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	<title>diet &#8211; PowerliftingToWin</title>
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		<title>Powerlifting Diet: Cutting and Bulking</title>
		<link>https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-and-bulking-for-powerlifting/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Izzy T]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:34:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body fat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bulking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cutting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powerlifting]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/?p=2553</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In the inaugural edition of the PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Series, we established that nutrition in Powerlifting serves primarily two purposes: 1) weight management and 2) performance enhancement. In the service of these goals, the conclusion was drawn that, with our eating habits, we should aim to a) gain as much muscle as possible, b) maintain a… <span class="read-more"><a href="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-and-bulking-for-powerlifting/">Read More &#187;</a></span>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the <a title="How To Pick Your Weight Class" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to-pick-your-weight-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inaugural edition</a> of the <a title="Powerlifting Nutrition Series" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Series</a>, we established that nutrition in Powerlifting serves primarily two purposes: 1) weight management and 2) performance enhancement. In the service of these goals, the conclusion was drawn that, with our eating habits, we should aim to a) gain as much muscle as possible, b) maintain a competitive body fat percentage, and c) spend as much of our training time in a caloric surplus as is possible.</p>
<p>In other words, we’ve established the “what” of powerlifting nutrition. In this article, we’re going to describe the “how” from a broad perspective. I’m going to outline the general nutrition strategy employed here at PowerliftingToWin. In subsequent articles, we will fill in the gaps and provide the exact details of execution that make the plan practical and applicable in the real world.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d rather not have to wade through all of these articles, and you&#8217;d like to get straight to the point, our eBook <a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/EatingToWin-eBook">EatingToWin</a> delivers all of this information in a format that allows you to quickly navigate to the sections you care about most.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d rather watch than read:<br />
<iframe title="Cutting and Bulking for Powerlifting" width="665" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTw0_AZEE_I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<h2>Protein Ratio</h2>
<p>Before I can delve too much into nutrition strategy, we need to discuss a phenomenon called “protein ratio” or “p-ratio”. P-Ratio is the proportion of weight an individual will gain as muscle when overfeeding and the proportion of weight an individual will lose as muscle when losing weight. That’s right; whenever you lose weight a portion will be “lean body mass” and whenever you gain weight a portion will be fat. If you want more scientific details on the subject, check out <a title="The Ultimate Diet 2.0 by Lyle McDonald" href="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/Lyle-McDonald-books" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lyle McDonald’s book on the topic</a>.</p>
<p>There is good news and bad news. First, here is the bad news. P-Ratio is primarily genetic. Some individuals are simply better at accumulating muscle when overfeeding (bulking) and some individuals are better at keeping muscle when underfeeding (cutting). Some blessed souls are quite good at both. Of course, the opposite set of genetics exists as well. Most people though tend to gain mostly fat when overfeeding and lose mostly fat when underfeeding.</p>
<p>Now, here is the good news. P-Ratio can be influenced in three primary ways: training, nutrition, and “supplementation”. We’re not going to discuss drugs here, but suffice it to say that performance enhancers work and that is why athletes take them. In terms of training, well, at this point I’m just going to assume you have your programming in check. If you’re unsure, review the <a title="Powerlifting Programming Series" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-programs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PowerliftingToWin Programming Series</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, our focus in the rest of this article is going to be on the nutrition aspect of P-Ratio. Why? Well, let’s remind ourselves of our goals: we need to remain at a competitive body fat percentage, we want to gain as much muscle as possible, and we want to spend as long as we can in a caloric surplus. That means we want to gain mostly muscle whenever we bulk so that we can extend the bulking period as long as possible. The more muscle we can accumulate, as a proportion to each pound gained, the longer it will take to reach the limits of “competitive body fat”. Likewise, when we diet, we want to do so quickly and efficiently (without losing muscle) so that we may return to overfeeding as soon as possible.</p>
