12 week bulk results

likitisplit

My gym does a 12 week long contest that includes a hydrostatic body composition analysis at the beginning and the end.

I just got my results: A perfect recomp. 2.5 pounds of muscle gained. 2.5 pounds of fat lost.

I maintain at 2050 calories + exercise.

I bulked for the last 12 weeks at 2350 + exercise. I followed the Convict Conditioning progressive calisthenics program and continued running (about 15 miles/week).

My waist measurement is around 35 inches and I'm currently at 26% body fat.

My question is: are these results possible or do they indicate a mis-measurement? They make absolutely no sense to me at all.

Thanks for your insight!!!

deksgrl

In, because I'm interested to hear any answers/discussion.

NRBreit

Just to clarify, if you maintain on 2050 cals and you ate 2350 for 12 weeks, how did you end up weighing the same at the end of 12 weeks?

Is it possible to recomp 2.5 pounds and stay at the same weight? IMO, I'd say it's perfectly possible, especially if you are new to weight training or back from a break. But it's also within the margin of error for most forms of body composition analysis. One of the best ways to double check progress is a simple tape measure around the waist...if the measurement gets smaller, then you got leaner.

likitisplit

Maybe I actually do need to weigh my food?

Honestly, I don't know how I maintained. My weight spikes and falls pretty dramatically. But, when I look back at my records, I had a couple of points where I gained a few pounds, but my weight kept drifting back to the 175 number even though I was eating to the point of feeling sick about food.

I can see a visible difference in muscle, especially through my obliques, but I may have gained about an inch around my waist (that depends on bloating, etc, too)

So, it would be safe to say that there was no real change?

NRBreit

It's tough to say because there are so many variables (water weight, BF test margin of error, etc.). My waist measurement can vary the couple of inches during the same day. But if the mirror shows more muscle than you're headed in the right direction. Weighing your food will definitely help dial in your calories - seems like you might be underestimating a bit.

cricket_77

It sounds like this was more of a recomp rather than a bulk. You gained some muscle and lost some fat at the same time. Did you take measurements beforehand? If so, you might weigh the same, but your measurements would likely be smaller.

MyChocolateDiet

Maybe I actually do need to weigh my food?

likitisplit

It sounds like this was more of a recomp rather than a bulk. You gained some muscle and lost some fat at the same time. Did you take measurements beforehand? If so, you might weigh the same, but your measurements would likely be smaller.

Yeah, that's what they said happened. I'm not sure if a recomp is really physically possible, let alone likely.

I've been pretty good at losing at a steady pace and maintaining without being totally stringent about food measurement, and I can tell you that I was eating MORE, even if I can't say exactly how much more...which is why I never bothered getting new batteries for my food scale.

cricket_77

If you were not weighing your food, you could have been eating above maintenance some days and below other days which could easily result in a recomp. Be happy!! If you did bulk, you would have put on fat along with the muscle. You actually lost fat AND put on muscle at the same time. Good job!!

JoRocka

I'm confused.. did I do a bad job reading here??

if you aren't weighing food how you knew if you were over or under or maintaining???

Holly_Roman_Empire

Curious as to others' opinions, too.

likitisplit

I'm confused.. did I do a bad job reading here??

if you aren't weighing food how you knew if you were over or under or maintaining???

Because of how my body responded to what I was doing. The first time I did the hydrostatic weigh in, it estimated my BMR to be around 1750. That works out to about 2012 calories for maintenance.

I lose about 1/2 a pound a week at 1850 - which I did for several months - and maintain at 2050 - which I did for 6 months.

Most of my lunches come from our Sodexo cafeteria, so I use their MFP entries. For things like steak or chicken, I'll use package weight. For something like spaghetti noodles, I use cups. I've measured most of my serving utensils, so (for example) I know my sauce ladle holds half a cup. I've added most of my recipes to my recipe dbase.

I don't wear a fitbit or anything else either, so I estimate 100 calories/mile walking or running and use MFP's weight training and stretching entries for everything else. It's all an estimation and it was working to a T in practice, so I didn't sweat it.

I can definitely say that I was eating *more* during the time I was trying to bulk than I was during the time I was trying to maintain. I absolutely should have gained.

KseRz

IN for recomping without tracking macro intake.

likitisplit

IN for recomping without tracking macro intake.

Generally 20% protein and I tend to split the rest between fat and carbs.

KseRz

IN for recomping without tracking macro intake.

Generally 20% protein and I tend to split the rest between fat and carbs.

20% of your surplus was protein and the other 80% was carbs & fat?

I dunno, if that were me, I would have gained 2.5lbs of fat and lost 2.5lbs of lean mass.

Congrats!


ETA: Assuming none of my carbs were green bananas and boiled potatoes

DavPul

I'm confused.. did I do a bad job reading here??

if you aren't weighing food how you knew if you were over or under or maintaining???

Because of how my body responded to what I was doing. The first time I did the hydrostatic weigh in, it estimated my BMR to be around 1750. That works out to about 2012 calories for maintenance.

I lose about 1/2 a pound a week at 1850 - which I did for several months - and maintain at 2050 - which I did for 6 months.

Most of my lunches come from our Sodexo cafeteria, so I use their MFP entries. For things like steak or chicken, I'll use package weight. For something like spaghetti noodles, I use cups. I've measured most of my serving utensils, so (for example) I know my sauce ladle holds half a cup. I've added most of my recipes to my recipe dbase.

