Too fat to recomp?

SlSl12345

Hi all,

How do you determine if you’re simply too fat to recomp?

I am 5’7”, 160lb, female, right on the high edge of a ‘normal’ BMI. PW of 135-140, gained 20# a few years ago and have not been able to get it off. I have a decent amount of chunk in my thighs and arms, some belly fat, etc. I’m cool to not get lighter or back to my PW, but I would like to decrease the chunks and have some visible muscles again. I successfully recomped when I was lighter, so in my mind recomping at this higher weight will just give me more mass to slowly gain muscle with and be more jacked?

I’m back on a progressive lifting program, but wondering if I’m kidding myself and seriously just need to lose more fat and deal with dieting for a while. I don’t know my BF% but from online pics maybe somewhere between 25-30%?

So, is there a way I can determine if recomp will help with health/physique goals or if I’m kinda fat and will not make real progress without losing that first? Thanks in advance.

KickassAmazon76

If you are relatively happy with your body as is, then I'd say go with a slight deficit and push hard with the lifting program. You won't see instant results, but you will see results over time.

If you decide you want to lose weight faster, still keep up with the lifting (to preserve your muscle and strength) and increase your caloric deficit.

ExpressoLove11

I started recomp at 29% BF. Now down to 22% so it is doable. Just takes some time!

sijomial

There really isn't a "too fat to recomp", it's actually easier when you have plentiful energy reserves.

The reason people say that recomp "should" be done at or close to, their goal weight is that most people have aesthetic goals that include visible muscle definition and having higher body fat levels stops that showing.
e.g. if I recomp at 20% body fat I would need to use tape measurements not the mirror to track progress, at 15% every small increase in muscle/reduction in fat shows - more definition, vascularity, separation.

I hope you will continue to train whatever you do with your weight but as regards losing weight you have every option open to you from a diet break at maintenance for a while if you are tired of dieting (or forever if you are truly happy at your current weight), recomp with a very small deficit, lose weight faster but with the probability that gaining significant mounts of muscle gets harder the bigger and longer the deficit.

Yes of course gaining muscle and losing fat will help you progress towards the look you seem to want but at higher BF% it's just a lot more subtle and takes a long time to actually see changes. If looks are what drives you then the saying that "if you want to look like you have gained 10lbs of muscle then lose 10lbs of fat" holds very true.

SlSl12345

sijomial wrote: »

There really isn't a "too fat to recomp", it's actually easier when you have plentiful energy reserves.

The reason people say that recomp "should" be done at or close to, their goal weight is that most people have aesthetic goals that include visible muscle definition and having higher body fat levels stops that showing.
e.g. if I recomp at 20% body fat I would need to use tape measurements not the mirror to track progress, at 15% every small increase in muscle/reduction in fat shows - more definition, vascularity, separation.

I hope you will continue to train whatever you do with your weight but as regards losing weight you have every option open to you from a diet break at maintenance for a while if you are tired of dieting (or forever if you are truly happy at your current weight), recomp with a very small deficit, lose weight faster but with the probability that gaining significant mounts of muscle gets harder the bigger and longer the deficit.

Yes of course gaining muscle and losing fat will help you progress towards the look you seem to want but at higher BF% it's just a lot more subtle and takes a long time to actually see changes. If looks are what drives you then the saying that "if you want to look like you have gained 10lbs of muscle then lose 10lbs of fat" holds very true.

I will be lifting either way, the pause was due to injury and some *kitten* joints. Slowly made my way back to weights and finally getting close to being able to use a barbell again!

I mostly want to be big and strong and not overly/unhealthily fat. I’d rather actually have more muscle/strength than just LOOK like I do. (Not that I would cry if I leaned out a bit, over time).

Anyway, the teeniest deficit after a few weeks of maintenance sounds good. Thanks for the detailed response, it was very helpful to think it through.

Niki_Fitz

I recomped for 2 years at a higher weight than I wanted to be at. It was quite by accident. First I lost a bit, then had success with lifting as I aimed for a small deficit and mostly hit maintenance. It felt very healthy to get stronger, look better, and be eating well, and enough. Looking back, it was successful and I have zero regrets. And I'm a firm believer that recomp is very underrated! I slipped up between the gym/work shut-downs and eating out of anxiey this past year, although I continued strength training at home as best I could. So I gained 10lbs on what was a lean frame. But right now I'm considering recomping again, from this new higher weight/bodyfat. And at the same time torn, out of vanity haha.

In the end @sijomial is right

sijomial wrote: »

There really isn't a "too fat to recomp", it's actually easier when you have plentiful energy reserves.
...
Yes of course gaining muscle and losing fat will help you progress towards the look you seem to want but at higher BF% it's just a lot more subtle and takes a long time to actually see changes.

Overall I love recomp and it's a worthy goal. You can always change goals as you go.

springlering62

(ETA photos)

I am 5’7”, too. I started weight training about two years ago, at 165.

I am SO happy with the results. I’ve got definition in my arms, legs, and butt.

Training gave me the confidence and motivation to drop more weight.

YMMV, of course, but we are nearly identical and I feel like that was a great time for me to start.

