Strength gains and face stuffing.

[TheTonyT]

I am pretty aware that if you want to get strong, and put on some muscle one must eat for it, but what if one seeks to get as strong as possible, but needs to maintain or loose weight ? Is it possible to do so with caloric , or carbohydrate restrictions ?

Im asking this because Im a weight class athlete , who due to alot of late night rendevous at Taco Bell, isnt exactly near the weightclass I should optimally be at. Sombody told me that if I want to loose weight, I need to give up weight training. The thing is I like being able to pick up heavy shit, and that includes picking people up and slamming them when possible.

[NKT]

Gaining strength quickly (linear progression) requires face-stuffing.

Gaining muscle quickly requires eating enough to gain weight. For most active people this feels like face-stuffing.

Gaining strength while maintaining or losing weight is possible, but it takes a finer attention to detail and will take longer.

To me, the best approach would be to eat your way through your novice progression, then reevaluate what weight class really suits you and refine yourself into that class while gradually building your strength further and training for your sport.

Take a look at Dan John's 40-day program for the gradual-strength-gain-and-weight-loss phase. Several people (including me) have reported success with using this program to increase strength while maintaining or losing bodyweight.
40-Day Program Article on T-Nation
Helpful thread on irongarmx.net

[DV]

Sombody told me that if I want to loose weight, I need to give up weight training.

That's just plain BS. Losing weight is largely diet. If you need to lose actual pounds you might have to do calorie restriction. If you just have to stay at current BW cleaning up your diet is usually enough to keep gains going for a while yet. Not gaining BW will, in the end, mean you gain strength slower, and will have to use weekly/monthly "periodization" quicker.

What is your weight/height?

[hbriem]

It's hard to gain "a lot" of strength while on a calorie restricted diet.

Exactly what "a lot" is depends on your training status. Fat beginners can gain quite a bit of strength while fasting. Jacked elite powerlifters would do well not to lose some strength while on a negative calorie balance. Most people are in between. Most intermediates can at least maintain their strength while they cut.

Strength training while on a restrictive diet is important in order not to lose much muscle mass and strength.

Dieting without strength training leads to a vicious circle of progressive muscle loss (yoyo dieting).

[TheTonyT]

and will have to use weekly/monthly "periodization" quicker.

What is your weight/height?

What do you mean by using Weekly/Monthly periodization quicker ?

Ht. 5'5
Wgt. 202

Numbers
LB squat -- 480lbs for 5 singles ( peak while on TM )
Olympic squat -- 365x5
DL-- 520 lbs ( peak max )
BP -- 300 lbs
Power Clean -- 230lbs (hook grip) 240 (with straps )
Hang Clean -- 245x2
Press -- 205 (all time best ) 165x5 ( where Im at now )
Push Press -- 245lbs

I wish I knew how to BB snatch, but my form is horrific. I stick to DB snatchs if I want to do them.

EDIT : Also Ive been on this "Anabolic Diet" wich seemed to be working at first, but it looks like its loosing it effectivness....or Im loosing my disciple because I want pancakes dammit !

[DV]

I mistakenly assumed you were a novice and thus able to linearly progress. Obviously you are not, as your lifts are very decent for your BW/height.

In PPST Rip&Kilgore lay out the deal:

Novice=you can progress workout to workout.
Intermediate=You can progress from week to week.
Advanced=You need to use periodization (4 weeks build-up to a max, 2 weeks low intensity, then repeat to a higher max etc.).

What I meant was, that if you are a skinny kid, but wont gain weight, then you have to move to "intermediate" and subsequently "advanced" sooner. In any case it doesn't apply to you.

Depending on how much you need to diet down, there are different ways. Some people have great success with Lyle McDonalds methods, and he has lots of good info on his site and in his books. If you need to lose pounds, I'd be happy to maintain strength if I were you, and then slowly add to your strength, when you are at your target weight and can eat at least for maintenance. And at that point you'd probably need to eat pretty well (i.e. high quality foods) in order to progress.

If you've been eating lots of junk, then you might not need to complicate things too much. Cleaning up your diet might in itself give you quite abit of weightloss. There's a limit to how much meat and veg a man can stuff himself with. Starr said to aim for 80g of carbs/day if trying to lose weight, with the rest coming from proteins/fats from meats etc.

If I were you I'd set something up with high intensity but low volume in order to maintain strength while you shed some pounds.

[TheTonyT]

If I were you I'd set something up with high intensity but low volume in order to maintain strength while you shed some pounds.

Does any programming come to mind ? TM - 5-3-1 -5x5- 3day push/pull/legs (or somthing aikn to that) , WS ???

Ive ran the first 3 programs with monuemental success for strength gains, but the volume of TM was killing me ( and making me fear to much hypertrophy ) and 5-3-1 made me feel a little "un balanced" for lack of a better term.

So low volume ( Im assuming under 25 reps per exercsie per session ) and High Intensity ( 85% + ) for `1-5 reps, or maybe speed sets / DE stuff.

Ive read SS 2nd Edition, PPFS 2nd Edition, but I dont act like Im a Olympic level coach, and when Im lost, I look for directions.

(PS. I also wreslte, box, train mma, sprint twice a week, and do plyo's and this 30g's minus a day of carbs is killing me lol )

[Carlos Daniel]

Carb restriction for a guy like you sounds bad.

[TheTonyT]

Carb restriction for a guy like you sounds bad.

Yeah, I would eat 30g's or less 5 days a week, sat and sunday (or just sat ) I'd jam a bunch o' carbs in my face. Now im just going to up my carbs to 70-100 g's a day, and take it from there. Low-carb, while training hard, makes you feel like a weak turd.

[TheTonyT]

If I were you I'd set something up with high intensity but low volume in order to maintain strength while you shed some pounds.

Any suggestions ?