lost strength after weight loss
0Hi,
I started bulking few months ago and I was 5’7" 150 pounds. I figured out that my bulk was more fat than a lean mass so last month I started cardio. I figured out that my legs started building up but after going from 150 pounds to 140 pounds I lost my upper body strength. I am not able to bench press as high i used to. I had to reduce bench press weight by 15 pounds. I feel that i have got pretty weak. I am doing lean bulking now and trying to gain slow but I am so disappointed by my loss of strength. Has this happened with you? what should I do to gain more strength without doing dirty bulk? thanks
- 6 comments, 2 replies
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Sometimes when you lose too much weight, you turn into an unknowable enigma.
/giphy cartman beefcake
Are you allowing your body rest days? Are cycling your exercise routines, so you’re not doing the same thing everyday?
Rest and recovery are important facets of exercising.
@haydesigner
So is diet. If you want to build muscle mass, you might look at your dietary intake. If you were building too much fat before, did you just decrease the volume you ate or did you review and change what you ate?
Unless you’re in “noob gains” territory or using drugs, it is inevitable that you will lose some strength and muscle mass while losing weight. All you can do is try to minimize it by keeping protein intake high and keep don’t skip heavy days.
Unless you are genetically gifted, gaining weight without doing a dirty bulk is a slow process.
I actually have had a similar problem in the past. Same height - about 165lbs & 15% bodyfat. The most effective thing I’ve done is cycle weight gain and weight loss based on calorie deficit and surplus.
I don’t “dirty bulk”, I go to a 500 calorie surplus per day for a few months until I’ve gained some muscle and then I go to about a 500 calorie deficit to lean out a bit. I use calipers every month or so to check my bodyfat because weight doesn’t really give me the full picture. I find that when I drop my calories too much I lose muscle mass and power fast.
Also look into glycogen - sometimes if I’m not eating enough carbs or sugars I just lose lifting power.
There are a few books I really like that I can recommend if you want, but I always get annoyed when people start pushing their diet or workout ideas at me, so I won’t - unless you want recommendations.
Stop doing cardio. All it does is burn calories. It doesn’t build bulk of do anything else. Just compare short distance runners to long distance runners. Which do you want to look like? Stop cardio and do sprints with recovery. Or just start lifting weights. But cardio is not good for you. Look up Doctor Al Sears and his PACE program. You can get the book used for cheap on Amazon.
@Fuzzalini
This is false and Al Sears is selling something.
But yeah, if your goal is simply to get big or stay big with no other health considerations then cardio is not going to help you.