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Barbell Do I need to eat more in order to lift more?

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SuperGirevik

SuperGirevik

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I've recently began another cycle of barbell lifting and I'm trying to understand if there is truly a relationship between a person's size/weigh and their maximum strength. I'll use myself as an example, I'm 41 yrs old, 5'-11" and weigh 220lbs. My job is a mix of blue and white collar. As a self-employed tree farmer, at times I'm digging trees with either a shovel or gas shovel but when it's slow or too hot, I'm in the office doing other tasks. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm burning around 2500-3000 calories a day just by living. Then add to that my training and the number will go up.

Any ways, the point is, if I want to get leaner, I would have to eat less calories than I'm currently burning. But how would that affect my strength gains? In other words, is my desire to lean down preventing me from being stronger?
 
The impact that a calorie deficit will have on gaining strength will depend on:
A. The severity of the calorie deficit
B. Your body fat percentage
C. Your strength maturity

For cutting, 20% to 30% deficit is typical
The more body fat percentage you have, the more of a deficit you can tolerate before strength gains are affected
If you are considered a beginner or novice in your training, you can get away with more deficit too.

All you can do is try it for yourself and track your weight along with your strength gains and make adjustments.
Good luck.
 
I noticed when doing the deadlift singles program that I always felt sleepy and tired. So I started eating more thinking that perhaps I was eating too few calories and thus making recovery a battle for life on my body.

But just by looking at myself, I'd say I have a healthy surplus of body fat.

I used to track my calories to get an idea of how much I was eating and then stopped tracking once I got a "feel" of that I should be eating.

However, I'm going to try to get a more accurate measurement of my maintenance calories and start tracking what I eat more strictly. Perhaps I had a deficit too large in my calorie intake previously.
 
I think strength, meaning lifting more weights, depends on how you train and your nutrition, not the amount of calories you eat. You can make gains and burn fat with a proper diet and exercise and you can loose strength while gaining weight with an improper diet and to little exercise.

Eat better, no junk food, exercise smarter, sleep more, stress less.

I don't want to give advice on what is a proper diet, the conversation just gets infected from all different camps... Hope you get my meaning. (y)
 
@SuperGirevik, "eat through your sticking point" is a proven strategy. If your weight or weight class isn't a concern, it all goes back to basics - to lift more, you can become better skilled or you can add muscle or you can do both. The classic strategy, especially here in the US, is to try to do both. At StrongFirst, we focus more on the skill aspect but there is nothing wrong with gaining weight as you strive to get stronger, so long as at least some of what you gain is muscle.

There isn't an overall relationship between weight and strength in that way - there are guys my size who can lift twice what I can or more.

-S-
 
SuperGirevik said:
if I want to get leaner, I would have to eat less calories than I'm currently burning. But how would that affect my strength gains? In other words, is my desire to lean down preventing me from being stronger?
Click to expand...

Keep your protein intake up, and you can gain strength in a caloric deficit.

You need adequate protein to build (and repair and rebuild, even if you're not trying to build additional) muscle.

For you I would estimate 200g/day, but I am not a dietitian.
 
@Steve Freides, from your experience with SF does a student ever get to a point where skill no longer continues to produce strength gains?

@Anna C, I'm pretty sure I was not hitting 200g of protein on a regular basis... that could explain my struggle to recover. Even though I always felt ready for my workout, I was usually sleepy throughout my day. Btw, I'm getting roughly 6-8 hrs of sleep.
 
It could. Try increasing and see if you notice a difference. It seemed to help me get through the hard part of my barbell program better than I was previously, once I increased mine and started tracking it consistently. If you really want to optimize, read Kenny C's posts about Muscle Protein Synthesis and Leucine. Try to get 20g of protein that contains 3g of leucine (whey protein isolate is a good source) 3x/day. But you don't want to consume protein continuously. Several hours between intakes is good -- triggers MPS better. I'm not an expert, but this is what I've gathered. I'm sure someone will correct me if I've misspoken.
 
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Pavel also mentions in a BB how any extra tissue, fat or muscle, can improve leverage or act as cushion to help lift weights. Take a squat or press for example. More muscle in the hams, calves, tummy all act to help rebound a lifter when the tissue gets squished against other body parts at the bottom of a lift. The triceps on lats or meaty forearms against muscular upper arms, etc. The more muscle (or tissue) surrounding the joint, the more stable that joint is.
 