<h2>Competitive Body Fat Percentage: How Fat is too Fat?</h2>
<p>Before we can go any further into the strategy, we need to define what a “competitive body fat percentage” is. Without this definition firmly in place, we have no idea when we should be bulking and when we should be cutting.</p>
<p><strong>It is important to note that my recommendations here are made for males. If you’re a female, please add 6-8% to all values.</strong></p>
<p>Let’s start with the upper limits of competitive body fat. In my opinion, a lifter with competitive interests should not exceed 15% body fat. There are three reasons for this seemingly arbitrary distinction.</p>
<div id="attachment_2554" style="width: 620px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/body-fat-percentage-men.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2554" class="size-full wp-image-2554" src="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/body-fat-percentage-men.jpg" alt="The more muscle you have, the bigger the visual difference between two given percentages. Photo: www.builtlean.com" width="610" height="705" srcset="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/body-fat-percentage-men.jpg 610w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/body-fat-percentage-men-259x300.jpg 259w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/body-fat-percentage-men-250x288.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2554" class="wp-caption-text">The more muscle you have, the bigger the visual difference between two given percentages.<br />Photo: www.builtlean.com</p></div>
<p>The first reason is that this is approximately the level where P-Ratio begins to worsen. In an incredible oversimplification of hormonal milieu, this is due to the fact that the fatter you are, the more estrogenic you become. Fat cells act as receptors for estrogen which binds testosterone. With less free testosterone in your system, the quality of your gains begins to diminish. This is not only a health issue, this is not only a quality of life issue, this is not only an aesthetics issue, but it is also a performance issue. So, even if you don’t care about life outside the weight room, it is still in your best interest to avoid becoming too fat.</p>
<p>The second reason, and perhaps most important, is that this also tends to be the area where leaner competitors will just start to wipe the floor with you in the same weight class. If you are sitting at 15%+ and your top competitors are around 10% body fat, they might have an insurmountable advantage in terms of muscle mass.</p>
<p>The third reason is that we need to be within striking distance of leanness at any given time. At 15%, you’re never more two or three months of dieting away from being completely shredded if necessary. This is plenty of time to get ready for an important meet. At 20%, you may need four of five months of dieting which is usually more time than most powerlifters have between their meets.</p>
<p>The one exception is a lifter who is 6’3”+ and wants to compete as a super heavyweight. For those who are unfamiliar, the super heavyweight class has no weight limits. The taller you are, the more of an advantage you’re at. Unlike any other weight class, you can weigh as much as you want. So, a guy who is 6’8” and can reasonably weigh 400lbs is going to beat a 6’3” individual who only weighs 300lbs.</p>
<p>For more information on picking your weight class, check out <a title="How to Pick Your Weight Class" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to-pick-your-weight-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our article on the subject</a>.</p>
<h2>Competitive Body Fat Percentage: How Lean is too Lean?</h2>
<p>Believe it or not, this principle applies on the leanness end of the spectrum as well. Depending on your genetics, you’re going to want to avoid going any lower than 8-10% body fat. Let me explain.</p>
<p>At levels of extreme leanness, your body engages various mechanisms designed to protect you from starvation and death. This is going to include increased metabolic efficiency (slowed metabolism) and the shutting down of various hormonal processes that are considered superfluous in times of starvation.</p>
<p>In simple terms, you’re not going to be able to eat very much without gaining weight. This is detrimental because a performance athlete, in the vast majority of cases, should be eating a diet rich in carbohydrates. If your metabolic rate drops so low that you can only fit in 100-200 carbs per day, you’re simply not going to perform as well or recover as well due to the severely diminished amounts of energy substrate within your system.</p>
<p>Likewise, extreme leanness tends to depress testosterone and hormones with important implications for training. Again, your body is trying to stay alive; it thinks you’re starving. This is not a hormonal environment that is optimal for peak performance.</p>
