Difference between clean bulk and body recomp?

gymrat04mf

I'm 5'4" and 115 lbs currently. 18% BF. Ideally I'd like to gain about 7-10 lbs of lean muscle and maintain my body fat weight. I wouldn't complain if I lost a couple pounds of fat, but overall I'd like to maintain it, and I really don't want to gain fat because my definition (especially my abs) is very important to me.

Clean bulk is probably what I should do then, right? However, I've often seen clean bulk and body recomposition described as nearly the same process and result, so I'm confused. But on online calorie/macro calculators for each of these, a clean bulk tells me to eat much more calories on my training days, and a seemingly ridiculous amount of fat (with less calories total) on my rest days. The recomposition has less of a range. Should I be wary of the lean bulk then, since I don't want to gain fat? Why is the big range necessary?

Serah87

You have another thread that you started and you got excellent advice there.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/33406055#Comment_33406055

Serah87

Clean bulk is 250 calories above your TDEE.

Recomp is at TDEE, possible slightly below TDEE.

Read this OP: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

pumpkinpocalypse

A bulk, clean or not, is about gaining weight. You will gain both fat and muscle so that's why they often say it can be very mentally challenging at first because your first gains are fat...you eventually turn it into muscle OR you add much more muscle on top of it so the fat doesn't matter much anymore.
A recomp is starting by losing as much fat as possible first, then replacing the lost fat weight with muscle weight instead. Both cases you gain weight, just not in the same process.

I'm not exactly sure on how those two things work as I've never done either ''program'', but I can assure you that eating fats isn't related to fat gains. It's really about calories. I think you should eat totally normal quantities of fat on your rest days, as it wil make you feel satiated (cutting on it too much often leads to mood swings, feelings of being very tired, and cravings). Just eat less calories than on your training days i guess, maybe a little more protein to help with muscle recovery, less carbs than on training days since you don't need as much (don't cut on them either though, nothing ''black or white'' is very pleasant or sustainable in the long term).

That's my advice, peeps who know about it much better than i do, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. Good luck with your clean bulk or recomp, whatever you'll pick in the end!

AsISmile

I am just going to say it again, it is impossible to maintain body fat weight and gain only lean muscle.
You can not put on muscle weight without putting on fat. Asking the question again won't change that answer.

pumpkinpocalypse wrote: »

A bulk, clean or not, is about gaining weight. You will gain both fat and muscle so that's why they often say it can be very mentally challenging at first because your first gains are fat...you eventually turn it into muscle OR you add much more muscle on top of it so the fat doesn't matter much anymore.
A recomp is starting by losing as much fat as possible first, then replacing the lost fat weight with muscle weight instead. Both cases you gain weight, just not in the same process.

This is incorrect as in: you can not turn fat into muscle. Eating in surplus allows muscle to grow, but you will also add fat. So you end up with more muscle, but also more fat.
Also, recomp does not start with losing as much fat as possible. What you describe is basically a cut and then bulk.
Recomp is about eating right and working hard and encouraging muscle to grow in difficult circumstances (no surplus). To create the surplus your body starts burning some fat. This is however very very hard and will take months. Also, your weight stays constant throughout the entire process.

hrtchoco

I read somewhere low body fat in women can result in amenorrhea.

First, I'm not sure how low it has to be. Second, I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone. But I just want to throw it out there and let you know the risk (maybe you can research a little more on it).

Good luck.

ndj1979

OP - if you are scared to gain fat then you cannot run a bulk....you are going to gain fat when you bulk and there is no way around that. It sound like your mentality is more geared towards a recomp. Also, I would suggest following the advice you received in you first thread.

usmcmp

gymrat04mf wrote: »

I'm 5'4" and 115 lbs currently. 18% BF. Ideally I'd like to gain about 7-10 lbs of lean muscle and maintain my body fat weight. I wouldn't complain if I lost a couple pounds of fat, but overall I'd like to maintain it, and I really don't want to gain fat because my definition (especially my abs) is very important to me.

Clean bulk is probably what I should do then, right? However, I've often seen clean bulk and body recomposition described as nearly the same process and result, so I'm confused. But on online calorie/macro calculators for each of these, a clean bulk tells me to eat much more calories on my training days, and a seemingly ridiculous amount of fat (with less calories total) on my rest days. The recomposition has less of a range. Should I be wary of the lean bulk then, since I don't want to gain fat? Why is the big range necessary?

A bulk means you gain fat and lean mass. There is no way around that. You will gain fat on a bulk. You will not gain muscle and lose fat on a bulk. Females gain an average of 1 pound of muscle per month during a bulk, but you have to eat enough to make those kinds of gains.

Recomposition is the attempt to stay in a narrow weight range and eat near maintenance. You will SLOWLY gain some lean mass (much less than 1 pound of lean mass per month). You may also slowly lose some fat.