By: Chris Gates

So you want to lose weight, and you want a workout plan that’s going to move you towards your goals, but you can’t quite figure out how to put everything together.

Don’t worry!

I’ve got your back.

In this article, I’m going to teach you everything you need to know about how to have good workouts in a calorie deficit.

As an online fitness coach, I’ve worked with people all over the world who want to work out, lose weight, and develop a happier and healthier lifestyle. Through years of experience, I’ve boiled everything down to four key points you need to know to do the following:

1. Get in a calorie deficit.
2. Have good workouts.
3. Burn body fat and see tons of progress!

It’s super common to experience struggles with your workout plan when you’re in a calorie deficit. It’s just simple math, really.

You’ve got less energy coming in from food, which means you’ll have less energy to put forth in your workouts. And that can lead to worse and worse training performance over time.

So let’s put a plan in place to make your workouts as good as they possibly can be while you shed body fat!

What is A Calorie Deficit?

Before we dive into five main strategies you can use to have good workouts in a calorie deficit, let’s make sure we’re on the same page here about what a calorie deficit actually is.

Because that’s a really fundamental piece of information you NEED if you want to maximize your progress.

Let’s make it simple:

• A calorie deficit is when you’re eating fewer calories from food than your body burns each day.
• Another way to phrase it is: you’re in negative energy balance.
• Your calories coming in are less than your energy going out (calories burned).

And if you’ve read anything from me before, you probably know what’s coming next…

This doesn’t mean you should try to burn as many calories as you possibly can every single day. That’s not the point of your workout plan when you’re in a calorie deficit, and it most definitely won’t help you have good workouts.

A calorie deficit should be created by manipulating your diet. You should reduce calories slightly so that you can get yourself in a deficit, and then use your workout plan to build your body up while you lose fat.

I have TONS of information right here on my website that dives in deep on the topic of calorie deficits for weight loss. I’d highly recommend you start with my article on how to know you’re in a calorie deficit, which touches on every piece of need-to-know information imaginable.

Why Should You Work Out In A Calorie Deficit?

Now, it’s true that millions of people have lost weight without doing a single exercise.

That’s not what I’d consider to be the most optimal approach, but you 100% can do it.

As we just went over, you should slightly reduce calories to get yourself in a calorie deficit. You don’t need to lift weights or go for a run to make that happen.

But that’s not to say your workouts serve no purpose.

Exercising is an incredibly valuable tool that can make the entire process more enjoyable, easier, and more effective.

For starters, yes… You’ll burn a few more calories in your workouts. And that will help you eat a little bit more food while you’re dieting.

Additionally, a well-balanced workout program can actually encourage your body to lose more weight specifically from body fat.

Research has found that strength training while in a calorie deficit maximizes fat loss, and I’ve got an entire article that breaks down the details on this if you’d like to learn more.

So I hope the following is pretty clear at this point:

• A calorie deficit matters for weight loss.
• Your workout program can maximize your fat loss progress.

Let’s dive into five main strategies you can use to have good workouts in a calorie deficit!

How to Have Good Workouts in a Calorie Deficit: Keeps Things Similar

First of all, it’s really important that we talk about the nature of your workouts, and how things should evolve when you get in a calorie deficit.

Because quite honestly, you shouldn’t make a ton of changes.

This is a big mistake I see people making ALL THE TIME, and it really messes things up from the start.

You don’t need to add more reps, or sets, or weight to make your workouts harder.

“Harder” doesn’t mean “more effective” when it comes to weight loss.

You want to train smarter, not harder.

You shouldn’t feel like you have to change your cardio from walking to doing 5 high-intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio sessions a week.

Once again, you’re not in the business of burning as many calories as possible here. That’s not a sustainable approach.

Rather, you should aim to keep things mostly the same, and let your nutrition do the work.

So just focus on participating in a well-rounded workout routine.

• Lift weights at least a couple of times a week.
• Focus on compound exercises, and lift heavy with good form and technique.
• Do cardio as well, and make it something you enjoy so that it’s sustainable.

If you’re able to do those things, you’ll instantly have better workouts while you’re in a calorie deficit. Because you won’t be running your body into the ground.

Instead, you’ll be building your body up while you lose fat.

How to Have Good Workouts in a Calorie Deficit: Manage Your Workload

While you’re in a calorie deficit, it may be beneficial to take a closer look at how much overall work you’re doing.

• When you lift weights, how many sets are you doing for each muscle group?
• How many times a week are you training each muscle group?
• How long do you let those muscle groups rest before you train them again?
• How often do you do cardio?
• How long are you doing cardio for? (Could be total time, or actual mileage.)
• How much rest do you get in between cardio sessions?

