reasonable amt of strength lost while dieting

[stuffperson]

I am currently cutting to drop some of the BF I accumulated over winter.

i am 5'6", settled around 174lbs during december... tested my BF to be ~18%, I am now (1-24-04) 166-7lbs @ 14-15%bf.

this is all dandy, I plan to get to around 10-12%bf, then start putting muscle on again.

I have been cutting for about 5 weeks. My strength has stayed the same in the gym, up until this week my max on bench went from 210 to 200, was working with 6-8 reps @ 190lbs, now could only do 3 max. nothing else is suffering yet except bicep strenght slightly, was doing dips with a 45lb plate and 25 plate, still can but rep # has dropped a bit. Can max on deadlifts at 320, so i'm not upset with that (most i've ever been able to deadlift), squat has stayed at 230 though it didn't feel very stable this week and only got 5 reps out of it as opposed to usual 7 or 8. BTW I hit an all time high this winter on poundages i could lift, not particularly happy about losing any of that.

What is an acceptable amount of strength to you all to lose?

 

[~SC~]

Ideally none really if you can manipulate your dieting/workout/rest to be indicative of a body composition change. This usually means sticking to a program longer than a traditional "diet", but the results are far more favorable, and you don't have the "rebound" syndrome as you do w/other programs.

~SC~

 

[stuffperson]

I've only read up on traditional bulk & cut routines... can you point me in the direction to read about programs such as the ones you are talking about?