I don't wear a fitbit or anything else either, so I estimate 100 calories/mile walking or running and use MFP's weight training and stretching entries for everything else. It's all an estimation and it was working to a T in practice, so I didn't sweat it.

I can definitely say that I was eating *more* during the time I was trying to bulk than I was during the time I was trying to maintain. I absolutely should have gained.

Just a couple of notes:

You can't really figure out your maintenance calorie requirements from a hydrostatic test. Or any body fat testing method. Because the amount required to maintain depends almost entirely on what you do all day/week/month. I mean, they can come up with a theory on how much you'd need if you were in a coma, but outside of that real world results will take precedent. And the variance can be huge. For me there can be a 1000 calorie difference between an active work day or a lay around and watch football day. That's *before* any exercise gets figured in.

So to use your bf% results to say that you must have eaten X number of calories for the last several months is going to be a highly inaccurate way to get that information. That's why you're going to get some blowback when you say that you haven't tracked food intake but you must have been eating 2050 calories or whatever. You just can't know that based on the information given.

likitisplit

I'm confused.. did I do a bad job reading here??

if you aren't weighing food how you knew if you were over or under or maintaining???

Because of how my body responded to what I was doing. The first time I did the hydrostatic weigh in, it estimated my BMR to be around 1750. That works out to about 2012 calories for maintenance.

I lose about 1/2 a pound a week at 1850 - which I did for several months - and maintain at 2050 - which I did for 6 months.

Most of my lunches come from our Sodexo cafeteria, so I use their MFP entries. For things like steak or chicken, I'll use package weight. For something like spaghetti noodles, I use cups. I've measured most of my serving utensils, so (for example) I know my sauce ladle holds half a cup. I've added most of my recipes to my recipe dbase.

I don't wear a fitbit or anything else either, so I estimate 100 calories/mile walking or running and use MFP's weight training and stretching entries for everything else. It's all an estimation and it was working to a T in practice, so I didn't sweat it.

I can definitely say that I was eating *more* during the time I was trying to bulk than I was during the time I was trying to maintain. I absolutely should have gained.

Just a couple of notes:

You can't really figure out your maintenance calorie requirements from a hydrostatic test. Or any body fat testing method. Because the amount required to maintain depends almost entirely on what you do all day/week/month. I mean, they can come up with a theory on how much you'd need if you were in a coma, but outside of that real world results will take precedent. And the variance can be huge. For me there can be a 1000 calorie difference between an active work day or a lay around and watch football day. That's *before* any exercise gets figured in.

So to use your bf% results to say that you must have eaten X number of calories for the last several months is going to be a highly inaccurate way to get that information. That's why you're going to get some blowback when you say that you haven't tracked food intake but you must have been eating 2050 calories or whatever. You just can't know that based on the information given.

Yeah, I know. But I'm not really fussed about the calories I ate, I was just including that for reference.

What I really want to know is whether whatever I did could result in a recomp or whether I should just chalk this up to measurement error.

I mean, 2.5 pounds of muscle seems like a lot for a 42-year-old woman to put on in three month's time. And to magically pull-off a perfect recomp?

DavPul

The results were within the margin for error so who knows? If you took the same test the very next day you'd get a slightly different number. I think the main things here aren't really about the results of the test at all.

Are you satisfied with where you are? If yes, excellent. If not, keep going. If really unhappy, maybe try something different. The other thing is that without having a good handle on your intake, it's hard to repeat or manipulate the results. Want to gain a bit more muscle, how do you adjust to eat more? Want to shed more fat, how do you adjust your intake down the correct amount.

I mean, you've pretty much proven that under normal conditions you eat right around maintenance. But now if you want to adjust it's a bit of a guessing game

likitisplit

The results were within the margin for error so who knows? If you took the same test the very next day you'd get a slightly different number. I think the main things here aren't really about the results of the test at all.

Are you satisfied with where you are? If yes, excellent. If not, keep going. If really unhappy, maybe try something different. The other thing is that without having a good handle on your intake, it's hard to repeat or manipulate the results. Want to gain a bit more muscle, how do you adjust to eat more? Want to shed more fat, how do you adjust your intake down the correct amount.

I mean, you've pretty much proven that under normal conditions you eat right around maintenance. But now if you want to adjust it's a bit of a guessing game

I've also lost body fat at a fairly consistent rate (if I can believe last year's test, which showed I gained muscle at a deficit).

likitisplit

The results were within the margin for error so who knows? If you took the same test the very next day you'd get a slightly different number. I think the main things here aren't really about the results of the test at all.

Are you satisfied with where you are? If yes, excellent. If not, keep going. If really unhappy, maybe try something different. The other thing is that without having a good handle on your intake, it's hard to repeat or manipulate the results. Want to gain a bit more muscle, how do you adjust to eat more? Want to shed more fat, how do you adjust your intake down the correct amount.

I mean, you've pretty much proven that under normal conditions you eat right around maintenance. But now if you want to adjust it's a bit of a guessing game

But yeah, that's what I thought. It's a bit of a wash.

I'd hate to do an actual bulk if a "recomp" was that hard, though.

I now know that I can eat more than I did at maintenance without gaining a lot of fat, so that's a plus. I think what I'm going to do is drop these extra few pounds and then try this again for longer. I'll have a chance to see what the longer term results are next February.

MagnumBurrito

Nice job. You ate in the zone. Definitely possible to recomp. The nerd fitness creator did a recomp during his plp workouts.