Strength loss when leaning out?
Published: Sun, 04/21/13
Our buddy Brandon sent in a question and was wondering
how much strength he can expect to lose when dieting down
how much strength he can expect to lose when dieting down
to get ripped.
My college roommate, ex-pro football player, good friend
and co-author of the Critical Ripped Program, Steve Konopkla
aka Kono will field this question for us below.
and co-author of the Critical Ripped Program, Steve Konopkla
aka Kono will field this question for us below.
======
I currently weigh 205lbs. and plan on dieting down to about
180-185lbs. What kind of strength loss should I anticipate
with this decrease in weight? For example, my current incline
bench goes 225x8, 225x6, 225x4, 225x4. I know each person
is different, but I thought you might be able to give me a
guesstimation.
Thanks
Brandon
Kono's Answer:
Brandon,
When you are dieting down don't worry about your strength otherwise you
might start hindering your main goal which is getting ripped. In my opinion
for every 10 lbs you drop you lose about 5% in total strength. I know some
people won't agree with that but after 4 or 5 weeks of hard dieting you really
lose energy and endurance. If someone is just cutting back a little and not doing
cardio 6 days a week there isn't much of a loss. But you also wont get that lean!
One thing to think of is if you want different results then you are getting from
your training now, you should train differently. For instance it sounds like you
are training for strength and size from the rep scheme you provided.
To get lean you need to train to get lean, so dont worry if you can't do 225 x 4
you shouldn't be doing that low of reps anyways. Higher reps, supersets and
cardio are a lot more important.
We just re-opened the CRITICAL RIPPED PROGRAM and it is awesome
to say the least. You might want to check it out, it will take all the guess work
out of dieting down. KONO
When you are dieting down don't worry about your strength otherwise you
might start hindering your main goal which is getting ripped. In my opinion
for every 10 lbs you drop you lose about 5% in total strength. I know some
people won't agree with that but after 4 or 5 weeks of hard dieting you really
lose energy and endurance. If someone is just cutting back a little and not doing
cardio 6 days a week there isn't much of a loss. But you also wont get that lean!
One thing to think of is if you want different results then you are getting from
your training now, you should train differently. For instance it sounds like you
are training for strength and size from the rep scheme you provided.
To get lean you need to train to get lean, so dont worry if you can't do 225 x 4
you shouldn't be doing that low of reps anyways. Higher reps, supersets and
cardio are a lot more important.
We just re-opened the CRITICAL RIPPED PROGRAM and it is awesome
to say the least. You might want to check it out, it will take all the guess work
out of dieting down. KONO
===========
Cool...thanks for the insight Kono.
I'm off to the gym now to hit my kettlebell workout. I'm heading up to the
Dragon Door RKC workshop next weekend and have to get a few more
practices under my belt.
If you haven't done so check out the link below to check out our weekend sale
on the Ripped Program for just $9. Ends tonight though.
Keep training hard,
Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com