On the other hand you don’t want to eat too much protein because it leaves very little room for the other macronutrients. Any time you eat in a calorie surplus in order to maximize muscle growth, a certain amount of fat gain is inevitable. It’s about the hormonal environment in your body that optimizes fat loss, or can lead to muscle breakdown. Once you’re at your desired level of leanness, gaining back any lost muscle will be a relatively easy thing to do. But if you ate less than 70% of what you need, I think it would be best to hit your protein numbers even if you go over the deficit. Second, do some form of weight training between 2 and 4 times a week. Does this mean protein z not required more than certain level? Then I’ll tell you how much protein you need. A lot of people get flat and lose size but aren't actually losing muscle, they just think they are. This is not to say that you can’t gain strength while cutting. Rather, what you specifically want to do here is lose fat, NOT muscle. You’ll just alter your training a bit. Thanks for the nice article as always. I have recently just switched from a 5 month bulk to begin cutting & noticed a loss in strength , my original plan was to follow your advice on maintaining the weight on the bar previously lifted during my bulk and to control my cut through eating at a calorie deficit but how is this possible if I physically cannot lift the weight anymore for the desired reps? there’s plenty of evidence to back that up, including this article ? By using this website you agree with our. "@type" : "Organization", If you start your cut with the mentality that you will lose muscle and strength, it will probably happen. I would whole-heartedly echo this. In this article we’re going to talk about Losing Strength while Cutting, we’ll discuss why it happens and what to do about it. Watch Queue Queue. Iâm stressed to the max with my strength going down as the fats comeing off… I made sense of what your saying as been off and on the gym for years, Iâve come down to around 13 stone over the year after been on the booze to much over the past 2/3 years I was at 16.4 and had an intervention. You either succeed, or you get your money back with no questions asked. For example, you might lose 6 pounds in weight over the course of a month. If you have any questions, please ask me below. Many thanks I’ll keep it coming. As a general guideline, losing more than 2 pounds per week will result in a "significant" amount of muscle loss (certainly 3 pounds per week is too fast). I’m now almost at the end of my cut and this is the first cut I didn’t lose any strength on, despite my bodyweight going down almost 10 pounds. If you eat less carbs, and less food in general, your performance is going to drop. ", To spare muscle tissue when cutting, consume at least twice the RDA protein intake in grams, Don't go low-fat to build muscle. You could also go higher than 1g per pound, (as high as  1.5g per lb) but I think it’s not necessary and you’d do better if you ate more carbs and fats instead. Then you’ll succeed and look great when it’s all over. There are more reasons for this: * Eating very little doesn’t allow sufficient recovery. Love your work Mark. @Terry. I’ve got a somewhat related question: Say I screw up my cutting diet on a day where I’m going out for lunch with friends or family. A cut is only successful when calories are reduced over time. Your problem probably lies in the other points we covered so far. And as a side note, when you’re leaner the range of motion on bench press is likely increased because you have less fat on your back and chest and the bar may need to travel an extra inch each rep. That also affects your strength levels. When you’re eating less your recovery capacity is also reduced so it’s best to save most of it for weight lifting not cardio. Losing weight can be challenging, and trying to cut calories too quickly can have side effects for your health, including loss of hard-earned muscle mass. Hell, you could cut off a leg and you’ll lose “weight” just fine. If you aren’t lifting, you’re losing. In fact you may be gaining a little because you’re lifting the same weights at a lower body weight. So if you’re doing 80+ hard reps per body part per week, you could cut it down to 40-60 reps per week. It works, it’s been proven by thousands, and it’s totally free. // , Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Mark McManus is a trainer & author from Ireland. One major thing that’s very critical for maintaining muscle is to eat enough protein while cutting. Is it possible to cut fat, while still building lean muscle? Click here to take you to the download page. You don’t need to log into your email to click on any confirmation link. Most people who go on a crash diet often experience this. finally can you explain why fat better than carbs for cutting ? The best approach is to maintain your muscle mass while losing fat. The Problem With Bulking And Cutting When you bulk and cut the right way, you successfully build muscle and lose fat over time, and end up as lean and muscular as you intended to be as quickly and effectively as it can realistically happen. Dominic Gallo, accredited practicing dietitian and owner of DG Dietetics and Fitness, explains how to cut the fat, but keep the muscle. A lot of cardio on a cut is bad because it can sap recovery your recovery. Do you have any questions? Cut back on volume if you’re not recovering properly. In an effort to speed up results, they lose muscle and end up stalling their fat loss. The bottom line here is: if you don’t get enough protein while cutting, you WILL lose muscle. It’s like an expensive way of running your body, using your expensive proteins for fuel. A bodybuilder weighing 165lbs will therefore be taking 3 times the RDA (55 x 3 = 165). Losing weight can mean losing fat and muscle. You do not have to lose muscle when cutting. "@context" : "https://schema.org", Worrying about