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By that account, I want to thank you again for the advice you gave me about 1,5 months ago. I ate enough (especially during the first 3 - 4 weeks) that in total by now I "only" lost about 7 pounds. But what I wouldn't have believed is that I could actually increase my 1RM strength during that time, although my progress has already been very slow before.Originally Posted by Andy Baker (KSC)
I attribute that to actually training the 1RMs on a weekly basis but also to the DE sets that really seem to have improved my explosiveness and apparently my technique as well. My plan is as follows:
Mon: Bench/Press 12x3 DE, Press/Bench 3x8
Tue: Squat 10x2 DE, Power Clean 15x1 DE
Thu: Bench/Press heavy single + 2x2-3 back-off sets, Press/Bench similar
Fri: Squat heavy single + 2x2-3 back-off sets, Deadlift heavy single + 1x2-3 back-off set
I switch from press focus to bench focus weekly and DE set pauses are 1 minute.
I increased my bench from 110kg to 115kg. Press I tried a 1RM and baaarely managed it on the 3rd attempt at 85kg before dieting. Last week I did an easy 85kg after doing the 115kg bench press PR and will go for 87,5kg this week. Squat went from 170kg to 175kg and Deadlift from 185kg to 190kg. PC 1RM was 82,5kg (always missed 85) and I did 80kg 15x1 DE the last weeks, trying to increase to 82,5kg 15x1 today. Also went for the 85kg 1RM PC after doing the DE sets on one day and succeeded.
People at the gym are regularly telling me I'm the strongest person they've ever seen in the gym. I have to chuckle when I tell them I'm actually rather weak, given my shitty genetics (6,5 inch wrists, slim frame, was 60kg at 1,80m before lifting, autoimmune thyroiditis). Heck there are many gym bros benching more than I do but no one squats, presses and deadlifts heavy. I can only imagine how poor I'd look compared to those fools, if they would actually lift. They have now clue about their potential.
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Well, if he's 220 lbs and 15% bodyfat and he cuts to 10% bodyfat, now (assuming he lost fat and no LBM) he's a 208 lb lifter competing in the 220 weight class. There's no real competitive advantage there, unless he can cut enough weight to make the next lower weight class.
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By being diligent with your diet. Protein synthesis does not come crashing to a halt when you're not in a calorie surplus, it simply slows down. Also, body fat is energy storage. Your body will use it.
Also, the Prowler.
This is true for the advanced lifter. It becomes much less true the closer the lifter is to an untrained novice. Again, dietary diligence.
This is not as black and white as I think you see it.
A straight fat loss diet requires a reduction in volume, yes, while maintaining or trying to increase intensity. You're trying to convince your body to hang on to all that muscle you worked so hard for and use fat stores for energy instead. Too much volume will cause burn out.
You can still make rapid progress as an early intermediate and slowly lose fat if you are diligent with your diet.
And Prowler.
Fat gain during the novice stage is a necessary side effect of the amount of food required to make rapid progress. For someone who's already fat, they don't need the same amount of food as someone who's underweight. They will lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, as long as attention is paid to the diet.
Pay attention to diet. Do Novice LP. Do the Texas Method. Do the Texas Method again. Hell, do it a third time. Then you'll be at the point where you need to start worrying about not building muscle while losing bodyfat. Maybe.
Member
Well that makes sense. Appreciate it Claymore!
Member
Thanks for this Andy. When you are working up to heavy singles, is this pre-programmed weights or auto-regulated?
Member
Losing a lb or 2 during the deload (every 4th) week has been helpful to maintain progress and body composition in my experience. I do this by "cleaning up" my diet and staying at maintenance for that week.
Member
Since Andy didn't respond yet: He mentioned in a thread that the idea of working up to a heavy single during a caloric deficit is to keep intensity as high as possible. As your performance is likely to fluctuate daily/weekly during weight loss, this allows you to go as heavy as you can in that particular day/week.
I experienced this myself. Bad sleep, stress, not eating enough before the workout etc. will negatively affect your training that day much more while on a caloric deficit than it would in a bulk.
Doing the singles on a weekly basis now has really helped me keep my strength or actually even increase it (I tried the 87,5kg press last week, did it with ease and then even went ahead and pressed 90kg at 87,5kg bw) and I'm sure the Dynamic Effort sets have helped by increasing my neuromuscular efficiency as well. All in all I'm pleasantly surprised by the DE sets + "auto-regulated" singles approach suggested by Andy during weight loss. Granted I have only lost about 11 pounds from the beginning of May, but I did not expect to increase my 1RM lifts during that time by 11 pounds either.
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