Do I cut or maintain?

[potatoface]

I've made a topic before about not being able to squat, you told me to go to a doctor. The doctor didn't know what was wrong and sent me to a physical therapist. I don't think the physical therapist has told me why I was in pain; he speaks to me as if I know the anatomy of the human body and the names of everything. From what I can understand, I have muscle imbalances and that's what he's helping me fix. In the meantime, he told me to lay off any barbell movements that require the hip.

In short, I can't do the novice program to cut, like I had hoped. The only time I spend in the gym now is to retain my strict press/bench press numbers and improve my grip strength.

I gained ~50 lbs in my first 5 months of the program so I have a lot of fat to cut. Would not doing squats/deadlifts mean I'd have poor results when cutting or should I just cut with minimal lifts and cardio?


If you're interested in the muscle imbalances, my quads/lower back overpower my abs/glutes/hamstrings which cause my pelvis bone to tip forward, this causes my lower spine to arch more than normal. Also, my left leg is weaker than my right leg.

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is a highly unusual volume of gibberish for even a BB.com guy.

[potatoface]

if i try to lose weight without doing anything important like squats, deadlifts, power cleans, will i lose a lot of the muscle i worked for?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I sincerely hope so.

[potatoface]

why would you hope that on me?

[elVarouza]

In short, I can't do the novice program to cut, like I had hoped.

Where do people get these ideas?

[Mark Rippetoe]

From their kindergarten teachers.

[potatoface]

maybe i was unclear, i cannot do squats, deadlifts or power cleans because it will further injure my left leg. I've been going to a doctor/physical therapist for it. In the meantime, I cannot follow a full body strength routine, like the one shown in Starting Strength.

i need to lose weight because I gained too much fat on my first few months of the program.

which brings me to my unanswered question, will lifting weights save more muscle than not when eating at a caloric deficit?

i don't know how this is convoluted garble like you are implying.

[Tuesday]

why would you hope that on me?

He doesn't hope that on you, it's just a fact of physiology.

On the other hand, it sounds like your PT wants to take the next few months to make your quads, low back, and right leg as weak as your abs, glutes, hams, and left leg. I dare you to do some RDLs and weighted situps if they don't hurt much. If you can figure out a way to do the situps with a barbell, you might be able to get the PT to froth in rage since you'll fix your weak glutes, hams, and abs with barbell movements.

[Polynomial]

Your doctor/PT told you that have muscle imbalances and that's what's causing you to be unable to squat? I've got a feeling that the way to fix this is precisely to drop some weight off the bar and start doing the novice progression. Well, at least that's how Rip addresses a similar question in his followup to a concern about his article on training for fencers.

In any case, Lyle McDonald seems to be of the opinion that high intensity, full body workouts are the best way to prevent muscle loss on a calorie deficit. That pretty much means heavy ass squats and deads.