@SuperGirevik, my deadlift 1RM hasn't gone up in a few years so I may be an example of that, but I haven't given up hope that my technique will improve. I am at a particularly busy period in my life, and my training isn't quite as high a priority as it's been at some points in the past, so I am content for now.

-S-
 
My max strength drops by about 10% during periods of dieting. I diet a lot so I definitely notice the difference. This is just a temporary decline as when the calories are restored the strength comes back up. EXCEPT ... when the weight lost is significant I have experienced a longer term decline. Last year I lost 12kg and I am only now back to the maxes I set prior that. I am not sure whether this because I lost muscle or some kind of laws of physics thing but I seem to be stronger when heavier
 
Here's a great article by Fabio which makes sense.
The "Hit the Target" Fat Loss Plan | StrongFirst
I'm currently following a version of the "Anabolic Diet" by Dr Mauro DiPasquale. I added a "kaleslaw" salad to nearly all my meals to add more fibre, less cured meats than suggested, but still lots of red meat. I've dropped 3kgs in 4 weeks with no apparent strength loss. Feel great, energy is right up there and general feeling of wellbeing.
 
Yes, upping the protein is a good start. Elite athletes sleep a lot. 8-11 hours and takes naps.
But you also need a lot of minerals and vitamins, meaning vegetables and healthy food. Keeping a standard western diet and just adding a vitamin pill and a protein shake is not the way to go.
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Do this and you can do a lot more with the calories you consume. (y)
 
SuperGirevik said:
I've recently began another cycle of barbell lifting and I'm trying to understand if there is truly a relationship between a person's size/weigh and their maximum strength. I'll use myself as an example, I'm 41 yrs old, 5'-11" and weigh 220lbs. My job is a mix of blue and white collar. As a self-employed tree farmer, at times I'm digging trees with either a shovel or gas shovel but when it's slow or too hot, I'm in the office doing other tasks. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm burning around 2500-3000 calories a day just by living. Then add to that my training and the number will go up.

Any ways, the point is, if I want to get leaner, I would have to eat less calories than I'm currently burning. But how would that affect my strength gains? In other words, is my desire to lean down preventing me from being stronger?
Click to expand...


My experience, only if your BF% is on the low side to begin with. If you have a higher BF%, leaning down won't have any effect on strength until you start to get down to the low teens percent wise. At that point you'll get into a tug of war between your lean tissue demand and what you burn for exercise.

The sure way to identify this tipping point is if two or three days of increased calories leads to immediate feeling of improved stamina or limit strength. I don't know any other way to figure this out. I use a similar strategy to tell if I might be over training - if I feel better after three or four days off than I do after two, I'm probably training harder than I need to get the same result.

IIRC, MTI did a study on rucking strength, and the strongest correlation for rucking load was body weight, more so than leg strength or unloaded endurance. So for some activities, increased weight has a direct effect, on others not so much.
 
SuperGirevik said:
I've recently began another cycle of barbell lifting and I'm trying to understand if there is truly a relationship between a person's size/weigh and their maximum strength. I'll use myself as an example, I'm 41 yrs old, 5'-11" and weigh 220lbs. My job is a mix of blue and white collar. As a self-employed tree farmer, at times I'm digging trees with either a shovel or gas shovel but when it's slow or too hot, I'm in the office doing other tasks. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm burning around 2500-3000 calories a day just by living. Then add to that my training and the number will go up.

Any ways, the point is, if I want to get leaner, I would have to eat less calories than I'm currently burning. But how would that affect my strength gains? In other words, is my desire to lean down preventing me from being stronger?
Click to expand...
Have you taken a look to those Jersey Boys? They eat a lot of unhealthy food and lift heavy weights (and have incredible bodies). Tbh i don’t think that clean food will let you lift more. Junk food gives you thay extra pick-me-up. If i’m wrong please write me back. I like debates?
 
SuperGirevik said:
I noticed when doing the deadlift singles program that I always felt sleepy and tired. So I started eating more thinking that perhaps I was eating too few calories and thus making recovery a battle for life on my body.

But just by looking at myself, I'd say I have a healthy surplus of body fat.

I used to track my calories to get an idea of how much I was eating and then stopped tracking once I got a "feel" of that I should be eating.

However, I'm going to try to get a more accurate measurement of my maintenance calories and start tracking what I eat more strictly. Perhaps I had a deficit too large in my calorie intake previously.
Click to expand...
The real question is: by eating more did you still notice that sleepy mood and tireness? and could you lift heavier despite the body fat you began to see?
 
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