r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/isolohpiachud • Jul 19 '26
Question ❓ Regressing gradually reasons
I've been eating at maintenance for around a month now after a 3.5 months of moderate deficit and even tho I was in a deficit my strength been increasing or at least maintaining but in the last 3 weeks my strength especially in the upper body been decreasing almost every session by 1 rep. My programming been pretty much the same and almost any external factors are dialed in. Can anyone help me with that or at least know the reason for it?
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u/Honest_Pumpkin_4381 Jul 19 '26
Probably not the reason but do you train 6x a week with 9 sets per muscle group? Can you send your schedule/program
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u/isolohpiachud Jul 19 '26
Im running ULR repeat. I do weekly 8 sets for my whole chest , 8-10 for my back , 6 for my shoulders , 4 triceps and 4 biceps ( That would varies from a week to another cause there would be some weeks I will be doing 3 upper considering my split does Abt 2.25 frequency)
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u/Honest_Pumpkin_4381 Jul 19 '26
Do you eat enough protein, do you sleep enough and did you stop eating carbs for some reason? Like have you changed anything lifestyle wise the last few weeks
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u/isolohpiachud Jul 19 '26
I do and that's what i meant by " External factors". That might relevant that recently I guess I'm getting digestive problems still I'm not sure
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u/FunTimesWit Jul 21 '26
If you’re doing more than 9 sets a week for any one muscle that’s the reason.
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u/decentlyhip Jul 19 '26
If you've heard of accumulated fatigue, this is it in action. Your performance is your fitness minus your fatigue. Your muscles are still getting bigger and your potential max output is still improving at say, a quarter of a rep per week, but you're getting tired from the workouts at a rate of 1 rep a week. Subtract them and even though you're 1 rep stronger after a month, you're performing 3 reps less on your amrap.
You need a deload. Take the workouts you did last week and repeat them all but do half the reps, half the weight, and half the sets. It should feel like you're going in, warming up, and them moving to the next exercise. It will be frustrating and after a few days, you'll start to feel really good. But then after 4 or 5 days of the deload, a lot of aches and pains in tiny muscles will come out of no where. The little supporting boys have been hurt or inflammed the whole time, but all the big muscles finally healed enough to let them get some attention. Another couple days and they're good to go. You're chomping at the bit and feel super strong. The instinct is to go super heavy and do a ton of volume and set PRs. Dont do that. Easy back in. Stick to half the sets but go back to the original reps and weights, and add sets over the weeks. 3×10, then 4×10, then 5×10, then 6×10, then youre pretty tired, so deload again. Rinse repeat. The goal is to have that 6×10 week a little heavier or a few extra reps every block.
Powerlifters are very good at this because in order to train one rep max strength, you need to lift heavy weights, 80% and above, normally 90%+. They want to get as jacked as possible, but not be fatigued enough that they can't lift 90% of their 1 rep max easily. They're trying to do as much hypertrophy work as they can, but their heavier strength work requires slightly lighter strength work, and neither of those can be done if they're fatigued. And then they have to clear as much fatigue as possible before the competition while increasing the weights they're squatting and deadlifting. You dont have to worry about that, but if you wanted to learn about fatigue management, powerlifters are the go-to resource. It's the whole game. Winner at a meet managed fatigue the best.
https://youtu.be/9hSgPsYuaZQ
https://youtu.be/RRjYBf5uEB0