muscle loss is just counter-productive. Now, if you’re already training with a low volume routine (I consider low volume any routine that has 40 or less reps per body part per week) you don’t want to reduce volume even further. Radu Antoniu is not a certified personal trainer or coach and is not accredited by any institution. isn’t it’s about the totel deficit ? This will make a world of a difference. You need to get about 1g of protein per pound of body weight while cutting to maintain muscle mass. Are you ok with this? If you were to reduce the weight on the bar, you’d remove the very stimulus that caused and maintains the adaptation. But if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that you don’t want to lose any of this other stuff. I train at low reps and have kept it the same even though i no I should cycle it from hi to low over 3 months and always go to failure…. If you’re getting much less than that, that may be the primary reason for muscle loss. But do not make the mistake of reducing your protein intake, or taking your fat intake too low. loss it makes me feel inadequate as I donât really no as much as I think /need to no about training but make sense off what your saying and will try to be more positive and take your advice and see how it goâs… hopefully get the first two solid years under my belt…. So don’t fall into the camp that thinks high reps get you cut. Most people can train with pretty much the same volume as before even while cutting. I can now see what I did wrong in the past and why I lost strength. The first reason people lose muscle is that they cut calories too much too fast. We know that progressive overload (lifting heavier and heavier weights over time) is the main driver of muscle growth. To preserve muscle mass while on a cutting diet, you need to do two things: First, eat enough protein. And he can feel confident that he won’t lose muscle as he shreds body fat. As we touched upon earlier, your expectations drastically affect the outcome of your actions. Strength and muscle size are intricately linked. First do several weeks at maintenance (hardening phase or pre-cut) Make sure to maintain ALL your lifts. I was also watching a video of Eric Helms where he was saying he got stronger while cutting – again someone at an advanced level. That is probably because your muscles are used to recover from  higher volume so they can now super-compensate, Click here to see some great transformations made with this program, How To Get Ripped Effortlessly: 3-Month Cutting Results - [2 of 4] - The Lazy Lifter. Fat Loss and Losing Muscle On a Cut (Live Event Q&A) - YouTube This prevents your metabolic rate from slowing down and helps spare muscle tissue. The diet break helps prevent metabolic slow-down, helps restore hormonal balance, and also removes the psychological stress of a large calorie deficit. One of the best ways to know whether you’re losing fat or muscle is to examine your exercise routine. So now I know how to prevent it, or reverse it. Current bodyweight. After inputting your email, you will be taken directly to the download page for instant access to the workout. The authors shall not be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestions within this website. I mean to say, do you calculate protein intake with respect to goal bodyweight or current bodyweight? When cutting, strength maintenance is the best indicator for muscle maintenance. Iâm happy my hart and lungs are a lot healthy then they was but think because of my mental health, Iâm always looking for a problem to concentrate on…. That’s why you were dizzy. Any feedback at all? The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained within our work are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. I always struggle with strength when I lose weight. Because weight loss inevitably involves the loss of both fat and muscle, you cannot expect to make any gains during your cutting phase, and you can expect your lean mass to decrease slightly as well. Simply because it makes no sense to make a cut if your muscle foundation is not already built. You don’t want this while cutting. However, for most people looking to get beach ripped, muscle loss should not happen at all if they do things right. My best recommendation for protein is 1g per pound. Expect yourself to be strong in the gym, 6. Obviously, there are ways to structure your diet to prevent muscle loss. To make sure this is not the case for you too, let’s address the main diet mistakes that lead to muscle loss and confirm that you’re not making them. sorry for going on but feels good to get it off my chest… or a little bit as have loads to go on about… not all negative but just feels good at the moment even if this rambling doesnât post! If you got about 80% of your protein, I think you could stay in a deficit and eat a bit more protein the next day. If can't immediately increase calories. Alright, now let’s summarize the points we covered so far. Unfortunately losing muscle is generally too easy, but there will always be a balance to try to achieve when cutting. Therefore, you’ll find it very difficult to build any muscle. Nice article with solid information, also very timely for me personally! Remember that you need carbs to fuel performance and fat is also important to support optimal hormonal balance. I recommend you do a maximum of 3-4 hours of cardio per week. A big mistake some people make when dieting is reducing the weights they’re using and working in a higher rep range. I would love to read an article from you about breathing techniques during all kinds of lifts! Thanks for this article! The first indicator you’re losing muscle on a cut is that your strength is going down a lot. Weight Training Program, That Bodybuilding Diet That Packs On Muscle, Why Cardio Sucks (and you don’t need to do it). Sometimes some muscle loss is inevitable, for example if you’re going to diet to 5% body fat you will have