Recomposition: Beginner Advice?

iLoveMyPitbull1225

Hello all,

I am considering moving towards maintenance and trying body re composition. I am 24 years old, 5'4 and 122 pounds. I have my calorie goal set for 1425. I know this is a healthy BMI but I wouldn't mind losing a few more pounds(or inches) and I definitely want to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat. I have been doing some reading on the forums and other sites about this concept, but I am still unsure of where to start.

My workout schedule usually looks like this:
M: Total Body Conditioning + Body Pump
T: Sports Conditioning +20-30 minutes cardio (elliptical)
W: Body Pump + ~30 minutes cardio (cycling)
T: 30 minutes cardio, sometimes yoga
F: 30-45 minutes cardio (cycling) + body pump
Rest Saturday and Sunday.

I am a new body pump instructor, so a few days a week of that isn't going to be leaving my schedule but I am willing to alter my routine otherwise as necessary if anyone has suggestions. How much should I eat? Macro breakdown?

AsISmile

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure your advice will be go on a structured lifting program that has progressive overload.
Look into:
Sl 5x5
Icf 5x5
Strong curves
New rules for lifting (women).

lauramillat

To me this seems like way too much cardio. In a recomp you want to focus on building muscle, so you need lifting that will always be challenging to you.

Now I have to admit, I have never seen a body pump class before, but I have a feeling it's not going to offer the true strengthening that more "traditional" weight training can offer. Not sure when you would work that into your schedule though, you're doing body pump 3x a week! Maybe Tues and Thurs if you're not sore? Or take a rest day during the week and do weight training one day of the weekend?

In regards to how much you should eat, you can follow MFP's guideline as a start, maybe work up to eating that much, a bit more each week.

cwolfman13

that's all a bunch of cardio...cardio isn't going to alter your body composition a whole lot...cardiovascular work is like weight lifting for your heart and lungs...it's great for building endurance and stamina but resistance training is where you're going to get the greatest bang for your time buck where changing body composition is concerned.

I'd recommend looking at New Rules of Lifting for Women and/or Strong Curves and starting there

also, stop worrying about some arbitrary number on the scale...that's NOT where it's at...meet Staci...



Believe it or not, she’s 11 pounds HEAVIER (142 pounds) in the picture on the right (May 2011) compared to the picture on the left (131 pounds, October 2010).

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

jeffpettis

One of the main reasons a recomp works is because you are lifting heavy to build muscle. Which is going to happen very slowly in a recomp. Your schedule doesn't look like it's going to be optimal for this. There is nothing wrong with doing cardio, but you are going to have to account for it, and add a heavy lifting program focused on progressive overload to make it work.

tephanies1234

I'm doing a recomp and my coach made a plan for me to do 4 days of progressive strength training: 2 power days (upper/lower) and 2 hypertrophy days (upper/lower). The upper days are the only time I do 20 min of HIIT after the strength training, and one of my rest days I do 30 min moderate steady state cardio. Inches are being lost, scale weight not dropping too too much. I'm at the higher end of healthy BMI, so I expect there to be some slow scale loss anyways for now.

Macro breakdown: I do 1g per body weight right now although I don't manage it every day and some days I overshoot it so it evens out during the week. Once I hit my protein goal, my fat is around .45g/lb normally and my carbs can be anywhere from 160g-210g especially on a training day. I eat around 1800 cals (not netted) on strength days, and 1550 cals (not netted) on rest days. I am 5'5" and sedentary. This seems to be working for me right now, my coach is pleased with the results thus far and I'm not starving on a 1400 calorie "diet".

iLoveMyPitbull1225

It is a lot of cardio, I enjoy it though. Thank you for all the advice, I think I'll check into those Strong curves and
New rules for lifting for women... But yes the plan is to decrease the cardio as well as the body pump once I start teaching and incorporate more heavy lifting.