How to recomp??
Replies
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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.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.
all of this, seriously.
You cannot build something out of nothing. You need energy (caloric surplus) to build new muscle. What you experienced was newbie gains combined with lowered body fat, which showed the muscle that you already had, and the small amount that you added via starting a heavy lifting program ….0 -
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.
His body shape does look like he is naturally thin, doesn't it? I wonder if that's part of the reason why he was able to drop the weight so quickly and easily.
yes, we all just dropped the weight 'easily' with zero hard work …..lolz….why do people think it is so easy to get to a certain point? I go to 12% body fat and it was hard freaking work. Working out five to six times a week, strict adherence to diet, etc, etc..it was not easy, and it did not just magically start coming off …..shakes head...0 -
So you CAN build muscle or "recomp" while maintaining? It just takes longer than the traditional bulk/cut cycle, correct?
Is this the difference between lifting for power VS strength? Low rep vs high rep?
Lifting is rather confusing.
you can but it is a painfully slow process ….
You would be better cutting to a body fat % that you want to be at; hen slowly eating back to maintenance, and then do a bulk of say 200-500 caloric surplus for two months and then cut back down ….
that is my plan right now..I am going to cut to 10% body fat, slowly go back to maintenance, and then bulk over the winter….0 -
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.
His body shape does look like he is naturally thin, doesn't it? I wonder if that's part of the reason why he was able to drop the weight so quickly and easily.
Alot of people have quite normal frames when they loose all that fat. His body obviously shows he has done an incredible amount of work that went way way beyond just loosing his weight. He is the proof that hard work is the way to go and that accomplishment is very inspiring.0 -
Alot of people have quite normal frames when they loose all that fat.
Surprise, surprise. :laugh:
Your statement can't be said often enough.0 -
M&M's
SO TRUE EVERY WORD OF IT!!!!The thing I find hilarious about all of this is the number of people that think it is as easy to build muscle as it is to lose fat. Building muscle is one of the hardest things you will ever try to do with your body. If you are not doing everything absolutely right, a diet surplus, a training response focused on progressive overload, rest, etc. you are not going to build any appreciable muscle. So to think that one can just haphazardly do it while in a deficit and probably doing tons of cardio is just laughable!
If you think you built muscle while you were in a deficit, I hate to break it to you, all you did was uncover muscle that was already there. Yes if you were an untrained individual to begin with you might have gained a very minute amount of muscle to begin with but it wasn't as much as you think.
Now, to the OP. Yes, as some have already said, it IS possible to recomp. But it is so painfully slow, and everything MUST be in order at all times. You will be able to do traditional cut and bulk cycles far easier and quicker than any recomp.
I assure you that you did not recomp by accident. No one does. It's not easy to do. As the above quote reflects, building muscle is extremely time consuming and difficult process. You can lose 10 lbs of fat in a month and hope to build about 1 lb of muscle in the same time frame. An old bodybuilder saying is the quickest way to look like you gained 5 lbs of muscle is to lose 10 lbs of fat. Losing fat makes you look more muscular because you can actually see the muscles. People never come up to me during my bulks and say "hey you've but on some muscle". They all seem to do it as start getting lean in my cutting phase because the muscle I've built begins to show.I think I may have done body recomp to some degree accidentally. I have been trying to lose weight for 10 years or since my adult years...but I have never reached my goal, not even close. But for the past 2 years, I started lifting more seriously and took up on running and other intense workout programs. Now I am still not satisfied with my look, not even close but I noticed that my used-to-be thin top no longer thin but more muscular and my big thighs...they are still big, but less jiggling...over all my weight is still the same but I look more balanced.
That's what I was told...but it doesn't explain why my look has changed but weight remains the same...I might have lost fat but like you said it's not easy to build muscle...so I can't explain why my muscle shows more while I didn't lose much weight...