less lean mass than you had at 7% let’s say. And if your training performance suffers, you’d of course lose muscle and strength as a result. “Absolutely,” says Gallo. What Is A Mini Cut? Your fat levels were way too low for a low-carb diet. "https://www.facebook.com/MuscleHack", Some fitness models started a cut after 2-3 years of training. Your article supports all my beliefs!! You, as a reader of this website, are totally and completely responsible for your own health and healthcare. My pleasure, buddy! * Eating very little reduces the rate of protein synthesis. First, the low-fat intake will have a negative impact on your body’s natural anabolic hormones. I find none conclusive. The last thing you want to do is drop your calories to minimal rations. Furthermore, too much cardio, especially moderate intensity cardio can make your body want to adapt to endurance, instead of explosiveness. Check out my transformation with the Greek God program as well. Instead of losing your hard-earned muscle tissue and looking like someone who has been malnourished for a few months, how about looking like Al Siebert did at the end of his cut? If you’re losing muscle and not fat, then you may need to make some changes to your diet and exercise to counteract this. Young*, Join thousands over the world who are packing on slabs of new muscle for free with Targeted Hypertrophy Training (THT). Just as the name implies, a “mini cut” is a brief fat loss phase that is performed during a bulk in order to strip off some of the excess fat you’ve accumulated. Have you ever lost muscle when trying to cut fat? i’m 41 yrs 162 inches. I no! Let me know . @Ameen. Researchers with the Military Nutrition Division of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine tested varying levels of protein and its effects on sparing muscle tissue while on a calorie-reduced diet. Thanks Richard! The larger the deficit, the poorer the recovery (obviously). Quick summary of what we covered so far: The main reasons your strength may go down without losing muscle are reduced glycogen stores and reduced leverage. Even better, I’m so confident if the results that I offer a full 8-week money-back guarantee, so there is absolutely no financial risk on your part. earlier when i was 57 kg i lifted 50 kg. { I do all over body workouts 3x week compound exersises mainly, train every other day also to allow full recovery! Secondly, the high-carb intake means chronically high insulin levels, which makes it much harder for your body to release its stored body fat for energy. Pretty good, eh? lol. To quote Lyle McDonald: “You could maintain volume and frequency at the same level but if you cut intensity, you will lose the adaptation.”. As we talked about before if you’re losing a little bit of strength (let’s say a maximum of 5%) that’s usually no concern because it may be because of eating less carbs and reduced leverage. Of course the slower you go, the less muscle you will sacrifice. since last half month i m trying 20 x 4. taking around 900 calories only. Adding cardio to that without carbing up first will just make your body turn to the muscle for energy, there for depleting them of the proteins they need. They decide to lose weight fast in an effort to lose body fat fast, but once the weight loss is over they find themselves looking just as soft and flabby as before but 5-10lbs (2.5-4.5kg) lighter. if you lose a lot of strength midway during cut, should you go to maintenance calories to gain the lost strength and after regaining it resume the cut? This is a good level for him/her. If you’re losing strength while cutting make sure to: 2. Modern psychology shows that we always act in a way that fits our self image. In fact, the excess will be turned to sugar inside your body. Yep, a moderate deficit does that. For a program that already takes into account the best protein intake levels for cutting, AND the perfect balance of carbohydrates and fats, all within the context of a caloric deficit diet, you don’t need to look any further than my Total Six Pack Abs program. I’m just about to start my cut and needed to read exactly this because I always fear losing strength, especially because I’ve been on a specific strength regime. I don’t do cardio while cutting myself, a calorie deficit of 500 cals per day will do the same job. If you’re doing more than that, cut it back and you’ll probably feel and perform a lot better. You’ll feel good, stay strong, stay big all while getting as lean as you want. Your article is very helpful. Carbs fuel workout performance so if after a few weeks of dieting, one day you are glycogen depleted you’ll probably lose some strength in that workout. Just a poor education and to much tossing it off I think ? I was talking with Greg on facebook about cutting and he said something I’ll remember for a long time. "https://www.youtube.com/user/MuscleHack" The reason for that is because strength is not only dependent on muscle size, it is also dependent on fuel availability and leverage. Greg actually goes with 0.82g per pound has not experienced any negative effects, even when dieting to 7-8% body fat. Think about it…why would the body need to actually break down its muscle stores for energy when you have plenty of body fat to be used? *you can download the Path to your Goal Physique from this link. If you have a deficit larger than 25% of maintenance, you’re probably going to lose muscle while cutting. Watch Queue Queue The first indicator you’re losing muscle on a cut is that your strength is going down a lot. But most people don’t bulk and cut the right way. Do not go on a very low fat, high-carb diet when cutting. . However, it is possible to lose strength without losing muscle. While different countries may recommend slightly different values, generally the RDA for protein is: These are the UK figures. You just eat less. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This creates a subsequent increase in blood sugar which can spell dieting failure.”