Quick Strength/Dieting Question

[trasmi21]

Been awhile since I've posted, but I've been dieting for awhile now. I got all the way up to 240 at one point, maintained at 235 for a long time, and decided I needed to cut some body fat off. I've worked all the way down to 218ish now. I attribute a lot of this to a sloppy bulk, but I do look a lot leaner now and more defined. I'll get some pics up when I can.

Now onto my strength question. My squat and bench haven't went anywhere since I've been dieting (nothing surprising), but my Deadlift has actually went down. At 240 I could pull 405 without too much difficulty. Now that I've gotten Sub 220, my pulls have become more difficult. For instance, I'd normally finish off on a one rep max of 405, and today I finished off on 385.

Now some more questions.

Can this be related to my dieting? I know that your numbers aren't going to go anywhere while dieting, but can they actually drop a little bit in my case? Secondly, I've stopped using a belt on my deadlifts. When I was doing 405, I'd have a belt and straps. I no longer use straps or a belt. I'd probably use a belt on a max or something like that, and straps if I needed them, but in my training I'm going to go as Raw as possible. Can this have an affect as well? Also, I've been using about 85 pounds worth of chains too on the bar. It's not actually 385 pounds of plates. Could that even have something to do with difficulty of locking out?

I guess I'm just a little confused. Not too worried though, because I'm more worried about looking leaner than my numbers for right now. But I just want to try and get the best feel I can for what exactly is going on. Thanks a ton guys.

[trasmi21]

Bump, Can anyone help me out on this?

[trasmi21]

Bump once more...

[Davidelmo]

Well it's natural for some of your lifts to go down. Inevitably you'll lose some muscle with the fat. Also the reduced food you're eating will mean you probably have less energy for your workouts too.

If you do another bulk I'm sure you'll be able to get back up to 405 for reps in no time.

Besides, if you're a bodybuilder, dont worry so much about the numbers. The mirror is the most important thing

[trasmi21]

Well it's natural for some of your lifts to go down. Inevitably you'll lose some muscle with the fat. Also the reduced food you're eating will mean you probably have less energy for your workouts too.

If you do another bulk I'm sure you'll be able to get back up to 405 for reps in no time.

Besides, if you're a bodybuilder, dont worry so much about the numbers. The mirror is the most important thing

I agree, I'm not too worried about my numbers not showing up like they did before. But it does get to you a little bit, no doubt about it.


I think it's just from cutting and losing weight, and the less amount of calories that's going in. I also think that once I pump it up again with the calories my numbers will come back, and hopefully go up from before.


I'm wondering how much the belt/no belt would affect a deadlift? If any?