Increasing strength - breastfeeding stay at home mom

Raegold

Hey all! I'm a stay at home mom, in so-so shape, definitely not a bodybuilder or anything. I'm taking a break from dieting and looking to increase my strength somewhat significantly before I try to cut the last 5-10 lbs. I'm currently 5'3 and 134, around 29% BF per one of those crappy handheld things at the gym. I've decreased my cardio, and I'm doing a lot of leg/glute days (squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc) plus push/pull days for upper body, at home with dumbbells and kettlebells, resistance bands, etc. My goal is to increase functional strength and improve at indoor rockclimbing.

Right now my goal is at least 2200 cals, 110 protein and 275 carbs. Also of note, I'm still breastfeeding my 17 month old 4 times a day. Does this sound right? I've never done a "bulk" before (I know I'm not a hardcore bodybuilder!)... I want to make sure I'm giving my muscles what they need so I can see some real improvements before I try to maintain the muscle and lose some more body fat. Should I aim a little higher because of the breastfeeding?? My TDEE is probably around 1900-2000ish, not counting the breastfeeding. Also, I am trying to do a post-workout mini-meal with protein and carbs, but I find that info to be confusing and conflicting (BCAAs vs regular food vs protein shakes, etc).

Any tips would be SUPER appreciated, I'm just trying to put this all together on my own. Thanks!!

Luna3386

How much have you been eating? I'd go off of that, rather than the online calculator. It's only an estimation anyways.

TavistockToad

You can increase your strength while still eating in a deficit or maintenance. Given your stats, eating in a surplus will just make you gain fat.

Why not recomp while you're breastfeeding and then decide after that whether you need to cut or not?

sardelsa

I would recomp (maintain your weight). Since it is kind of hard to judge how much extra to add to account for the nursing I would track and eat enough so you are no longer losing and not too much so you start to gain. I wouldn't bulk with your current bodyfat % since you will gain more fat than muscle.

Raegold

Thanks for all of the info. So basically I should eat around maintenance, and that will still allow me to increase my strength? It's a little confusing, when you read info online that you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. The whole concept of "recomp" is a little confusing to me, since I was under the impression it was one or the other. I know for sure that I can't increase my strength in a hardcore deficit like I was in before. I lost 40 lbs over the past year, so I needed a break from that for a little.

Raegold

sardelsa wrote: »

I would recomp (maintain your weight). Since it is kind of hard to judge how much extra to add to account for the nursing I would track and eat enough so you are no longer losing and not too much so you start to gain. I wouldn't bulk with your current bodyfat % since you will gain more fat than muscle.

Just out of curiosity, is there a certain body fat that means you won't gain muscle if you "bulk"? Like, someone leaner would gain muscle and not fat?

sardelsa

Raegold wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

I would recomp (maintain your weight). Since it is kind of hard to judge how much extra to add to account for the nursing I would track and eat enough so you are no longer losing and not too much so you start to gain. I wouldn't bulk with your current bodyfat % since you will gain more fat than muscle.

Just out of curiosity, is there a certain body fat that means you won't gain muscle if you "bulk"? Like, someone leaner would gain muscle and not fat?

You will gain some fat even being very lean to start. But the body is more primed to put on muscle when females are 20% and below.

And maintenance is a great place to gain strength. You can gain some muscle too but you don't need to gain muscle to get stronger .. you can still get stronger in a deficit too (but it's easier with more foods)

Raegold

sardelsa wrote: »

Raegold wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

I would recomp (maintain your weight). Since it is kind of hard to judge how much extra to add to account for the nursing I would track and eat enough so you are no longer losing and not too much so you start to gain. I wouldn't bulk with your current bodyfat % since you will gain more fat than muscle.

Just out of curiosity, is there a certain body fat that means you won't gain muscle if you "bulk"? Like, someone leaner would gain muscle and not fat?

You will gain some fat even being very lean to start. But the body is more primed to put on muscle when females are 20% and below.

And maintenance is a great place to gain strength. You can gain some muscle too but you don't need to gain muscle to get stronger .. you can still get stronger in a deficit too (but it's easier with more foods)

Thanks for the info! So, I'm obviously new to a lot of this- what would be the difference between gaining muscle and getting stronger? Basically, would I have more muscle and increased strength but not much actual weight gain in terms of lean muscle mass gain? But then how are the muscles stronger? I REALLY appreciate all of the insight because I'm trying to wrap my head around how this all works!

sardelsa

I believe it is through what is called "neuromuscular adaptation" I don't know too much about the science behind it, but it allows for the muscles to adapt to the increased weight stimuli before muscle size is added.