How to recomp??

smille01

So I've learned a lot since joining MFP. I know that you cannot build new muscle unless you are in a caloric surplus, so my question is, how do you 'reshape' your body without having to purposely gain weight? Is it possible? I've lost 50 pounds since having my son and I don't want to gain some back to get the body I want. My biggest complaint is my butt- I lost the weight pretty quickly and its kind of flat and saggy now. I'd like a round butt again...is that possible while eating at a caloric deficit? People have recommended squats, but is that pointless when I'm not eating a surplus to gain more muscle?

smille01

Bump?

vismal

Recomping is painfully slow and requires absolute compliance as far diets go. Even if you can properly execute one, the results will be far less then if you do traditional bulk and cut cycling. Most people end up just spinning their wheels on a recomp. Why not do a lean bulk where you gain about 6 lbs total over the course of 6 months, followed by a 1 to 2 month cut where you lose any fat you added on the bulk? In the long run, doing cycles like that will yield much quicker and noticeable results.

jmangini

You absolutely can build muscle. You might not compete in the mr Olympia but you can gain muscle. Consider that Sylvester Stallone cut crazy calories when he got lean and muscular for Rocky 3. You are looking to firm up not add slabs of muscle. Do the squats. Nothing will give you a butt faster.

raindawg

I have a similar goal OP but in the opposite direction. I'm trying to gain a leaner look, less bf% but without losing weight. After feedback from a lot of knowledgeable folks on MFP I'm trying what vismal just suggested, a lean bulk process to be followed by a cut. I'm only one week into it. The hardest part so far is eating the extra calories. I'm pretty full right now as of 7:45pm but still have about 500 calories to consume.

Good Luck!

vismal

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

jmangini

If it is impossible to build muscle while eating fewer calories then a lot of people are wasting their money on P90 X , Insanity and gym memberships lol. In fact if you want to lose weight and look good you have to do those two things. Of course I'm assuming you have weight to lose. If you are super skinny, then cutting calories would be counterproductive.

jmangini

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

raindawg

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

actually if you check out his profile he was over 300 lbs at one point.

jmangini

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

actually if you check out his profile he was over 300 lbs at one point.

We'll then obviously he did it then lol.

vismal

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

sorry bud, former 300 lber here. You didn't gain tons of muscle while losing tons of weight, that just doesn't happen naturally. You probably had muscle built, lost the fat around it and looked more muscular. The obese can make small gains in mass when they first start lifting but not anything anyone would consider "tons of muscle". The average completely untrained male can only gain about 26 lbs of mass naturally in 1 year, and that is in a surplus. Women can only hope for about half as much again if they are in a surplus.

ssaraj43

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

Maybe losing 30 pounds uncovered your muscles? Anyway read this.......http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1276219-i-went-from-morbidly-obese-to-6-pack-abs-ask-me-anything

vismal

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

actually if you check out his profile he was over 300 lbs at one point.

We'll then obviously he did it then lol.

no I didn't. I lost the fat first then did exactly as I advised the OP, bulk slowly followed by a short fat loss phase. I've been doing that ever since my initial weight loss.

jmangini

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

sorry bud, former 300 lber here. You didn't gain tons of muscle while losing tons of weight, that just doesn't happen naturally. You probably had muscle built, lost the fat around it and looked more muscular. The obese can make small gains in mass when they first start lifting but not anything anyone would consider "tons of muscle". The average completely untrained male can only gain about 26 lbs of mass naturally in 1 year, and that is in a surplus. Women can only hope for about half as much again if they are in a surplus.

Ok man. No need arguing about it. . So you lost all your weight before you started weight training? That probably is the better way to go. Losing weight is way easier when you don't work out because you don't get so hungry all the time.

vismal

She won't gain muscle in a deficit naturally. Stallone was admittedly on boatloads of anabolic. Naturals simply don't gain appreciatable amounts of muscle while in a deficit, especially not females. Muscle building is an extremely time consuming process even while in a surplus.

All I can say is I lost 30 pounds and built a lot of muscle from scratch at 46 absolutely on a calorie deficit and naturally. If you are overweight why would you have to eat more calories in order to lose weight and get lean muscle? You look good my man but I'll bet you were always thin and what they call a hard gainer. I am quite the opposite. Training builds muscle and diet shows it.

sorry bud, former 300 lber here. You didn't gain tons of muscle while losing tons of weight, that just doesn't happen naturally. You probably had muscle built, lost the fat around it and looked more muscular. The obese can make small gains in mass when they first start lifting but not anything anyone would consider "tons of muscle". The average completely untrained male can only gain about 26 lbs of mass naturally in 1 year, and that is in a surplus. Women can only hope for about half as much again if they are in a surplus.

Ok man. No need arguing about it. . So you lost all your weight before you started weight training? That probably is the better way to go. Losing weight is way easier when you don't work out because you don't get so hungry all the time.

Again, no. I did weight training through the majority of my loss. I would never advise someone not to lift while losing weight. Lifting ensures you maintain lean mass while you lose weight. You won't gain muscle but you prevent muscle from being broken down.

jmangini

I'll post some articles for you on the subject. Here"s one

http://angrytrainerfitness.com/2011/12/fitness-fact-or-fiction-can-you-gain-muscle-and-lose-fat-at-the-same-time/

jmangini

http://www.muscleforlife.com/build-muscle-lose-fat/

jmangini

http://www.fitocracy.com/knowledge/body-recomp-evolved-burn-fat-and-build-muscle-at-the-same-time/

jmangini

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hugo45.htm

vismal

I'll post some articles for you on the subject. Here"s one

http://angrytrainerfitness.com/2011/12/fitness-fact-or-fiction-can-you-gain-muscle-and-lose-fat-at-the-same-time/

I read the first article and stopped at the line "I don't think you need to be in a caloric deficit to lose fat." I'm not interested in reading the rest. Those are just opinions of authors, not scientific evidence. As I stated in my original post, it's possible to recomp. It's extremely slow. Most people screw it up. Those who succeed would have almost certainly gained more muscle and lost more fat through traditional bulk cut cycling.

prattiger65

This should be fun