Anyone with recomp experience? Pointers?

SCoil123

My goal was to lose 30lb of fat and gain apprx. 5Lb of muscle. I gave myself a full year to do this which I thought was attainable and realistic.

I'm officially 6 months in and did my progress check in only to be disappointed. Check in calculates progress using weight, measurements, and caliper. I know it isnt as accurate as Dexa scan but those are expensive so I planned on doing one when I am at the one year mark. So here is my problem...I am not gaining muscle like I'd hoped. As of now I'm down about 20lb of fat but have only estimated to have gained about 1lb of muscle still.

On weight days, only 1-2 per week, I eat at maintenance or slightly above and consume 50% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbs. The rest of the week I don't really track macros but keep a deficit of 250-500 cals. On those days I do either Insanity Max30, cardio stepper, or yoga.

What am I doing wrong? I am afraid to increase calories more and sabatoge the fat loss part of my efforts but the musclr gain is important to me. I thought my goal was a small one and wouldnt be this difficult.

Stats -
37F
Perimenopausal with Hashimotos and Endo
Bf% 26-25
Weight 164
Height 5'7.5"
Large frame..per doctor with healthy weight range 145-165

vespiquenn

Recomposition can take years to achieve due to the lack of bulking/cutting. You technically were in a cut if you lost 20lbs worth, so you can't expect to make too great of gains during that. Now that you're within 10lbs, you can really focus on the recomposition part. What does your lifting program look like?

ETA: I just saw that I missed your workouts. If you actively want to build muscle, I suggest progressive lifting. You will see results a tiny bit faster. The problem with things like body weight exercises is that you need to get real creative to make them more difficult. Muscle comes from progressive overload.

SCoil123

vespiquenn wrote: »

Recomposition can take years to achieve due to the lack of bulking/cutting. You technically were in a cut if you lost 20lbs worth, so you can't expect to make too great of gains during that. Now that you're within 10lbs, you can really focus on the recomposition part. What does your lifting program look like?

It's just free weights and probably not as structured as it should be. Lots of weighted squats with overhead press and general upper body with machines. I'm not at high weights either but trying to get there, started with 3-5lb bells and now use 15. I want to be able to bench my body weight when I hit goal.

If you know of any program outlines for women I'd really appreciate it. My new years resolution is to focus more on the muscle gains and add more variety to my workouts

vespiquenn

SCoil123 wrote: »

vespiquenn wrote: »

Recomposition can take years to achieve due to the lack of bulking/cutting. You technically were in a cut if you lost 20lbs worth, so you can't expect to make too great of gains during that. Now that you're within 10lbs, you can really focus on the recomposition part. What does your lifting program look like?

It's just free weights and probably not as structured as it should be. Lots of weighted squats with overhead press and general upper body with machines. I'm not at high weights either but trying to get there, started with 3-5lb bells and now use 15. I want to be able to bench my body weight when I hit goal.

If you know of any program outlines for women I'd really appreciate it. My new years resolution is to focus more on the muscle gains and add more variety to my workouts

I think you would see better results with a structured program like Strong Curves or Strong Lifts 5x5. The nice thing about Strong Lifts is that it even has an app. The bad news is that it takes even longer for a female to build muscle even under the opportune scenarios. So it takes a ton of patience.

SCoil123

vespiquenn wrote: »

SCoil123 wrote: »

vespiquenn wrote: »

Recomposition can take years to achieve due to the lack of bulking/cutting. You technically were in a cut if you lost 20lbs worth, so you can't expect to make too great of gains during that. Now that you're within 10lbs, you can really focus on the recomposition part. What does your lifting program look like?

It's just free weights and probably not as structured as it should be. Lots of weighted squats with overhead press and general upper body with machines. I'm not at high weights either but trying to get there, started with 3-5lb bells and now use 15. I want to be able to bench my body weight when I hit goal.

If you know of any program outlines for women I'd really appreciate it. My new years resolution is to focus more on the muscle gains and add more variety to my workouts

I think you would see better results with a structured program like Strong Curves or Strong Lifts 5x5. The nice thing about Strong Lifts is that it even has an app. The bad news is that it takes even longer for a female to build muscle even under the opportune scenarios. So it takes a ton of patience.

Thanks! I will look into that app. I knew as a woman it would be slow but I really thought 5lbs in 1 full year seemed really realistic, even at my age. I will work on adjusting expectations and just keep going.