Recomp or bulk after a cut?

DvoycY

I consider myself (or the peak condition) intermediate at best

After cutting for ten months I have almost arrived to the goal weight

I was prioritizing the diet but lost some strength due to some days missing the gym

The looks are decent but the performance did slightly drop

On top of the general consensus to hit the maintenance calories after a cut, how decent is the idea of recomping for a while? If I understand correctly, recomps are only for beginners but does not a long cut put be back in that position? Given that I have lost some weight and muscle/strength. I have also heard people saying that recomp is less useful at a lower weight/BMI/body fat but I do not get it - it is not like you turn fat directly into muscle (meaning that they only suggest that recomp is good when you are fat for some reason)

Basically, was decently strong and big (but fat) and cut for 10 months to look good - lost some strengths and now thinking to maintain and recomp for a couple of months. My goal is aesthetics. I look decent but there's always space to improve (burn some fat, gain some muscle; not that interested in strength). How good is the idea of that recomp/maintenance (before presumably jumping on a lean bulk)? (I am not a professional bodybuilder who gets paid for it - I model, and the selling points is being lean and toned, so getting as big as possible (and fat at the same time) is not the end goal)

Cheers

CarvedTones

Having seen another post of yours with some additional info, I think you need to bulk.

sardelsa

In the end, what you do will depend on your goals. You say you want to lose fat? From your photos I saw in another thread, you are already very lean. I think if you truly want to get leaner you would have to build more muscle first. In your case a lean bulk would be the best way to do that. However, that path might not be ideal for you and your career since you want to stay lean all year round. Perhaps an ultra lean bulk where you are gaining around 1lb per month, with a mini-cut every few months. That might work.

If you are happy where you are you can maintain your physique. You can try to recomp but again since you are already very lean, the results will be difficult, depending on what you want to achieve of course. Since you really have little bodyfat to lose, there is a risk you could start to lose a bit of muscle, then add a bit of muscle, (since in maintenance your body is in a flux of deficit and surplus over time) and there is a potential to spin your wheels, so it is less optimal for ultra lean individuals (who want to make more significant body changes)... that is as far as I understand it. @sijomial is a great resource on recompostion maybe he could chime in and clarify.

@pinggolfer96 is an actor and model and he might be able to give you some advice on how to stay fairly lean all year round but still continue to build your physique.

mom23mangos

CarvedTones wrote: »

Having seen another post of yours with some additional info, I think you need to bulk.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with hanging out at maintenance and recomping for while before you do however. Especially if you are pretty happy with where you are at and are just looking to make minor tweaks.

jseams1234

Regarding body recomposition.... the problem is you have very little to nothing TO "recomp". Typically, a recomp is for individuals who are at goal weight but are not happy with their body composition. Meaning that they have more body fat than they like and would like to "exchange" that for muscle while staying at the same weight. It's a very very slow process and for individuals, like yourself, with no body fat to recomp - you are most likely to be spinning your wheels. Here's my opinion on your "aesthetics", for what it's worth. You look better in your profile pic than you do in those current pics you posted yesterday. Yeah, you aren't nearly as lean but I don't feel the compulsion to mail you a sammich when I look at it. You could "lean" bulk until you are approximately as fluffy as in that pic and then cut back down to current leanness. I think you would maintain your "aesthetic" that way.

pinggolfer96

sardelsa wrote: »

In the end, what you do will depend on your goals. You say you want to lose fat? From your photos I saw in another thread, you are already very lean. I think if you truly want to get leaner you would have to build more muscle first. In your case a lean bulk would be the best way to do that. However, that path might not be ideal for you and your career since you want to stay lean all year round. Perhaps an ultra lean bulk where you are gaining around 1lb per month, with a mini-cut every few months. That might work.

If you are happy where you are you can maintain your physique. You can try to recomp but again since you are already very lean, the results will be difficult, depending on what you want to achieve of course. Since you really have little bodyfat to lose, there is a risk you could start to lose a bit of muscle, then add a bit of muscle, (since in maintenance your body is in a flux of deficit and surplus over time) and there is a potential to spin your wheels, so it is less optimal for ultra lean individuals (who want to make more significant body changes)... that is as far as I understand it. @sijomial is a great resource on recompostion maybe he could chime in and clarify.

@pinggolfer96 is an actor and model and he might be able to give you some advice on how to stay fairly lean all year round but still continue to build your physique.

Anyone can ask away lol💪🏻 I’ll give my honest and blunt advice. I say blunt cause the truth hurts when I tell people recomp is kind of a waste of time in my opinion unless you’re not natural lol

sijomial

Don't know where you get the idea recomp is only for beginners...
It's for anyone who is close to their ideal weight but want to fine tune things.
That might be to get to competition standard...
https://bretcontreras.com/to-bulk-and-cut-or-not/

Or might be to just to get rid of the last few wobbly bits.
Or it could just be a nice by-product of their training.
It's just a totally normal result from training effectively.

Recomp is probably easier at higher BF% levels but when you are at lower levels just a small reduction in BF% / increase in muscle results in far bigger visual/aesthetic changes.
Drop from 17 to 14% and the changes are noticeable.
Drop from 14 to 11% and the changes are dramatic.

A long cut doesn't make you a beginner again - that's to do with years of serious training not your caloric status.
Returning from being detrained to a previous higher trained state has similarities with being a beginner in that your progress can be very accelerated.

Being an old fart modelling is a million miles outside my experience but really I would imagine that's more to do with photogenic leanness rather than absolute size but that depends on the particular niche you are targeting I suppose.