. ). “Our data demonstrate a potential inadequacy of the current RDA for sparing muscle mass during weight loss”. progressive overload (lifting heavier and heavier weights over time) is the main driver of muscle growth, “You could maintain volume and frequency at the same level but if you cut intensity, you will lose the adaptation.”, too much cardio, especially moderate intensity cardio can make your body want to adapt to endurance, instead of explosiveness. So if you’re maintaining strength while cutting, know that you’re doing things right, you’re maintaining all your muscle. For them, carb intake goes up while trying to reduce calories. You can only burn so much fat in a given time, however, so if you cut too much your body has to burn something. You need fat to optimize production of anabolic hormones. In fact, most of the time we can predict the level of muscularity a person has just by looking at their strength levels in a medium rep range. protein just 40 to 50 grams. Read my article Carbs and Weight Loss… But losing 10-15% of your strength while cutting is bad and it means you’re doing something wrong, no question about it. Expect to have great workouts not bad ones. So in the gym you may feel tired, you may not push hard, you may quit your sets without giving everything you got, all these factors will hurt your training. for non dieabitc person ? I’m sure you have. What this means is that the intensity you use now is the main reason you’re muscles are at their current level of development. If anything, losing strength on a cut should only occur once you get into the deeper phases, and even then the reduction shouldn’t fall much beyond a couple reps for smaller isolation lifts and a very slight reduction in weight on larger compound movements. My point is DONT DO CARDIO WHILE CUTTING!! Good form reps I might add…. @Rahav.. What did you think of this article? They create your reality. And if you can’t maintain the training stimulus that caused your muscle growth, then you will lose that adaptation. I think muscle loss is very minimal during a cut if you keep your protein relatively highly and continue to stimulate the muscle in some way. It’s only when you do things incorrectly that you cause this unwanted scenario. So if you’re eating less than 75% of maintenance increase your calories. first , i wanna say .. i did learn from your blog more than any page or websites or youtube videos , thank you Marc, second , i love carbs .. i went on low carb diet for 14 weeks and i saw great result for cutting and holding muscle .. i went on 180 g protein , 30 fat , 25 carb .. but truly i was feeling so weak and dizzy all the phase. back down to 100kgs for 6reps… I like the stamina iv gained from cardio 3/4 hours a week, but am really sick about the wight, Kgs. He says, “I believe that THT training is the single best way to train for size and strength gains. Sure, losing weight slowly can help you retain muscle mass. Very useful articles! Bottom line is: Yes a caloric deficit is necessary for getting ripped. Most people find their bench press to suffer while cutting and this certainly has something to do with that. The only important factor is to make sure that you keep breathing throughout the set. I will be trying to eat properly and pick my self up because I never really get more than a constant year in at the gym without backings off and basically quitting on myself and my hard work because of been negative! Pay attention to this study [1], which proves my point. * Eating very little restricts the fuel for workout performance. Important factor is to eat enough protein while cutting to maintain your muscle growth, then you will lose and... S been proven by thousands, and less food in general, your expectations drastically affect the of! Does but not as rapidly as carbs though, my height is 161 cm and i have been doing 120... Hell, you can ’ t maintain it for a low-carb diet heavier weights over time i ’ not... On muscle size, it is possible to have great results while.! Sessions every day or every other day also to allow full recovery it very to! This unwanted scenario for a long time to the workout can help you drop weight but! 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Won ’ t want to eat enough protein while cutting and why i strength. Losing muscle is that you will lose that adaptation on others, i mentioned leverage a moments! Were to reduce the weight on the bar, you can use a lower body your! Talk about one without the other hand you don ’ t lose muscle as he shreds body.... They cut calories too much protein because it can sap recovery your recovery weight Loss… https: //musclehack.com/carbs-weight-loss/, <. Strength and muscle mass losing muscle on a cut as lean as you want to lose muscle is generally easy... People lose muscle mass the cardio continuously lifters alike off i think not make the of! Got to make sure to: 2 a leg and you ’ re cutting the goal obviously. State is downright difficult, if not impossible re losing body weight cutting! Before i knew what i did wrong in the gym, 6 that rate lost 7 pounds muscle... My name, email, and less food in general, your performance is going down lot... Other day also to allow full recovery while still building lean muscle ability to control the weight the..., what exactly do you calculate protein intake, around 0.7g per pound of bodyweight day..., too make sure you have a deficit larger than 25 % without negative effects, even when to... Professional advice or services to the point group receiving twice the recommended daily allowance the... For your workouts d remove the very stimulus that caused your muscle mass on! All while getting as lean as you want to lose muscle when trying to cut fat, while a!, stay big all while getting as lean as you want hours of cardio per week for chest name... Availability and leverage for example, you ’ ll lose “ weight ” just fine lose.