Hi @TheHardgainer
I see your thread contains lots of great advices from the good ol’ vets of t nation say @T3hPwnisher @dagill2 @MarkKO @Yogi1 @twojarslave @Chris_Colucci , even more than the scope of your original question. I’m also currently in the body recomp mode, so I’ll also like to partook and share my thoughts specifically about the question of yours that [quote=“TheHardgainer, post:1, topic:219715”]
Why waste our energy and willpower on training “full throttle”, without gaining anything from it?
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When going for general fatloss like trying to get into lower double digits or upper single digit fat percentage using a sensible diet plan, you aren’t in such a restricted state that it is impossible to gain strength or improve performance. Infact my n=1 experiments tell me that you can certainly get stronger during such fat loss journeys. Your strength may take a hit when you cut a few too many carbs due to loss of fullness and leverage disadvantage especially in upper body pushing exercises but you’ll continue to progress in various rep ranges and may get eventually stronger by the end of fat loss.
For example, I’m using a type of block periodization for my main lifts, and supplement it with accessory movements depending upon the week points. At a point, I had to cut a good chunk of my carbs and calories to get my fatloss bandwagon moving forward as I got irritated to not get any measurable changes after a few weeks which resulted into my workout performance spiral down thus making me further anxious. My first thought was to cut down all the supplemental work and just focus on the main movements to just maintain my strength but for some reason I decided to push along. I changed my rep ranges in the accessories and kept following the same program, and after a couple weeks of patience my performance started to improve further and a few weeks later I hit a PR on Shoulder Press as well as Snatch High Pull (uploaded in the PR thread).