing at the beginning then slowly you will acoustom... Then as the diet gets tougher and stricter, you will feel weaker again.
But once you are done and go into the transition phase, carbs go up gradually, u will feel like a race horse again and that little strength u lost will come back.
I also totally agree with the guy who said sometimes its just a bad day and in your head. During this cut that I just finished 6 days ago, I was basically on a contest prep Kind of diet and I was so out of energy most of the day but then once at the gym and took winny and anavar pre w.o. I felt like a horse in the gym... Others, with the same shit and a pre workout I still felt like I was struggling lifting weights I usually do without struggle... Depends on a lot of factors I guess