Sunshine, beaches, pool time. You want to look good in your bathing suit. You’re trying to shed some fat and look good. But then it hits you: you’re bench press (and other pressing movements) fall off a cliff. Your other lifts, like squat and deadlift don’t seem as affected, and might have even gone up (at least initially) as you crank up your effort in the gym.
But why is it that your press strength is always negatively impacted the most and the first to go?
First of all, when you’re cutting you’re eating less. Your muscled will be depleted of glycogen quicker, explosiveness and stored energy. Since a good press requires explosiveness, you’re at a disadvantage. And as your upper body has smaller muscle groups than your lower body, you really feel the reduced ability to store glycogen (your lower body muscles store more than your upper body muscles).
Exercises like the bench press and overhead press also require the use of several “stabilizer” muscles, like your delts. As smaller muscles are more prone to fatigue than bigger muscles (imagine the burn of front raises right now), this fatigue is a limiting factor on your presses.
As you slim down, your leverage and range of motion also change on your presses, especially bench press. Those layers of fat on your chest and back become thinner meaning the range of motion on a bench rep becomes longer, which means the bench press becomes harder. Even though the overall range of motion doesn’t seem to be that much greater, the combination of range of motion, leverage (you’re positioning is different with less fat), and aforementioned reduced energy/glycogen hit hard. You may be wondering about the overhead press, but with less fat on your shoulders and sides your arms essentially feel “longer.” In short, when your body’s shape changes, the leverage changes, and the lift become harder.
Lastly, and most obviously, when you’re eating less to shed fat you’re nutrient intake drops, reducing your muscles’ ability to recover and repair, Not only that, but there could be negative hormonal effects as well, taking your testosterone levels down (which is why it’s important not to be in a deficit for too long).
So what do you do to best maintain your press strength during a cut?
- Get enough protein. Focus on cutting carbs and fat, but keep protein intake high to reduce muscle atrophy.
- Continue to lift heavy to heavy to properly stimulate your muscles. If you skimp on intensity, your muscles will atrophy faster. Utilize low-volume sets with heavy weight to retain muscle as best as possible.
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