Question from client today:
Quick question unrelated to my prep.... when I first started this diet/life style 3 years ago i was really into power lifting my bench was 455 raw my deadlift was around 500+ and squat was 550++... now of course these numbers have drastically dropped.... so the question i have is ... Have i really lost that much muscle? ...all those numbers are at 100 to 150 off what they were... or are there other factors that that play a role? if i would of dieted better the first couple years do you think i could of conserved more? this only sparked my attention last night when i was deadlifting and i was really struggling at 405 for my last set of 3 ... and i used to throw that around like baby weight?
My answer:
What is the world record squat for super heavies and what is it for feather, bantam, or welter weights (or whatever they call the lower classes in power lifting)? There is certainly a reason for it. When you weighed 100 lbs more, I would venture to guess you had 20 to 25 lbs more lean body mass than you do now....maybe even just 10 to 15. Have you lost muscle? You don't lose muscle fiber, but you lose amino acid content, you lose glycogen capacity, you lose some water hydration, but you also lose the impact of more elastic energy in the sheer amount of body mass and the internal pressure that places on joints and muscle fiber; all leading to strength differences. If you, or any other power lifter, regained a massive amount of weight - most of it body fat, of course - you'd regain that muscle. Lose the fat, you lose the muscle. That's why I talk so much about being moderate in your off-season....the longer, harder you have to diet, the more catabolic you are. As you're seeing with Phil, "rebuilding" your weight slowly and staying as anabolic as you can without massive fat gain is how you can maximize your lean body mass, but still, it's less muscle than if you, he, or anyone else wantonly gained 50 lbs of body fat. It's just physics and biology. Even me - I've deadlifted and squatted 500 lbs.....when I was 15 to 20 lbs heavier than I am now. Not close to it today; I choose to be leaner than fluffier even if it costs me some overall size and strength.