An M&M is chocolate covered by a candy shell. You peel off the candy shell, and you can see the chocolate. You didn't add more chocolate to it to make it visible, you just stripped away the outer layer. Same with the human body. Your muscle shows more because you stripped away the outer layer of fat. It's that simple.0 -
M&M's
SO TRUE EVERY WORD OF IT!!!!The thing I find hilarious about all of this is the number of people that think it is as easy to build muscle as it is to lose fat. Building muscle is one of the hardest things you will ever try to do with your body. If you are not doing everything absolutely right, a diet surplus, a training response focused on progressive overload, rest, etc. you are not going to build any appreciable muscle. So to think that one can just haphazardly do it while in a deficit and probably doing tons of cardio is just laughable!
If you think you built muscle while you were in a deficit, I hate to break it to you, all you did was uncover muscle that was already there. Yes if you were an untrained individual to begin with you might have gained a very minute amount of muscle to begin with but it wasn't as much as you think.
Now, to the OP. Yes, as some have already said, it IS possible to recomp. But it is so painfully slow, and everything MUST be in order at all times. You will be able to do traditional cut and bulk cycles far easier and quicker than any recomp.
I assure you that you did not recomp by accident. No one does. It's not easy to do. As the above quote reflects, building muscle is extremely time consuming and difficult process. You can lose 10 lbs of fat in a month and hope to build about 1 lb of muscle in the same time frame. An old bodybuilder saying is the quickest way to look like you gained 5 lbs of muscle is to lose 10 lbs of fat. Losing fat makes you look more muscular because you can actually see the muscles. People never come up to me during my bulks and say "hey you've but on some muscle". They all seem to do it as start getting lean in my cutting phase because the muscle I've built begins to show.I think I may have done body recomp to some degree accidentally. I have been trying to lose weight for 10 years or since my adult years...but I have never reached my goal, not even close. But for the past 2 years, I started lifting more seriously and took up on running and other intense workout programs. Now I am still not satisfied with my look, not even close but I noticed that my used-to-be thin top no longer thin but more muscular and my big thighs...they are still big, but less jiggling...over all my weight is still the same but I look more balanced.
That's what I was told...but it doesn't explain why my look has changed but weight remains the same...I might have lost fat but like you said it's not easy to build muscle...so I can't explain why my muscle shows more while I didn't lose much weight...
An M&M is chocolate covered by a candy shell. You peel off the candy shell, and you can see the chocolate. You didn't add more chocolate to it to make it visible, you just stripped away the outer layer. Same with the human body. Your muscle shows more because you stripped away the outer layer of fat. It's that simple.
I think I got that losing layer of fat thing..my question is my weight DIDN'T change...fat is type of mass and has its weight...if I lost fat, why didn't my body weight change? I know there's way to achieve that but I doubt I was that skillful and persistent with my diet/workout...I suspect my fat was shifted from bottom half to top...now I look more balanced instead of a huge pear shape...So is that type of body recomp?0 -
It is not easy but I do believe in recomp, my personal trainer has me doing this and so far it has worked. I went down from 191 to 177lbs and I have slowly been gaining weight because he has been increasing my calories slowly. I know it works because I have kept track of all my measurements and I have lost over 3 inches on my waist and I am getting leaner as I gain weight. It is a slow process but I like looking lean so it works for me. Just my 2 cents
P.S. I eat very clean btw, only 4 "cheat" meals in 13 weeks, and those meals had to meat my macros
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same experience no weight loss to speak of and even my measurements are the same but i look leaner and "toned" since ive apparently not gained muscle.
M&M's
SO TRUE EVERY WORD OF IT!!!!The thing I find hilarious about all of this is the number of people that think it is as easy to build muscle as it is to lose fat. Building muscle is one of the hardest things you will ever try to do with your body. If you are not doing everything absolutely right, a diet surplus, a training response focused on progressive overload, rest, etc. you are not going to build any appreciable muscle. So to think that one can just haphazardly do it while in a deficit and probably doing tons of cardio is just laughable!
If you think you built muscle while you were in a deficit, I hate to break it to you, all you did was uncover muscle that was already there. Yes if you were an untrained individual to begin with you might have gained a very minute amount of muscle to begin with but it wasn't as much as you think.
Now, to the OP. Yes, as some have already said, it IS possible to recomp. But it is so painfully slow, and everything MUST be in order at all times. You will be able to do traditional cut and bulk cycles far easier and quicker than any recomp.
