Losing Strength While Cutting? 5 Quick Fixes

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Video Summary:

Losing Strength While Cutting? 5 Quick Fixes

Have you been rapidly losing strength while cutting and aren't sure what the problem is?

This is definitely something to pay attention to, as strength losses during a cut should only be very modest if anything and are a good indication of how well you're retaining your lean mass.

Here are the 5 main tips you'll want to follow...

Tip #1: Increase Your Daily Calorie Intake

If you're losing strength on a cut at a quick pace, this is usually the main mistake to blame. Aggressive calorie deficits can be okay in the short term, but go too low for too long and you'll compromise recovery in between workouts and prevent your body from getting the fuel it needs to maximize training performance.

If you want to lose fat and maintain strength effectively, a deficit of about 500 calories below maintenance is a good middle ground.

Tip #2: Balance Out Your Macronutrient Breakdown

Your macros don't need to be perfect, but during a cutting phase it does become more important since you have fewer total calories to work with and there will be a greater chance that you'll under-consume one or more of them.

Problems can arise when protein intake is too low (impairs recovery), carbs are too low (less fuel for workouts) and fat is too low (mood/mental functioning decreases which could impact workout quality).

To prevent losing strength on a cut, a good breakdown is about 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight daily, 25% of total calories from fat, and the rest of your daily calories going toward carbs.

Tip #3: Cut Back On The Cardio

A bit of cardio is a good addition to an overall well balanced fat loss program, but going too far overboard can easily compromise your strength and lean mass by negatively impacting recovery.

Go with no more than 3 weekly cardio sessions as a starting point, and only increase later on if it becomes necessary deeper into your cut.

Tip #4: Avoid The "Light Weight/High Reps" Mentality

Remember, you can't "spot reduce" fat from specific areas of your body, and using lighter weight for higher reps does not have any effect on improving muscle definition or shape.

Muscle definition is just a product of your total body fat percentage in combination with how much mass you're carrying, and lightening up the weights is only going to weaken the training stimulus and increase the chances of strength loss while cutting.

Keep your weight training plan the same as it was during your bulking phase, as there's no need to change anything in terms of loads or rep ranges.

Tip #5: Reduce Your Training Volume

If you're still losing strength on a cut despite following the 4 steps above, try reducing your overall weekly training volume as well by about 25%.

You don't need to be performing high volume, high frequency workouts during a cut, and too many total sets can easily begin working against you if you aren't careful.

P.S. If you found these tips helpful, make sure to get your personalized training, nutrition and supplement plans using my interactive video presentation below:

[Sean_Nalewanyj]

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[youlifts]

Finally a YouTube bodybuilder without drama....

[tokoXD]

Short, accurate, clear as always. Ive been watching you from years and i can say that youre the man.

[nerenahd]

Seriously, this channel is my number one source of fitness information on YouTube. Straight to the point, no nonsense. No funny stuff, just plain critical scientific information. Great Sean.

[ssoheilmn]

Great video. Love the way you write down everything so I can take notes for my future reference later. Please add the bonus points to the description as they are very helpful too.

[erTalhaKhan]

Straightforward and informative. Great videos man!

[RaineyPowerTraining]

Great info man! Giving me confidence to stay strong on my cut.

[chriscoutinho]

Great video I got everything I was looking for .. thank you 🤘🏻

[AA-hkcm]

I've only lost strength in my chest gains by a few reps however I've gained strength everywhere else while cutting from 82kg to 70kg within a few months

[yf]

11-star video. Just what I needed. Thanks Sean!

[andrewschafer]

Liked before I watched! Love your videos!

[MajikBox]

this answers my question thanks a lot Sean! :D Superb contents no Bullshit

[mperezgumperezgu]

The videos you post are always the things I am thinking about! Thanks Sean, I appreciate all the great content😁

[matiasesquenet]

Another tip I'd recommend is start taking creatine (if you aren't already) in the cutting phase, since it will make easier to maintain the workout volume thus reducing the chance of muscle and strength loss, without impacting on the caloric balance.

[TheMellowYellowDrummer]

Would you make a video outlining macros and foods to eat to meet the macros for the days while cutting ?

[ozantunca]

You are the best fitness youtuber Sean.Because you are not a naked poser and you are not presenting some small details as a miracle such as 78 meals per day, bcaa supplementation etc... I think that makes your subscriber less confused and less depresive about what they need to buy when they need to do, , and consistent with their diet and gym and in my opinion consistency is the most important thing in this sport.In long term statistically your subscribers will have best physique because of that. It would be great to see a video about plateau and how to increase the weight of lifts.(I mean pause reps, forced reps, more sets, frequency...which one would help to increase)

[streetlegal]

this explains a lot as i did a cut for about 4 weeks last year and my bench dropped from 225 for 5 reps to 180 for 5 reps, as a sidenote i lost about 12pounds in those 4 weeks and barely dropped from 25%bf to 20%bf

[anirudhvyas]

One thing I’d say is that compound lifts as they go heavier takes longer to recover, in particular during a cut they are really hard so it’s vital that you blunt down cardio and have ‘moderate’ deficits otherwise you’d end up losing strength linearly - thanks Sean

[mariovanderzwan]

Hi Sean
i have found your channel 2 months ago and i'm very glad i did because your videos are very informative!
one question though, how about BCAA supplements while cutting, and what to do with creatine intake?

[theOGofREDS]

Make a video on what to eat for binge eaters like me! I’m gonna start keeping a jar of dill pickles by the bed and sugar free jello cups.