Should I Lift Heavy Or Light To Lose Weight?
Q: In my pursuit of getting huge, it appears that I achieved that but not in the sense of putting on muscle but that of putting on fat. See, more and more people have been coming up to me thinking I’m BigXthaPlug. I’m taking that as a sign that my bulking has gone terribly wrong because, like, what other option is there?!?! That’s why I need to slim down. But should I lift heavy or light to lose weight? Is one better?
A: I take it that you’re not an entrepreneur. If you were, then you’d see the business opportunity that your poorly managed bulk has helped you stumble upon.
BigXthaPlug is a very fat rapper who people think you look like now with the amount of weight you’ve gained. Since the resemblance is so close that you can easily pass for him, what you can do is tell people who come up to you that you’re him and then charge them for autographs and pictures. That’s what I would do if I were you instead of being in such a hurry to lose weight! But if you really don’t want to use a celebrity’s likeness for commercial purposes without their consent and potentially open yourself up to legal action, here’s the advice you asked for…
When slimming down, the common thinking is to lift lighter weights and perform higher reps but that’s actually wrong. During weight loss, you should continue lifting heavy, if not heavier, and it’s easy to understand why.
To lose weight, you have to be in a deficit. The most practical way to go about that is by eating less. That basically means that when you’re dieting, your body isn’t getting the calories that it’s used to operating on. With that in mind, lifting heavy is advantageous to lifting light because the use of heavy weight gives the body a reason to retain muscle rather than dump it, as your body wants to do because muscle is metabolically-active tissue that requires a shitload of calories to maintain, which are calories that aren’t exactly in huge supply and are being diverted elsewhere for more vital functions because of the deficit that’s taking place during the cut, or reduction in weight.1As well as having numerous health benefits, muscle improves physical appearance and helps the body burn calories at rest. So that’s why you should want to preserve as much of it as possible.
In addition to providing an adequate stimulus for as much muscle retention as possible, lifting heavy also makes more sense than lifting light because it takes more effort and recruitment of a greater number of muscle fibers to move a heavy load, which amounts to greater energy expenditure, or calorie burn, and is another avenue in promotion of a deficit. Albeit weightlifting for the specific intent of burning calories isn’t sensible because the activity doesn’t account for enough of a calorie burn to contribute to fat loss while you’re actually doing it, that would be the reason to lift weights for calorie burning if you wanted to disregard the advice not to lift weights for that sole purpose. Instead, the reason to lift weights should be to maintain muscle and any calories that you happen to burn in the process are a bonus in support of your diet.
Yeah, that was really easy to understand!
So yeah, if you’re entering into a calorie deficit and have been lifting heavy and performing an adequate amount of volume, then continue doing so in that manner. Don’t feel the need to change anything just because you’re shedding pounds. While you may not be able to lift the exact same amount of weight on each exercise as you were able to lift previously, the intention should still be to lift heavy for straight sets or by means of set extenders, such as rest-pause or drop sets, if necessary.
As for why you may experience a drop in strength, it’s not uncommon to feel weaker during a cut. It’s to be expected because when eating fewer calories, your body is running on less energy than it’s accustomed to. But after a while, your strength should rebound close to your approximate norm. That’s only if you don’t do something stupid, such as begin with a chasmic deficit, though.
So once again, don’t restructure anything in your workout program just because you’re losing weight and getting leaner, even if you feel weaker than usual. Simply continue lifting heavy and, if necessary, take longer rest periods to lift those heavy weights!
Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?
Glossary: bulk, caloric deficit, calories, diet, exercise, fat, fitness, muscle, nutrition, program, reps, workout
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