Is it possible to gain strength during on an intermediate plan while consuming maintenance calories or in a caloric deficits? My NLP will be running out soon and I plan to start your bridge program at that point. I am 6 feet and 3/4 inches, about 205, age 24. Should I continue to eat in a surplus and not worry about additional weight gain? Or should I decrease calories?
I don’t know where this narrative has been solidified that you have to gain weight to get stronger, but I’d really like to push back on that.
You can gain strength when losing weight, maintaining weight, or gaining weight- provided the programming is appropriate for you. Similarly, you can lose strength while losing weight, maintaining weight, or gaining weight- if the programming is inappropriate.
Whether you should lose, gain, or maintain weight basically comes down to the following questions:
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Does your BMI and/or waist circumference suggest you’re at high risk of developing adiposity-related chronic disease? In other words, is your BMI > 30 or your waist circumference > 37" (men) or 31.5" (women)? If yes to either of these, weight loss is probably the right move.
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Do you have any adiposity related chronic disease currently? In other words, do you have high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, etc.? If so, weight loss is probably the right move.
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If you answered no to #1 and #2, do you want to gain weight? If so, weight gain is fine. If you don’t, you don’t have to either. We don’t know that gaining weight makes people respond better to a program necessarily, though we do expect that folks will gain a bit more lean body mass when gaining weight than maintaining weight (how much is up for debate).
-Jordan
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Yea, I would recommend weight loss in this setting given your waist measurement.