<p>The difficulty is that people will start experiencing these symptoms at different levels of body fat depending on their age, genetics, level of musculature, dietary intake, and a myriad of other factors. Those of you who tend to be naturally lean will probably be the ones who can handle getting down to 8% without serious performance detriment. Most people will find that 10% is about the lowest they can go. Others still, usually those who are naturally bigger and fatter, will have difficulty dropping below 12%.</p>
<p>It is what it is. There is no sense in complaining. There are advantages and disadvantages to all types of genetics. You’ll have to find what works for you through actual trial and error. You just can’t know your limitations until you’ve done a few diets.</p>
<h2>PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Strategy</h2>
<p>In light of what we’ve discussed thus far, borrowing from a concept <a title="More info on Lyle McDonald's Diets" href="https://store.bodyrecomposition.com/?affiliates=22" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">originally developed by Lyle McDonald</a>, I’d make to you the following recommendations:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you’re at or above 15% body fat, slow cut down to 8-10% body fat.</li>
<li>If you’re below 15% body fat, slow bulk up to 15% body fat.</li>
<li>Squeeze into the lightest weight class you can through water cutting.</li>
</ol>
<p>It is really that simple.</p>
<p>Now, while I’m going to save the specifics of dieting and water cutting for future articles, I do think I need to define “slow cutting” and “slow bulking”.</p>
<h2>”Slow” Bulking</h2>
<p>For our purposes here, slow bulking is going to be defined as gaining weight at a rate that is appropriate for your level of training advancement. This is incredibly important because if you attempt to gain weight too quickly, you’re guaranteed to gain an unnecessary amount of fat. Your P-Ratio will become less favorable.</p>
<p>I tend to break slow bulking down into roughly three <a title="How to tell if you're a novice, intermediate, or advanced lifter" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-training-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">categories of trainee</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>True Novice</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>A true beginner is someone with NO EXPERIENCE whatsoever. This person should gain 1-2lbs (0.5kg/1kg) per week for a period of 1-2 months during their linear progression. It is time to stop gaining at this rate when one can no longer sustain 10lbs/5kg jumps on squats/deadlifts and 5lbs/2.5kg jumps on bench/press every single session.</p>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>“Advanced” Novice</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The “advanced” novice is someone who is still capable of linear progression, but they are no longer making light speed progress with large jumps. Once you have to start using 5lbs/2.5kg jumps on the squat/deadlift and 2.5lbs/1kg jumps on the bench/press, you’re probably at this level. This period can last anywhere from 3-6 months or so. During this phase, you’re going to want to shoot for a weight gain rate of approximately 0.5lbs-1lbs/0.25kg-0.5kg per week.</p>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>Everyone Else</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>While it is true that someone who has been training for five years gains much more slowly than someone who has been training for just one year, I don’t find it incredibly productive to gain weight at a rate too much slower than 0.5lbs/0.25kg per week. Aim any lower and you’re more likely to just spin your wheels and maintain weight due to fluctuations in calories burned throughout the week. Aim any higher and you’re guaranteeing yourself a poor P-Ratio because you’re simply not capable of synthesizing muscle tissue at a super-fast rate anymore. Past the novice stage, you can’t expect too much more than a pound of muscle per month during the best of times. I’d aim to gain no more than 0.5lbs/0.25kg per week during the rest of your career when bulking. I’d prefer if you gain less than that and have to stretch the bulk longer rather than you gaining faster, getting fat quickly, and having to cut again very soon.</p>
<p>In many ways, past your first year or two, you should emphasize slowly increasing your intake over time above and beyond whether or not you&#8217;re actually gaining weight. Push your intake as high as possible. As long as your weight is maintaining or moving up by 0.5lbs or less per week, and you&#8217;ve increased your intake from the previous week, that is a successful week in your bulk.</p>
<h2>”Slow” Cutting</h2>
<p>My version of slow cutting really isn’t slow at all: I’d advise you to lose between 0.6-0.8% of your body weight per week. For most average sized males, this works out to about 1-1.5lbs per week or so. Obviously, this is going to be proportionate to your current body weight.</p>
