Recomp/bulk - small surplus

allother94

I’ve been researching a recomp/bulk. The idea is to gain total weight while keeping you body fat % the same level. The idea is to eat at a small surplus, maybe around 150cals. This is different than a recomp because you don’t drop bf% and different from a bulk in that bf% remains level. It will not produce as much muscle gain as a bulk.

Has anyone tried this? What happened? Do you think this is possible? How much muscle gain could you expect to get vs a recomp or bulk?

Thanks!

sardelsa

I attempted a "recompbulk" or "gaintaining" in the past. I started off really lean though so my results might have been different. I gained about 3-4lbs from September to January. So really slow. Then I got super frustrated with lack of results and went on to gain faster for the remainder of the bulk. I would imagine you would still gain bodyfat over time but super slow, so if you bulked for a year and gained 12lbs you would still gain some fat. It is very slow but it is a good option if you don't want to increase your bodyfat too quickly but still want to gain muscle.

It really depends on your overall goals, stats, current bodyfat and level of patience.

mom23mangos

My maintenance turned into a recompbulk with pretty much the results @sardelsa mentioned. Verrrrry slow gain of muscle (probably 1/4-1/2lb per month) along with a bit of fat. It worked for me as I wasn't trying for any type of aesthetics and was not in a rush. It was more of a nice reward for working out hard while eating a bit more than I should have been.