Does loosing excess body weight = power loss?

When shedding excess fat does it effect the top end power by loosing the body weight, even if protein was taken three times a day?

I think i'm well placed to answer that. I droped 15kg in 12 weeks to go to Italy and as much as i thought i was still strong, i was no where near my 105kg strength. A lot of that weight came from muscle loss as well as fat. Muscles require a certain amount of calories to fuel and maintain them and taking the calories away, even if you are consuming plenty of protein will mean a drop in muscle mass and also power. You can drop bodyweight and maintin power if it is done slowly and correctly, i now weigh 93kg and am training with weights as well as cardio and my calorie intake has increased to support my body's requirements from weight training. I'm still dropping body fat though but i'm doing it very slowly, i'm looking to shed 5-6kg of bodyfat over the next 6 months which will help me maintain all my power. If you have to lose a lot of weight rapidly for a comp then be prepared to lose power, I would suggest slowly dropping weight and pulling a class above for as long as it takes to get the weight down to where you want it without losing strength.

Cheers Dan. If i have read your reply right, would I be right in saying - if you loose the weight slowly whilst still maintaining a high protein intake, your body will not call on muscle as well as fat reserves. eg. 1kg a week.

If you send me your email address I will send you a ebook that I have - Tom Venuto Burn the Fat feed the muscle. I found it a pretty interesting read and there is a wealth of knowledge in there and it pretty mucn agrees with what Dan has said above.

Thanks email sent...

Pretty much James, what you want to aim for is keep the calorie intake the same but up the expenditure. 1lb of fat= 3500 calories, so if you do 30 minutes cardio first thing in the morning before breakfast at 60% of your max heart rate ( 60% is the ideal range where the body uses fat for energy ) for 5 days a week you should burn 2kg of fat every month, you will need to have a very clean diet for this to happen. Also you should throw in 1 or 2 HIIT cardio sessions or High Intensity Interval Training. The basic principal is you have a period of excersion and a period of rest.
for example, run at a pace that keeps your heart at 60% for 2 minutes then run hard to increase the heart rate to 80% for 1 minute then back to 60% for 2, 80% for 1 and so on for 20-30 minutes. The constant shuttling of heart rate increases the metabolism and shifts higher amounts of fat than a long session of constant pace.
In the evening when you train with weights train heavy for low reps and sets with minimal rest between exercises, this increases your Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC and as a result boosts your metabolism even further than if you trained with moderate weights for higher reps and sets. Forget single joint movements and opt for multi joint, compound exercises such as Power cleans, bet rows, chins, shoulder presses etc, as these work more muscles at the same time which requires more energy to acheive than a concentration curl or lateral raise.
Weight training is crucial to fat loss for two reasons,
1st, muscles require more calories to repair themselves and to maintain their size so even when resting your body will burn more calories, rather than store it.
2nd, weight training increases testosterone production which helps burn fat.

Thanks Dan. The reason for the question is not just for armwrestling but general fitness and still be strong. I am not after any miracle overnight weight loss but come March next year should be at a healthy fighting weight. (Dont hold me to that - probably will have put on weight after Christmas lol). Think I have a good 10kg+ of fat to loose - so here goes.

I agree with Dan, a minimum amount of fat and water is necessary for the body to function at full power. If you look at people like the worlds strongest men, those who have bulked up are the ones who seem to do well. Simply it's because their muscles have fuel reserves at the ready but like everything in life there must be a balance and the balance level will vary from one individual to another.

Dont get me wrong, I am not after becoming a size zero and losing all body fat, just want to be able to tie my shoe laces without an effort.

Just be balanced when you train and use supplements. One more thing, you could try wearing shoes with velcro.

Thanks Mark - slow and steady would appear to be the way. Doesn't help me with the socks though.

WEAR TIGHT'S

It depends on the individual James, some people are at their most powerful when they are carrying a degree of body fat other can remain very strong when lean.

The diet you adopt and the amount of time which you take to drop the weight are other pivotal factors as is the type of exercise you undertake.

I huge increase in Cardio to assist weight loss will often have the desired effect whilst also shifting the balance of the bodies blood cells away from POWER and towards ENDURANCE.

Test the water and see how you react individually mate.

I am 102kg at the moment and yet NOWHERE NEAR the level of strength which I had at 85kg so its hard to predict how your body will react.

Also James thanks for throwing some genuinely educated insight into the other post last night it is good to know that there are people out there who actually do understand a little about the real world, thanks mate and good luck.