Losing weight - but losing strength too

[japan69]

Hey Bros.

I have decided I don't like dieting. *chuckle*

I was 226 and 19% BF at the end of my last cycle (6 feet tall, btw). That was about 7 weeks ago. I was very happy with my strength and size, but of course way too much fat.

SO, even though my cutting cycle was still a couple months away I decided to throw more cardio in and reduce carbs... weight started peeling off then plateaued... so i went fully no carb (well.. trace carbs - less than 20g/day) and the weight started peelin off again.

Problem is that I have gone down in strength and size a LOT and I haven't appreciably lost that much body fat. I think I am at 17.5% now... BUt I am down to 197 lbs (29 lb loss!)

Seems like every week I am just a little bit weaker. I do just 1 or 2 less reps on every thing except bis and tris which seem to be getting stronger ( go figure).

I have never dieted before - so I am curious... is it normal to lose a lot of strength? Is it typical to lose so much weight without appreciable BF drop?

If ya have any advice, please lay it on me.

Thanks,

j69

 

[rugbythug]

Alot could be water-Don't know that much about dieting. When you train are you using any stimulants? Caffine or E? These really help me get through the lack of carb listlessness.

 

[japan69]

IN another week or two I'll be starting my cutting cycle... will be doing ECA/clen, as well as prop, EQ, and Winny.

For now.. nothin really.. just protein, glutamine, creatine, BCAA.

 

[rugbythug]

Try popping some caffine and ephedrine before your workout should help your poundages

 

[dm2613]

Japan,

Normally dieting and losing weight equals strength loss. It just comes with the territory of getting leaner. I have always noticed though when i do a high carb day i can lift more for a day or two due to the increase in glycogen.

Don't worry about the strength loss if your goal is to get shredded... Remember when your walking down the beach in great shape a girl will never ask how much ya bench!!!!!!!!

 

[dm2613]

sorry i did not see the 1.5% decrease in body fat off 29 lbs loss. something is wrong!!!

1st off what kind of BF test did you get done??

Are you trying to do a keto diet??

How do you look compared to before??

do you feel you are losing to much muscle??

A diet i would suggest would be a ..... 3 low carb days and 1 high.

low carb meaning 100g....high meaning 300g ...follow this until you plateau, then lower carbs and increase cardio!!

keep protein on low carb day at 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.

Protein on high carb day at 1 gram per lb of bodyweight.

carbs: i would suggest sweet potato, rice, oatmeal

protein: egg whites, tuna, chicken, london broil

this is just how i have dieted in the past with great results!!
If you need any help let me know!

 

[buyb12]

I would go back on the carbs and increase your protein....bigger muscle means more calories burned .......increase water intake and start your eca now.....

you want to have the energy to burn the fat....I'm a big fan of low carb dieting .........eat and add some cardio.....1 hour every morning .........

 

[huntergatherer]

sounds like you either need a workout partner that can push your ass or you need a new one. not flaming your ass, but the only time if feel like i'm losing a little is when i try to go a week or two on my own.

 

[japan69]

Thanks for the advice, all.

I push my own ass pretty hard, and there are always trainers walking around the gym willing to spot if a buddy aint around so I make sure to go to failure and then do negs on everything I do. Not training hard enough is not the problem.

I was low carb - mostly oatmeal for a couple weeks... but now I'm doing Atkins... I'm not sure how to do the CKD - I tried looking around on the net but didn't find anything really useful on how to combine the training with the diet.

Aug 3rd or 4th I'll be starting my cycle, so hopefully that will help.
If anyone has some good sources of info on CKD diet and training that would be great before I create my next training program.

-j69

 

[BLEED GREEN]

I would get an accurate bf% measurement done so you can give yourself some better concrete #s to work with!

 

[WeirdAl]

If your numbers are accurate, your lean mass has dropped from 183 to 162.5. So of your 29 lb loss, 20.5 was muscle/water, and 8.5 was fat. Sounds like you definitely need to make a change....

Obviously, there are many options. I had great results with Body For Life (read about it in the natural forum)... I'm having incredible results now working with dpsquat in preparing for my first contest. You might consider getting some expert advice from either him or Skip, even if you aren't planning on competing.

Good luck! And definitely check your numbers - 20 lbs of muscle would be a ton to lose in 7 weeks!

 

[dm2613]

Japan,

If you are looking for info on CKD you need to check out www.massmonsters.com and look for MR. X's Guidlines for CKD diet. Everything you need to know is there.

ON that kind of diet you will lose weight, fat and strength.