Meal Timing and Gains

sijomial

Waldo - you are missing the point entirely.
Recomp is only one of my goals - I'm totally happy to place it according to my priorities. Setting a lifetime best for cycling was my #1 target and being in deficit or bulking would both have been detrimental to cycling performance.

BTW - In no way am I saying recomp is the best option if your sole or primary goal is body building. I am saying that it's a valid choice and suits some people with different objectives.
Remember that the OP didn't ask for the quickest way to build muscle/lose fat.

But breaking news - not everyone is a body builder, not everyone wants to be a body builder. I've got no regrets at all - pleased with results so far and will continue doing what works for me.

I don't have a fear of adding weight either - irrelevant anyway as at my current bodyfat I would be cutting first.
Loose skin - yes it is a problem for older people, your skin loses elasticity as you age and if you lose weight too quickly your skin doesn't snap back. Give the back of your hand a pinch and release - then compare to your parents and children - it's coming your way buddy!

Why would one choose a less efficient path between point A and point B. That makes no sense. People recomp because they want to build muscle and lose fat. If the building muscle part was not an issue, they would just cut, it is like 10x faster for losing BF%.

Looking like a bodybuilder, lol, like building muscle is easy. It takes a couple years of work to even look like you lift weights, let alone look like a bodybuilder.

Again with the loose skin. The fact that you are even brining it up shows a gross misunderstanding of what actually occurs during normal bulking-cutting. 3-4-5 lbs of fat gain will NOT give you loose skin, not even close, I don't care how old you are, it is ridiculous to even suggest as much.

Again you don't get it!!
I am not you - I'm not in a hurry. Your prime goal is not my prime goal. I don't have a "point B" to get to, just steady improvement over time.

From your profile: goals = weight and body fat.
From my profile: goals = cycle 100 mile day, running speed, rowing speed, VO2 max improvement, dips, pull ups, bench, lat pull down strength improvements. Oh and get into healthy weight and body fat zones.

Do you not understand the concept that my recomp is part of health and fitness improvements and not the prime mover? I'm gaining muscle & losing fat because I'm getting healthier, fitter and stronger not as an end in itself. I'm happy at this weight range and neither want to be lighter or heavier. Is that such a difficult concept to grasp?

During cutting and bulking it impacts your sporting performance (you do understand that don't you?) - so that's why I don't want to do it. Endurance sport on a cut doesn't work well, it has a huge impact on performance. Cyclists spend a fortune to shave a few pounds of weight off their cycle, so no I don't want to lug even an extra few pounds up hills when bulking.

Loose skin - you are just plain wrong. The areas where I've lost the most size (waist, bum) have loose skin despite taking over a year to slowly lose my excess weight . One of my friends in their 50's has got down to 12% body fat and instead of having a six pack has no visible abs and thinks he looks scrawny.

You have made your choice because it suits you and works for you, I'm not trying to convince you to change. I've made my choice because it suits me and works for me.

LolBroScience

You can lose fat and gain lean mass at maintenance but it's slow going (recomp). Over the last 7 months I'm gaining about half a pound of lean mass a month and reducing fat percentage.

I'm doing a different form of IF (5:2) where you have two very low calorie days and five days eating at a small surplus (when maintaining, at TDEE when losing weight). Whether the IF has a major impact is impossible to quantify - probably not as much a factor as your training and nutrition.

March to October (one spell of deliberately losing weight but mostly maintaining):
Lost 4.2lbs of overall weight
Lost 7.7lbs of fat
Gained 3.5lbs of lean mass (mostly muscle hopefully!)

Fat percentage - down 4%

That's so incredibly inefficient.

Over the same time (March 1 - Oct 30) frame I've:
Lost 9 lbs of overall weight
Lost 18 lbs fat
Gained 9 lbs muscle
Lost 9% body fat

Bulking-Cutting-Bulking

Thats a blanket statement. It depends on each person's goals.

While recomp is very slow, it is effective. Not everyone has the desire to progress towards bodybuilder status.