<p>The reason that I prefer to keep the cuts “slow”, at least relative to, say, <a title="More on Lyle's RFL" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/rapid-fatloss-handbook-before-and-after-results-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lyle McDonald&#8217;s Rapid Fatloss Diet</a>, is that this allows us to keep food intake as absolutely high as possible while we diet. The higher intake is, the more energy substrate we keep in our system, the better we perform, and the better we recover. This is a huge deal. Maintaining performance during dieting is one of the key factors that determines how much muscle you keep.</p>
<p>Additionally, when you diet “too fast”, you influence P-Ratio negatively. The faster you diet, the more likely you are to lose muscle during the process. By keeping intake as high as possible, and by dieting at a reasonable rate, we can minimize the risk of losing muscle and strength.</p>
<p>Even still, ~0.7% of body weight lost per week is much faster than our bulking rate and we’ll still be spending much of the year in a caloric surplus.</p>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>One more time, here is the revised EatingToWin Nutrition Strategy in a nutshell:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you’re at or above 15% body fat, slow cut down to 8-10% body fat.</li>
<li>If you’re below 15% body fat, slow bulk up to 15% body fat.</li>
<li>Squeeze into the lightest weight class you can through water cutting.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Slow Bulking:</strong> Gain up to 0.5lbs/0.25kg per week<br />
<strong>Slow Cutting:</strong> Lose 0.6-0.8% of your bodyweight per week</p>
<p>In the next installment of the <a title="Powerlifting Nutrition Series" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-nutrition">PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Series</a>, we’re going to discuss <a title="Measuring Body Fat" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/the-best-way-to-measure-body-fat-for-powerlifting">how to actually measure your body fat</a>. It is all well and good to know these percentages as general references, but if you don&#8217;t know how to measure your body, it sort of defeats the purpose, doesn&#8217;t it?</p>
<h2>Did you enjoy the Powerlifting Nutrition Series?</h2>
<p>If so, I highly recommend you check out our eBook: <a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/EatingToWin-eBook">EatingToWin</a>. The book contains absolutely everything you need to know about how to set up the optimal diet for YOU personally as a powerlifter, how to identify the right weight class to maximize your competitiveness, how to cut weight like a PRO so that you can drop a weight class without performance loss, and, of course, an entire section on recommended supplements with the supporting evidence behind each recommend. <a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/EatingToWin-eBook">Grab your copy now!</a></p>
<h2>Like this Article? Subscribe to our Newsletter!</h2>
<p>If you liked this articled, and you want instant updates whenever we put out new content, including exclusive subscriber articles and videos, <a title="Newsletter Sign-up" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/newsletter">sign up to our Newsletter</a>!</p>
<h2>Questions? Comments?</h2>
<p>For all business and personal coaching services related inqueries, please contact me:<br />
[contact-form-7 id=&#8221;3245&#8243; title=&#8221;Contact form 1&#8243;]</p>
<h2 id="TOC">Table of Contents</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to-pick-your-weight-class/">Powerlifting Nutrition: How To Pick Your Weight Class</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-and-bulking-for-powerlifting">Powerlifting Diet: Cutting and Bulking</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/the-best-way-to-measure-body-fat-for-powerlifting">The Best Way To Measure Body Fat For Powerlifting</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/when-to-move-up-a-weight-class">When To Move Up A Weight Class</a><br />
<a href=" http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-weight-for-powerlifting">How To Cut Weight For Powerlifting: 24 Hour and 2 Hour Weigh Ins</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to-diet-for-powerlifting/">How To Diet For Powerlifting: Calories, Reverse Dieting, and More</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-macros/">Setting Up Your Powerlifting Macros</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/meal-frequency-and-nutrient-timing">Meal Frequency and Nutrient Timing in Powerlifting</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/eating-healthy-powerlifting">Eating Healthy for Powerlifting</a><br />
<a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/best-powerlifting-supplements">Best Powerlifting Supplements</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Gain Strength While Cutting</title>
