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Powergirl
Powergirl g Heidi Hansen
13 Post(s)
13 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

So I participate in powerlifting and I start competing in September. I want to get my body fat down to a healthier level, but I don't want to give up any of the strength I have worked so hard for. It seems that most advice out there is for bodybuilders, and bodybuilding, for aestethic reasons is not really my goal. I don't care too much if I gain muscle mass, as I'm already pretty muscular. I want to drop body fat, but still lift as heavy as I do. I don't want to cut out too many carbs, because that would affect my lifting. As a woman with a relatively low metabolism, I also have tend to gain weight if I eat more than 2000 calories a day, so how do I get all the macros I need to gain strength, but still lose fat at the same time?

William_Steinset
William_Steinset p William Steinset
1K Post(s)
1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: December 12, 1969
Posted
Posted By: Powergirl

So I participate in powerlifting and I start competing in September. I want to get my body fat down to a healthier level, but I don't want to give up any of the strength I have worked so hard for. It seems that most advice out there is for bodybuilders, and bodybuilding, for aestethic reasons is not really my goal. I don't care too much if I gain muscle mass, as I'm already pretty muscular. I want to drop body fat, but still lift as heavy as I do. I don't want to cut out too many carbs, because that would affect my lifting. As a woman with a relatively low metabolism, I also have tend to gain weight if I eat more than 2000 calories a day, so how do I get all the macros I need to gain strength, but still lose fat at the same time?

If you are not dropping your calories dramatically you will normally gain strenght regardless of if you are cutting, bulking or maintaining. The most important element to keep in mind is that when you will likely gain strenght a bit slower than usual but you will still be able to progress. It is extremely odd that you gain weight at 2000 calories as I actually think that is way to little. You cannot drop your calories below 1700 calories because then you will get to an unhealthy change. I would simply suggest you to do cardio and then continue to eat 2000-2500 calories. Cardio and curcuit training is the two most effective ways to lose fat in a healthy manner according to my experience.

MS Athelete / Super Hermanite / SHF
Markhj
Markhj g mark howard jones
59 Post(s)
59 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2013
Posted
Posted By: Powergirl

So I participate in powerlifting and I start competing in September. I want to get my body fat down to a healthier level, but I don't want to give up any of the strength I have worked so hard for. It seems that most advice out there is for bodybuilders, and bodybuilding, for aestethic reasons is not really my goal. I don't care too much if I gain muscle mass, as I'm already pretty muscular. I want to drop body fat, but still lift as heavy as I do. I don't want to cut out too many carbs, because that would affect my lifting. As a woman with a relatively low metabolism, I also have tend to gain weight if I eat more than 2000 calories a day, so how do I get all the macros I need to gain strength, but still lose fat at the same time?

Ok so I think the other guy is right, if you're a powerlifter cutting your diet would have a somewhat negative impact however you are going to have to lose some calories from somewhere, weather this is from your diet or exercise is a different matter. So with cardio theres a few things to bare in mind. Firstly high intensity endurance running would be the quickest way to shred your weight but after arround an hour or so of running at a high intensity you will ever so slightly start to use protein stores (muscle) for fuel. At 1.5 hours in you are going to be using a lot of protein stores to create your energy once your glycogen stores in your muscles get depleted. So being a powerlifter it's not a great idea to go at the cardio too much. Little bits here and there would be much better 30 minute runs, hour long walks or high intensity muscular endurance routines. These are going to take a similair ammount of calories each (200-350 sort of area) but these shouldn't dig into your ability to keep up with your powerlifting or take away from your muscle mass. The muscular endurance routines however will require you to replenish your glycogen after with a glass of milk banana something like that as it is pretty explosive so you're mainly going to me using your sugar stores to smash it! Hope this helped don't overdo it, little and often works well for losing fat! :)

Powergirl
Powergirl g Heidi Hansen
13 Post(s)
13 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

Thanks guys! Yeah that helps, because obviously I don't want to drop my calories too much. but that is a good idea. It's much easier to do a little bit several times a day than all at once for me.

Markhj
Markhj g mark howard jones
59 Post(s)
59 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2013
Posted

Cool, good luck! :)

Rishi_Ramsamooj
Rishi_Ramsamooj g Rishi Ramsamooj
140 Post(s)
140 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: Markhj

Ok so I think the other guy is right, if you're a powerlifter cutting your diet would have a somewhat negative impact however you are going to have to lose some calories from somewhere, weather this is from your diet or exercise is a different matter. So with cardio theres a few things to bare in mind. Firstly high intensity endurance running would be the quickest way to shred your weight but after arround an hour or so of running at a high intensity you will ever so slightly start to use protein stores (muscle) for fuel. At 1.5 hours in you are going to be using a lot of protein stores to create your energy once your glycogen stores in your muscles get depleted. So being a powerlifter it's not a great idea to go at the cardio too much. Little bits here and there would be much better 30 minute runs, hour long walks or high intensity muscular endurance routines. These are going to take a similair ammount of calories each (200-350 sort of area) but these shouldn't dig into your ability to keep up with your powerlifting or take away from your muscle mass. The muscular endurance routines however will require you to replenish your glycogen after with a glass of milk banana something like that as it is pretty explosive so you're mainly going to me using your sugar stores to smash it! Hope this helped don't overdo it, little and often works well for losing fat! :)

Great advice Mark!! Thats what I been doing to lose fat. I keep my calorie deficit low and I go my instense circuits after my regular Butjogging for 30 minutes every ounce in a while isnt a really a bad thing

18 years old Training for aesthetic athletics No roids just rage Majoring in business management Changing people's lives
wilkinson207
wilkinson207 g jake wilkinson
115 Post(s)
115 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

from a guy who has done power lifting as well as been a fighter needing to drop weight you dont need to cut your calories, all you need to do is increase your activity level, power lifting training for me had huge amounts of rest periods, which was fine but it didnt keep muy heart rate high so i did gain fat, what you need to do is stay on your feet for longer, get yourself a step counter and set yourself realistic goals, start it when you're dressed in the morning and check it at night, do your normal routine for a week then set a table as to how many steps you did each day... then add 1000 simply by getting up a few hours before bed and go for a walk, not a jog, a walk, not some slow snail walk either, somethign to raise your heart slightly, contract your muscles as you do so, this will help with spreading out the oxygen through your body and help raise the effectiveness of the walking, you'd actually be surprised how little people walk each day, simply by increasing the amount we walk each and everyday it increases our metabolic rate, this will make you drop fat and at the same time also help to increase your strength because you are able to digest your foods more effectively and maybe even have room for a free meal, preferebly something packed with micronutrients rather than say chicken or sweet potato etc... something like a mixed salad with spinach, broccoli, oils, asparagus etc, just something to up the effectiveness of your internal organs rather than focusing on your muscles, also make your pre workout meal a spicy one... when i want to cut fat my pre workout meal i'll put some oil in a pan throw in some dry peanuts and some chilli powder and i'll eat that with half a cup of milk and either a pre workout drink or a simple energy drink :P also i like to chew gum during training when trying to drop weight, not really sure why just stops me over drinking water i guess , although when dropping weight drinking extra water than usual really helps, also invest in some mixed fibre stuff, i always have a tub of "ON fitness fibre" it helps correct any imbalances in my diet where i take in too many unsoluble fibres and end up clogged up, simple mistake, but upping your fibre levels will help, not sure why im rambling might have something to do with still having lots of energy left, someone remind me to up the volume in my workouts xD anyway good luck.

"its not whether you get knocked down, its whether you get up" - Vince Lombardi
muscular strength
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