Training During Caloric Deficit

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’m about to start under-eating to reduce waist size. I’m 32 yo, 6’0", 39-40" waist, and weigh 240 pounds. Within the last year I’ve deadlifted 540, squatted 500, benched 405, and pressed 240.

Does training during a cut significantly mitigate strength and muscle loss compared to not training? If strength and mass gains are dependent on a caloric surplus then it seems futile to train while cutting unless it can significantly reduce loss of muscle mass from the cut. I am tempted to just not train for the next 3-4 weeks and focus on restricting calories and walking 30 minutes each day.

Thanks for your help!

2

Hi Mike,

The question about attenuated strength gains during a cut is complex and depends completely on context. I would expect that strength improvements during a cut are, on balance, slower than the strength improvements possible during weight gain for most folks, but I also think that a substantial amount of strength potential can be reached during a “cut” if the programming is correct.*

*Caveat 1: The person isn’t markedly underweight
*Caveat 2: There is no medical reason why the person is losing weight

3

Thanks for the response. You mentioned that context matters. Considering that I’ve already achieved a substantial amount of strength I’m not sure that I could “squeeze” out any more gains while undereating. I’ve wondered if it is possible to nocebo myself with regards to caloric restriction and strength retention/gains.

I’ve heard Mike Israetel suggest that both massing and cutting diets comport well with hypertrophy/higher volume training and that maintenance diets work well with peaking/low volume training. I’m paraphrasing from memory but I think he said that during caloric restriction, higher-volume training is necessary in that it provides a better signal to the starved body that there is a need to retain the muscle tissue that is currently there. I had always thought that during caloric restriction it made sense to do low-volume, high intensity training. My thinking was that the heavier loads allowed complete activation of motor units and the reduced volume allowed for shorter workouts/more time for cardio. Would you care to share your thoughts on this?

Thanks again! I’m a long-time reader/listener of your content but new to the boards here. Also, it’s nice to see a Truman State bulldog doing big things. I went to Central Missouri and played football there. We played Truman State (The Harvard of the Midwest) every year. Keep it up, what you guys are doing is excellent and extremely helpful.

4

Remember that you are gaining and losing muscle every day whether you are cutting or bulking but the net balance can change.

If you don’t train while you are cutting then you will be reducing the gains to a minimum and ensuring the net balance will be a loss.

5

Yes, of course you can nocebo yourself potentially.

I would make the argument that if you’ve responded this well to training already then I expect you to continue to respond reasonably well to training going forward.

I think good strength-based programming that is periodized over time should be considered independent of nutrition most of the time, as it will (by definition) check all the boxes described above.

I wouldn’t do ONLY higher volume, lower intensity stuff or vice versa in this scenario.

Go bulldogs (and Mules)!