		<link>https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/gain-strength-while-cutting/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Izzy T]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2014 19:05:14 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cutting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gain strength on a diet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gain strength while cutting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powerlifting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strength]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/?p=2441</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Recently, I’ve lost about 6-7kg of bodyweight while adding 40kg/90lbs to my powerlifting total. Because of this success, as you might expect, I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about how one should go about trying to make gains on a cut. Now, while I fully plan to address this question in much more depth… <span class="read-more"><a href="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/gain-strength-while-cutting/">Read More &#187;</a></span>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, I’ve lost about 6-7kg of bodyweight while adding 40kg/90lbs to my powerlifting total. Because of this success, as you might expect, I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about how one should go about trying to make gains on a cut. Now, while I fully plan to address this question in much more depth in the <a title="Powerlifting Nutrition Series" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Series</a>, I do want to give a brief overview of the strategy I use to increase strength on a diet.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d rather watch than read:<br />
<iframe title="How to Gain Strength on a Cut" width="665" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GWcu7zhY0sM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<h2>Gaining Strength While Cutting</h2>
<p>First of all, is it even possible to make strength gains on a diet? Yes, yes it is! And that is honestly the first and biggest key to making strength gains on a cut. You have to believe that it is possible and you have to expect that you can do it. This is not some hippie nonsense. Plenty of people legitimately preach that this isn’t possible.</p>
<p>There are documented case studies of people being falsely diagnosed with cancer and then dying shortly thereafter with cancer symptoms. That is how strong the placebo effect can be. If you don’t think this same power will work against you if you go into your cut expecting to lose size and strength, you’re absolutely wrong.</p>
<p>Let me give you one famous example from athletics. For hundreds of years, human beings have been competing to see who can run the mile the fastest. No one had ever broken the four minute barrier. Scientists literally proclaimed that it was impossible. In the early 20th century, a man by the name of Roger Bannister finally broke the four minute barrier. And since Bannister did it? More than 20,000 athletes, including high school students, have managed to break the “impossible” four minute barrier.</p>
<div id="attachment_2595" style="width: 231px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2595" class="size-medium wp-image-2595" src="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister-221x300.jpg" alt="Roger Bannister crossing the tape at the end of his record breaking mile run at Iffley Road, Oxford. He was the first person to run the mile in under four minutes, with a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)" width="221" height="300" srcset="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister-221x300.jpg 221w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister-755x1024.jpg 755w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister-250x339.jpg 250w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/roger-bannister-665x901.jpg 665w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2595" class="wp-caption-text">Roger Bannister crossing the tape at the end of his record breaking mile run at Iffley Road, Oxford. He was the first person to run the mile in under four minutes, with a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)</p></div>
<p>Dr. Layne Norton has also said there is no reason you cannot make strength gains on a cut from to time to time as well.</p>
<h2>Optimize Your Nutrition</h2>
<p>Obviously, belief isn’t enough. If you want to gain strength on a cut, the second key is going to be optimizing your nutrition. Let’s break down some of the most important factors:</p>
<ul>
<li>Rate of Weight Loss: ~0.6-0.8% of BW per week</li>
</ul>
<p>For most of you this is going to work out to 1-1.5lbs or 0.5-0.75kg per week. For more information on cutting and bulking, <a title="Cutting and Bulking for Powerlifting" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-and-bulking-for-powerlifting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see this article</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Refeed Days: x2 Per Week on your most important workout days</li>
</ul>
<p>If you train on Mon/Tue and Thu/Fri, like I do, you can copy my example. I do my refeed days on Monday and Thursday. This way, my Monday workout benefits from the higher intake, but so does my Tuesday workout because glycogen levels will remain elevated from the refeed going into the next workout. The same thing happens with my Thursday/Friday pairing. If you train Mon, Wed, and Fri, you’d opt for Monday and Friday for your refeed days. You’d probably make Wednesday a “light” or easier day compared to Monday and Friday.</p>