BTW, I started Pilates around the same time, and credit where credit is due, I think the Pilates helped tremendously as well. I was already doing (and still do) vinyasa type yoga. The three disciplines mesh very well, imho.

At 165, 02/2019


At 133, earlier this week

SlSl12345

springlering62 wrote: »

(ETA photos)

I am 5’7”, too. I started weight training about two years ago, at 165.

I am SO happy with the results. I’ve got definition in my arms, legs, and butt.

Training gave me the confidence and motivation to drop more weight.

YMMV, of course, but we are nearly identical and I feel like that was a great time for me to start.

BTW, I started Pilates around the same time, and credit where credit is due, I think the Pilates helped tremendously as well. I was already doing (and still do) vinyasa type yoga. The three disciplines mesh very well, imho.

At 165, 02/2019


At 133, earlier this week

You look amazing!! That’s a really significant shape difference.

Its funny because last time I leaned out I was also around 135#, AND I have recently incorporated a bit of yoga, so our stats are even more identical

Also, and you don’t have to share, but I could not even begin to guess at your age. Exercise is truly the fountain of youth and you look like you lost a decade in addition to the 20 lbs. Impressive.

springlering62

Awe, you’re sweet. 58. I guess that was one of my less haggard days lol.

AnnPT77

@springlering62: Wow! I've seen you before of course, but that contrast is striking. You look like a healthy fit gym lady in photo 1, and an athlete 20 years younger in photo 2. Amazing!

OP, endorsing springlering62, I think there is no "too fat to recomp". There is only (potentially) "still too much fat to allow the recomped goodness to show". I accidentally recomped while obese (i.e., much heavier than you), losing a couple of pants sizes, but staying at obese BMI. I don't have a good "before recomp" picture, but it would be underwhelming: Fat before, fat after - maybe just slightly mooshier looking before. Getting close to a decade later, staying very active that whole time, I lost a bunch of the fat. It turned out that there were some kinda cute li'l ol' lady muscles hiding underneath. I'd pretty much guarantee there was no meaningful change in muscle mass (positive or negative) during the fat loss.

Sadly, I didn't get the anti-aging facial effects that springlering62 did (maybe I need more Pilates/yoga? 😉), but that change (obese post-recomp, thinner a year-ish later) looked like this:



That's mid-180s (at 5'5", so BMI 30 point something), to lower 120s (BMI 20 point something). ( Weight loss probably started with BF% somewhere in the 30-40% range, as a wild guess, maybe ended in lower 20s percent? (After photo is age 60, I'm 65 now.)

If you want to *be* muscular, lift**. If you want to *look* muscular, lift . . . and decide whether you need to lose a bit more overlying fat in order for the muscle to show as you like. Any order can work (though with your goals, like others I'd urge slower loss, plenty of lifting/protein/overall nutrition, if you go with choosing some loss up front - sounds like you're heading in that general direction). I didn't lose weight with the goal of looking more muscular; it was just a side effect. If I cared about appearance, I'd lift more. 😉

** Lifting is not what I mostly did to gain muscle, but lifting is the most efficient way for sure.

sgt1372

Recomp usually implies that you have reached your goal wt but still have too much wt in the form of BF that you"d rather be in the form of muscle.

This doesn't nean that you can't reduce the % of your wt in BF while increasing the % of your wt in muscle but it won't be very noticeable if you are still carrying a high % of BF.

FWIW, it is IMPOSSIBLE to convert BF into muscle

You can only lose BF and/or build muscle but BF can never be converted into muscle.

If you do nothing other than lose BF and maintain your muscle mass (w/o gaining any more), your BF% will decrease and your muscle mass % will increase accordingly, thereby resulting in a "recomp" of sorts.

springlering62

@AnnPT77 rows. As in rowing on water. In boats that move. Quickly. Don’t be fooled by her Internet Auntie wiles. She’s moving plenty of weight, just horizontally and generally the splashy variety.

She is absolutely dead on about this, though:

...there were some kinda cute li'l ol' lady muscles hiding underneath...

When some of the fat finally started to dissipate, there they were. I was as surprised as she seems to have been.

I hope you’ll try something you wind up loving as much as we do and come back and share for others!

richardgavel

I think some of this question might come from the idea that you don't want to start a bulk until you reach a certain BF level. The basis behind that opinion (don't know if it's right or wrong) is that the higher your BF, the more each new pound gained tends towards fat vs muscle. So I could see a similar question when discussing recomp, since recomp isn't turning fat to muscle so much as micro gains and losses.

DaltaMcCarthy

Definitely not too fat to recomp!

The reason a recomp works if you are overweight is due to the fat being used as the extra energy to fuel the muscle building process.

If you are significantly overweight, it just may take more time!

Just take a look at this study on police officers with on average 26% body fat!

"A 12-week study by Demling and DeSanti aimed to analyse the effects of a caloric deficit and resistance training in overweight (26% body fat) police officers. The results showed a total fat loss of 9.3 lbs and gained 8.8 lbs fat free mass over those 12 weeks." - PeakThrivePerform

You will 100% make progress. Go and crush those goals!

- Sean