My Structure is improving but losing strength.. Is it OK?

[abby_p]

I am 5'7 & I weight about 68 kgs. I have a muscular body structure with broad shoulders & I work out 6 days a week. Though I am on the higher side of the BMI as per my height, but at this moment I have a healthy body structure. I guess the muscles are adding up to my weight(So I assume BMI & body structure might not match at times) .

My query is: I used to do a lot of heavy weights earlier with fewer number of reps. I had a broad structure back then, But since the past 3-4 months I started using moderate weights with more number of reps(with gradual increase in weight) as I want to achieve a lean look now. As a result, I am developing more cuts & better shape of muscles but my ability to lift heavy weights is decreasing day by day. I feel my body is getting in to a better shape but I am losing my strength. Is it normal or healthy? I see lean guys in my gym lift heavy weights, Hence I am in an utterly confused state.   

[Annabel398]

I don't have a lot of technical insight on this topic, but I can draw an analogy.

When people set out to "improve their finances," it can mean any number of things:

• Improve FICO credit score
• Get ready to buy a house
• Get out of debt
• Pay the least amount of interest on credit cards

etc. etc. Now it's true that to some extent these goals all interrelate: if you get out of debt, your credit score will probably go up, and so forth. HOWEVER... when you study it more deeply, you come to realize that the best strategy for one goal is not necessarily the best strategy for another.

For instance, if you want to pay the least interest on your credit cards, you could put all your balances on one 0% balance-transfer card. Voila! You're paying zero interest. Bad news: you may actually tank your credit score, unless that 0% card has a really high limit, because now all your debt is on that card, so your balance-to-limit ratio is probably quite high (aka you're "maxed out"), which is bad for your FICO score.

Another example, opening a new credit card will probably increase your credit score overall (assuming you handle it responsibly); however, if you plan to buy a house in the next 3-6 months, obtaining new credit cards is a really bad idea--lenders see it as a big red flag.

So, ahem, my analogy went on a little longer than I planned, but my point is this: "Strength" and "muscular definition/structure" may not be a zero-sum game, but neither are they completely correlated. Someone who knows far more about those two separate goals than I do will surely come along to offer you advice: I just want to point out that you may have to make a choice of which goal is more important to you.

FWIW, if I were a man, I think being really well defined/cut might win out over being able to lift a zillion pounds... but that's just me

P.S. Also, you're quite right about BMI and body structure: many BMI calculators now have an "athletic" setting, to compensate for the fact that muscle is much denser than fat. The Aria scale also has a setting for athletic body types.

[elderwanda]

Are you working the same muscle groups every day, without giving them a day of rest in between?  You probably already know this, but you need that day of rest for the muscle fibers to grow.   Also you need to be sure you're eating enough calories, especially protein.  

In fact, reading your post again, I'm guessing that you simply aren't eating enough.  A calorie deficit will make you burn fat so your muscles look more defined, but will also deprive you of the energy your body needs to make strength gains.  

[emili]

I don't know if gym etiquette or the "guy code" permit this, but I would ask them. I'm pretty sure there isn't a guy alive that won't be OK telling you their secret to success. I know for us girls, we just ask and talk about it.

I also really like this guy for weight lifting advice http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/. He is pretty amusing and helpful.

[I-train-hard]

Abby_p it is normal.

Increase your calories and strength should be back sooner than you think.

There is always something for something....

[Mukluk4]

Is your goal to get lean or to build strength? 

[abby_p]

My basic goal is to get lean, but it's the loss of strength that worries me. I do not feel drained on tired, I am always high on energy. Only during lifting weights I realize I can't lift as much as I used to.

[Mukluk4]

Increase cardio and lift heavy.  I would also eat a surplus and not a deficit.  Ignore the scale and do measurements to track your results.  It is very possible to gain weight but lose inches around the waste if you are doing the right things.

[Dominique]

Generally speaking, higher reps / lower weights is geared towards hypertrophy (gaining size), whereas lower reps / higher weights is geared towards gaining strength. The extreme of hypertrophy is competing bodybuilders, where as the extreme of strength is competing powerlifters. We regular guys fit somewhere in between. If your primary goal is to get leaner, the most important factor will be your diet (you need to be in a deficit). Whatever type of lifting you are going to do won’t matter that much: in a deficit, you will be able to maximise neither size gains nor strength gains. The main purpose of your lifting will be to minimize size losses and strength losses. Studies have shown that you can achieve more or less the same results in terms of hypertrophy with bodybuilding and powerlifting style of training, as long as volumes are equated.

Compare yourself to yourself (are you making improvements over time?), rather than to other guys.

[shipo]

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@Dominique wrote:

Generally speaking, higher reps / lower weights is geared towards hypertrophy (gaining size), whereas lower reps / higher weights is geared towards gaining strength. The extreme of hypertrophy is competing bodybuilders, where as the extreme of strength is competing powerlifters...

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I've been hearing that for years now and have always wondered about it.  Why?  Within the scope of what you wrote, I would think running as I practice it (i.e. 10+ miles per day on most days at about 10,000 steps per hour) would qualify as "higher reps / lower weights".  The thing is, while much of my body doesn't look all that much built up, my quads and calves look like they belong to a body builder.  Not sure what to make of that, but there it is.

[Dominique]

@shipo: In long distance running, the main muscle you’re working out is your heart. You only need enough muscle in your legs to carry your weight. If you look at Mo Farah, he hasn’t very big legs:

Your legs are probably bigger than his, because he’s only 60 kg and you’re 100+ kg.

Short distance running (sprint) is more like weight lifting: anaerobic, not aerobic. How strong your heart is doesn’t matter that much, because an elite sprinter will complete his race in 10-20 seconds (100-200 meters). If you look at Usain Bolt, he’s closer to a bodybuilder:

However, he’s not quite a typical sprinter, because he’s so tall (195cm/6ft5). Shorter sprinters will look more muscular than him.

[shipo]

@Dominique, yup, I've seen all of the pictures and run with many tiny distance runners.  True, Mo Farah is a featherweight compared to me, but fortunately I'm no where near 100+ kilograms ( happened to get on the scale today for the first time in a few months and I clocked in at 89 kg; my height is 1.73 meters).  🙂

The thing is, my weight distribution is kind of off; my upper body is just pretty much average, my legs are almost obscenely large.  So, while I train more or less like Mo Farrah, my legs have much more in common with those of Usain Bolt.  Consider this, over the last couple of months I've been averaging nearly 18 kilometers per day, day in and day out; yesterday I went out for a nice slow training run in a hilly area around my office, in the end I ran 21.5 kilometers (as in a bit longer than a half-marathon) in 1:58.  All things considered (including my age), my legs should be getting smaller, instead, they are actually growing.