<div id="attachment_2570" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/chocolate-chip-cookies.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2570" class="size-medium wp-image-2570" src="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/chocolate-chip-cookies-300x199.jpg" alt="I don't know about you, but cookies make my refeed list most of the time." width="300" height="199" srcset="https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/chocolate-chip-cookies-300x199.jpg 300w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/chocolate-chip-cookies-250x166.jpg 250w, https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/chocolate-chip-cookies.jpg 320w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2570" class="wp-caption-text">I don&#8217;t know about you, but cookies make my refeed list most of the time.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Conditioning: I recommend HIIT 1-2x per week</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Conditioning is the last recommendation I’d make. By including some conditioning once, preferably twice, a week, you’re going to increase metabolic rate, allow yourself to eat more, and improve your nutrient partitioning on the conditioning days. You’ll also build up work capacity and keep yourself in decent shape.</p>
<ul>
<li>Week to Week Changes: Don’t take calories away in big chunks</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The last nutritional key that I want to discuss is the general overall diet strategy. Unlike a lot of people, I never slash my calories by 500 or some other arbitrary number when I hit a “plateau”. The most I will ever subtract in a single week is 100kcal worth of macronutrients. The reason that I do this is by slowly taking out macros, I can settle on the absolute highest intake that is possible while still rate at the weight that I want to lose. People often add 5lbs to set a PR, but they don’t take the same, slow gradual approach with nutrition. When you do take the gradual approach, you’ll see that you don’t have to take calories so low by the end of the diet and, on average, you eat way more from week to week during your cut which, of course, helps maintain performance.</p>
<h2>Optimize Your Programming</h2>
<p>If you have your psychology and <a title="More on Powerlifting Nutrition" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nutrition</a> dialed in, you’re still going to need to <a title="More on Powerlifting programming" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-programming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">optimize your programming</a> to account for your diminished recovery abilities while dieting.</p>
<p>What is the first thing that most people do when they start cutting? They slash their volume! The theory behind this is that because you’re not eating as much, you can’t recover from as much. While this may be true to some extent, necessarily dropping the volume almost necessarily ensures detraining. After all, if you were bulking, and you just randomly dropped volume long term, would you expect long term gains or long term losses? You’d expect losses.</p>
<p>Well the same principles apply when cutting. When we want to keep volume as high as is possible for us personally while still being able to recover. I actually make no attempt whatsoever to reduce volume while cutting. So how do I ensure recovery? Glad you asked: <a title="More on autoregulation" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/a-review-of-mike-tuchscherers-reactive-training-systems-rts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">autoregulation</a>. Because my volume is autoregulated, it stays as high as I can personally manage given my circumstances. This is very similar to the caloric intake principle. Rather than assuming you know what you can do or you know what you need, you let reality be your guide; you autoregulate based on real world results.</p>
<p>Keep your volume as high as you can while you cut! If you have all of your other factors dialed in: psychology, nutrition, sleep, effort, etc. you might actually be able to slightly increase volume through autoregulation while cutting. If you can do this, you’ll might make gains and, at the very least, you’ll maintain as much of your strength and muscle as is possible for you on that particular diet.</p>
<p>If you’d like help setting up an autoregulated program, or dialing in your nutrition so that you can attempt to make gains while you diet, I do offer coaching services here at PowerliftingToWin. You can shoot me an email:<br />
[contact-form-7 id=&#8221;3245&#8243; title=&#8221;Contact form 1&#8243;]</p>
<p>If you want to learn more about nutrition in general, check out the <a title="Powerlifting Nutrition Series" href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PowerliftingToWin Nutrition Series</a>. Better yet, grab a copy of <a href="http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/EatingToWin-eBook">EatingToWin</a>. In the book, I break down literally every single relevant aspect of maximizing nutrition for powerlifting performance.</p>
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<h2>Questions? Comments?</h2>
<p>For all business and personal coaching services related inqueries, please contact me at [contact-form-7 id=&#8221;3245&#8243; title=&#8221;Contact form 1&#8243;]</p>
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