Counter Productive To My Goals?

I've gained quiet alot of muscle mass over the past year I've been training, I've been eating alot (clean foods) and training using heavy weights/low reps.  Now I want to lose a bit of bodyfat.

I want to use the same routine, with heavy weights/low reps while cutting my calories back and running 1 mile (to begin with) on the treadmill at the end of each workout.  I was wondering if a heavy weights/low reps rountine would be counterproductive while I cut my calories back and add cardio.  Will my body still lose the necessary fat leaving my muscle in tact?

I actually prefer to lift heavy when cutting- Sends the signal to the brain that it still needs as much of that muscle as possible while in a calorie deficit. Most times, I don't see much muscle loss at all- Or strength loss, really. 

I was wondering if a heavy weights/low reps rountine would be counterproductive while I cut my calories back and add cardio.

Not necessarily.

What you will find generally on a cutting cycle is building muscle is nearly impossible and maintaining it is the primary goal.

Think about it...

You are in a calorie deficit and creating even more of a deficit with cardio.

That alone will make it harder for your body to create any muscle and you'll need all the food you can get to maintain what you have.

Your training can change to more supersets and increasing the amount of work you do in the gym.  Quite a few people train differently when they cut.

Why?

Because it takes a lot of energy in the form of carbs to train heavy.  Once you start cutting and manipulating your carb intake, you'll find that you have a lot of low energy days.  That's a bummer when you need all your strength.

Cutting is a calorie deficit right?

So do you really want to break down your muscles too much?

Again, think about it.

The primary goal of a cutting cycle is to preserve all the muscle you just created.  If you break it down, how the heck are you going to repair it when you are low on calories to being with?  On top of that, any energy that goes into repair can't be used later for fuel.

Every individual is different in the long run.  But many people will change their training to make it more intense without the heavy weight because when you truly cut...

Your recovery is hampered
Your energy levels are lower
Your immune system is slighly compromised

All things you DON'T want to be in place when lifting heavy.

Heavy lifting (aka heavy weight) is entirely different from supersetting and progressive overload.

Anyway, you can continue to lift heavy and use progressive resistance when cutting.  Just monitor your progress.  If you feel weaker or nearly avoid some injury or you are unable to recover, those are signs you might want to switch up your training.

There's no rule that says you can't lift heavy when cutting.  Just be aware that heavy lifting requires certain things to be in place you may not have.  Monitor and adjust accordingly.

Marc C. David
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