I assure you that you did not recomp by accident. No one does. It's not easy to do. As the above quote reflects, building muscle is extremely time consuming and difficult process. You can lose 10 lbs of fat in a month and hope to build about 1 lb of tmuscle in the same time frame. An old bodybuilder saying is the quickest way to look like you gained 5 lbs of muscle is to lose 10 lbs of fat. Losing fat makes you look more muscular because you can actually see the muscles. People never come up to me during my bulks and say "hey you've but on some muscle". They all seem to do it as start getting lean in my cutting phase because the muscle I've built begins to show.I think I may have done body recomp to some degree accidentally. I have been trying to lose weight for 10 years or since my adult years...but I have never reached my goal, not even close. But for the past 2 years, I started lifting more seriously and took up on running and other intense workout programs. Now I am still not satisfied with my look, not even close but I noticed that my used-to-be thin top no longer thin but more muscular and my big thighs...they are still big, but less jiggling...over all my weight is still the same but I look more balanced.
[/quote
That's what I was told...but it doesn't explain why my look has changed but weight remains the same...I might have lost fat but like you said it's not easy to build muscle...so I can't explain why my muscle shows more while I didn't lose much weight...
An M&M is chocolate covered by a candy shell. You peel off the candy shell, and you can see the chocolate. You didn't add more chocolate to it to make it visible, you just stripped away the outer layer. Same with the human body. Your muscle shows more because you stripped away the outer layer of fat. It's that simple.
I think I got that losing layer of fat thing..my question is my weight DIDN'T change...fat is type of mass and has its weight...if I lost fat, why didn't my body weight change? I know there's way to achieve that but I doubt I was that skillful and persistent with my diet/workout...I suspect my fat was shifted from bottom half to top...now I look more balanced instead of a huge pear shape...So is that type of body recomp?0 -
it is all diet to doing recomposition.0
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This is a topic that has confused me for a long time. I just recently started weight training (as in the last four months). I need to lose more weight but I also want to build muscle. I keep hearing that I have to up my calories to build muscle but I don't want to do that because I still want to lose weight.
Do I have to give up one for the other?0 -
Yes, gaining muscle and losing fat are competing goals. The best thing anyone seeking to do both can do is to lose fat until they are happy with the amount of fat they carry, then switch to concentrating on muscle building. You should lift the entire time regardless of your goals. This is the absolute most efficient way to accomplish both goals.This is a topic that has confused me for a long time. I just recently started weight training (as in the last four months). I need to lose more weight but I also want to build muscle. I keep hearing that I have to up my calories to build muscle but I don't want to do that because I still want to lose weight.
Do I have to give up one for the other?0 -
I have definitely had my fair share of battles so call it with vismal in the past. For me people to say that already do have muscle build. I do not know exact lean body mass %. It is something I want to find out. Maybe in a way I am just losing weight and it looks like I am gaining more muscles. Only way to find for sure it to have now lean body mass test done at 228. Then have another at my weight goal and compare results.0
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Under ideal conditions this would work. You would need to be dexascaned throughout your progress and compare results. Unfortunately dexascans are expensive and hard to even find a place that does them. Conventional body fat testing methods have huge margins of error. People put way to much faith into what calipers or impedance scales tell them. This is part of why I think so much confusion exists on this issue. People use an impedance scale at the gym and it tells them they gained lean mass and lost fat when in reality they simply have a different level of hydration then the last time they are scanned.I have definitely had my fair share of battles so call it with vismal in the past. For me people to say that already do have muscle build. I do not know exact lean body mass %. It is something I want to find out. Maybe in a way I am just losing weight and it looks like I am gaining more muscles. Only way to find for sure it to have now lean body mass test done at 228. Then have another at my weight goal and compare results.0 -
Under ideal conditions this would work. You would need to be dexascaned throughout your progress and compare results. Unfortunately dexascans are expensive and hard to even find a place that does them. Conventional body fat testing methods have huge margins of error. People put way to much faith into what calipers or impedance scales tell them. This is part of why I think so much confusion exists on this issue. People use an impedance scale at the gym and it tells them they gained lean mass and lost fat when in reality they simply have a different level of hydration then the last time they are scanned.I have definitely had my fair share of battles so call it with vismal in the past. For me people to say that already do have muscle build. I do not know exact lean body mass %. It is something I want to find out. Maybe in a way I am just losing weight and it looks like I am gaining more muscles. Only way to find for sure it to have now lean body mass test done at 228. Then have another at my weight goal and compare results.