Those questions are important to answer, because they all add up to your total weekly training volume.

And if you’re doing too much total volume, it’s going to be hard for your body to recover, repair itself, and be fresh for the next time you work out.

Remember, when you’re in a calorie deficit you have less energy coming in. That means your recovery demands are going to be higher.

Oftentimes, keeping volume the same, or even slightly reducing volume when you head into a calorie deficit is best.

Set yourself up for success so that you can show up to each workout fresh and ready to train. That’s a great way to make sure you’re able to have good workouts in a calorie deficit.

How to Have Good Workouts in a Calorie Deficit: Eat Enough Protein

We just finished talking about recovering in between workouts and managing your workload.

Well…

A really important aspect of recovering from workout to workout is making sure your diet is structured appropriately.

And protein is crucial.

I have an entire article on the concept of building muscle and burning fat in a calorie deficit, which dives deep into the topic of protein. Give that a read if you really want to up-level your knowledge in this area.

I’ll be brief here, though, to explain why this is so important…

• Protein provides your body with the building blocks it needs to repair muscle tissue, as well as grow new muscle tissue.
• If you’re under-eating protein, you won’t be giving your body what it needs to fully recover from each workout.
• Which means you’ll be under-recovered, and that’s going to negatively impact future workouts.

If you want to have good workouts in a calorie deficit, you need to do everything you can to make sure you’re recovering.

Plain and simple.

Protein plays a big role. So here’s what I’d recommend you do…

1. If you don’t typically eat a high-protein diet, try to eat 100 grams of protein per day. It may take time to get used to eating that much, but that’s OK. More is better in this situation, and you’ll work your way up to 100g over time.
2. If you already eat at least 100g of protein per day, that’s great! I want you to take your height in centimeters, and try to eat that many grams of protein each day (Ex: If you’re 170cm tall, eat 170g of protein).

If you can follow those guidelines, you’ll put yourself in a great position to fully recover and show up fresh to each workout.

How to Have Good Workouts in a Calorie Deficit: Keep Your Deficit Modest

A quick and easy way to completely zap your energy and have terrible workouts is to slash calories dramatically.

You don’t need to go from eating 2,000 calories a day to eating 1,000 calories a day to lose weight.

In fact, I’d argue that you should NEVER do that.

• That type of approach is never sustainable.
• It always results in burnout, bingeing, and quitting.
• You’ll also have the worst workouts of your life.

So ditch the all-or-nothing approach, and let’s try something more sustainable.

Make your calorie deficit small.

If you know what your maintenance calories are, reduce that by 10-20 percent. No more than that.

A bigger deficit doesn’t mean more progress. And it certainly doesn’t mean good workouts.

Remember, calories are a unit of energy. You want enough energy coming in to be able to show up and have good workouts, but just the right amount so that you’re also in a calorie deficit and able to lose body fat.

Eat as much food as you can while you lose fat. It will make things more sustainable, and help you have amazing workouts in the process!

Lastly… Don’t Sleep on Sleep

This fifth and final strategy is probably the most slept on.

And ironically, people are sleeping on sleep.

Facts are facts, and the average adult just doesn’t get enough sleep. We’re told to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night for general health purposes, but oftentimes you probably don’t get close to that much sleep consistently.

• You’ve got a demanding job.
• Kids make sleep an adventure.
• Your favorite show is on at 10 p.m.
• You want to grab drinks with your friends.
• It’s hard to put the phone down and go to sleep.

There are a million excuses. Some of them are good, and some aren’t.

But whatever your case may be, you need to start exercising more discipline and get to bed on time each night.

The vast majority of your body’s recovery happens at night. That’s when you secrete the most growth hormone, and your body repairs itself from your workout of the day.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, your body won’t recover properly.

And if you’re not fully recovering, it’s going to negatively impact your workouts.

Poor sleep on top of a calorie deficit is an equation that will make your journey unbelievably more difficult, and it’s going to lead to awful workouts.

So put a routine in place that helps you get your head on a pillow, with the lights off, and your phone away, and the TV off, with at least 7 hours to snooze and recover.

It’s maybe the most impactful thing you can do to have good workouts in a calorie deficit.

I Hope This Helps!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading this article! I hope you found it helpful 🙂

If you are looking for help to lose weight, keep it off, and establish the right habits that lead to a healthy lifestyle, you should definitely check out my coaching page.

I work with people all over the world to burn fat, build muscle, and feel more confident through fitness and nutrition! And I’d love to help you with your journey.

Have a great day!

~ Chris