Correct weight fluctuate daily. A friend and I did the bod pod like 3 weeks ago. We got our body fat%. His impedance scale had very close result to the bod pod. I still have a reserve bod pod use for the future which will definitely be used in 4-5 months depending on my weight scale value which does not tell you ****. I do plan to buy a impedance scale different one to compare results with my friend. YES there is margin for error but by how much 1% 5% 10%.
Back to OP though, Squats will bring your butt to a rounder look.0 -
I would put bod pod ahead of calipers and begins dexascan. It still has its accuracy issues in relation to hydration. Impedance in my opinion is worthless. I can lose 5 % body fat over the course of a workout.
Under ideal conditions this would work. You would need to be dexascaned throughout your progress and compare results. Unfortunately dexascans are expensive and hard to even find a place that does them. Conventional body fat testing methods have huge margins of error. People put way to much faith into what calipers or impedance scales tell them. This is part of why I think so much confusion exists on this issue. People use an impedance scale at the gym and it tells them they gained lean mass and lost fat when in reality they simply have a different level of hydration then the last time they are scanned.I have definitely had my fair share of battles so call it with vismal in the past. For me people to say that already do have muscle build. I do not know exact lean body mass %. It is something I want to find out. Maybe in a way I am just losing weight and it looks like I am gaining more muscles. Only way to find for sure it to have now lean body mass test done at 228. Then have another at my weight goal and compare results.
Correct weight fluctuate daily. A friend and I did the bod pod like 3 weeks ago. We got our body fat%. His impedance scale had very close result to the bod pod. I still have a reserve bod pod use for the future which will definitely be used in 4-5 months depending on my weight scale value which does not tell you ****. I do plan to buy a impedance scale different one to compare results with my friend. YES there is margin for error but by how much 1% 5% 10%.
Back to OP though, Squats will bring your butt to a rounder look.0 -
I would put bod pod ahead of calipers and begins dexascan. It still has its accuracy issues in relation to hydration. Impedance in my opinion is worthless. I can lose 5 % body fat over the course of a workout.
Under ideal conditions this would work. You would need to be dexascaned throughout your progress and compare results. Unfortunately dexascans are expensive and hard to even find a place that does them. Conventional body fat testing methods have huge margins of error. People put way to much faith into what calipers or impedance scales tell them. This is part of why I think so much confusion exists on this issue. People use an impedance scale at the gym and it tells them they gained lean mass and lost fat when in reality they simply have a different level of hydration then the last time they are scanned.I have definitely had my fair share of battles so call it with vismal in the past. For me people to say that already do have muscle build. I do not know exact lean body mass %. It is something I want to find out. Maybe in a way I am just losing weight and it looks like I am gaining more muscles. Only way to find for sure it to have now lean body mass test done at 228. Then have another at my weight goal and compare results.
Correct weight fluctuate daily. A friend and I did the bod pod like 3 weeks ago. We got our body fat%. His impedance scale had very close result to the bod pod. I still have a reserve bod pod use for the future which will definitely be used in 4-5 months depending on my weight scale value which does not tell you ****. I do plan to buy a impedance scale different one to compare results with my friend. YES there is margin for error but by how much 1% 5% 10%.
Back to OP though, Squats will bring your butt to a rounder look.
Your correct. I never weight myself before and after because all that tells you is how much water you have lost. I weigh myself every Friday right after I wake up of course after using the bathroom wearing the same night attire I always wear.0 -
I'm not talking about weights. I'm talking about body fat results on an impedance device. They can change dramatically over the course of a day or week. They are so volatile in their results I put no faith whatsoever into their readings.0
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When I do my bod pod test, I am taking my scale with me to compare results.0
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it is all diet to doing recomposition.
As always.....quite helpful.
Not srs.
I lol'd.
I'm just pumped I could sort of understand his statement.0
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