Body recomp question

macchiatto

I had posted this in the thread on building muscle/losing fat at the same time but decided to make my own thread so my question doesn't get buried:

OK, I've read the article and read through this thread and am still a little confused. Because to me it sounds like the article is saying that a body recomp is basically impossible unless you are an overfat beginner and/or someone who previously lifted and is just getting back to it. But from other threads in this group, I've gotten the impression that it's possible for other people; it's just slow going compared to cut/bulk cycles. Is that correct?

I think a recomp makes the most sense for me right now since I really don't want to lose more than 3-5 more pounds but would love to gain a little muscle (I'm already at a relatively low weight but also low LBM). But I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about that. Eat at maintenance and lift heavy 3-4x/wk? (I'd also like to throw in HIIT and running 2x/wk each). Will I make newb gains even if I'm not "overfat" to start with? What guidelines should I follow to recomp? (My apologies if that's spelled out somewhere in this group; I haven't found it.) I had gotten into lifting a few months ago (experimenting with some different approaches), then didn't do it for about 2 months b/c I was dealing with some health issues and focused my limited energy on training for my first 10K. Now that the race is behind me, I plan to start Starting Strength or NROLFW.

Rayman79

There are a few articles etc out there that address how to recomp, but from what I've seen most of them revolve around calorie cycling. As an example, eat at (or just below) maintenance on your non-training days, then at a small surplus on training days. Keep Fat and Protein consistent, but just add more carbs pre & post training.

For the most part, assuming a caloric surplus or deficit, I think meal timing is not terribly relevant, but the type and timing of foods would seem to be most important when trying to recomp. Because you're essentially at maintenance cals, the manipulation of meal timing takes on a little more importance.

There are other things people would suggest, such as intermittent fasting to get most of your energy around your training times (and for supposed hormonal benefits) but this is still up for debate. All of this stuff MAY make a difference, but there is nothing definitive and I think a certain amount of self-experimentation required.

Having rambled all of that, I think if you are new to lifting, you are probably best served eating at maintenance and lifting regularly. My personal preference is 3 x full body, but something like an upper/lower or push/pull split 4 x week would also work well.

heybales

It's slow, very slow.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/778012-potential-muscle-gain-lifting-and-metabolism-improvement

3.5 lbs in 16 weeks, shift of FM to LBM. Sadly they didn't measure muscle mass specifically, though must have been some with weight increases.

That's why more efficient just to bulk up say 5 lbs, then cut down 3.

In your case, getting the metabolism fired up, cut down the few more you need to go too.

Edit to agree to above comments on calorie placement.
View your day as 24 hrs post workout, and 24 hr pre workout. Shove most of the calories of the real 24 hr day in to that 24 hrs post workout window. About the best you can do without getting in to carb cycling and such.

matuskap

I have been recomping slowly for about a year. I am lifting for years(also prior to recomp) already and what i got was:
From no visible abdominal muscles and no vasculatiry (some minor may have been visible in case of a training pump and decent light )-> abs visible without flexing(not miraculously ripped ofc, just regular definition for a natural guy) and some larger vains became visible all they way from pecs through delt up to lower parts of arm. I can get bloated in no time via diet and loose both temporarily for couple of hours but who cannot Im talking about regular maintenance look. Result was +2.5kg in that year for overall weight. Considering i also lost some fat weight and im not beginner dealing with miracle weight changes i think it is pretty decent.

I worked IT desk job the whole time.
I was doing cardio (5-15km distance) about 4 time a week with avg. speed between 11- 13 km/h. Also attended couple of races 9k, 10k. I was strength training ~5 times a week (chest+tris // back+bi // legs+abdominal heavy days, and then 2 days mobility-oriented training with dumbbell and all kinds of angles involved ).

I kept close to maintenance calories, taking into consideration the training i did that day.

The advantage i see in it and the reason why im not going back to bulk/cut is that im never hungry and always full of energy. Also the cutting diet, IF you want to get supper ripped is very short because you dont have much to shake off in the first place.
In conclusion, its not professional bodybuilding friendly but its VEEEEERY non-pro-bb-life friendly and closest to "cut year round" you can get. Takes time to get there but its very enjoyable then .

sijomial

I'm a recomper too. There's a couple more categories of people that can successfully recomp at a decent rate, as well as the begineer or returning to training there's also drug users and so-called "genetic freaks". The last one is interesting as it underlines that results are not the same for everyone.
For me recomp makes sense as my progress would be slow whatever route I took (too old with too many training years and too many old injuries, also fairly close to lifetime bests). I simply don't believe I have the capacity to get any great benefit from extra calories in a bulk.
BTW - I also eat in an uneven pattern whle maintaining my weight with one very low calorie day a week balanced by a small surplus on the other six days. As I have a high weekly calorie burn (I'm a cyclist) hitting my macros within my calorie allowance isn't a problem.

Really overall I'm happy where I am now, enjoying my sport and my training and happy to see slow but steady progress over an extended period of time.

As for guidelines for recomp it's simple, eat the right number of calories to maintain weight, hit sensible macro targets and train well. My only concern with your training plan is rest/recovery time seems very limited or missing.

macchiatto

Thank you so much for the responses; very helpful.

Losing the last little bit of weight has been extremely slow going, partly because I'm really "over" dieting. I'm also trying to be extra careful to preserve LBM since mine is low to begin with, so I've been taking it slow anyway, and then I lose motivation for a bit and bounce back up a couple of pounds before getting back on track. I think at this point I either need to take a diet break and then finish cutting and then do a slow bulk, or do a recomp and enjoy eating at/near maintenance and focus on strength and fitness goals.

I'm at an awkward spot where, because I carry a very disproportionate amount of fat in my midsection (thanks to PCOS), I'm already getting too thin in some places even though I'd really like to lose another 4-5 lbs of fat, so a recomp seems like it might be my best bet. From my reading, it sounds like the HIIT and weight lifting may be good for the belly fat, too.

sijomial, good point about recovery time. My idea is that I would probably double up on at least some of my lifting days (i.e. lift and then do 20 mins of HIIT or a run on gym days) so I would have 1-2 rest days per week.

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

ShellyBell999

^^Me too

Sarauk2sf

Recomping can be preferable (and more effective) to a bulk/cut cycle in certain circumstances. While it is very individual, recomping can be preferable to people who cannot gain much muscle mass quickly (relatively), such as women, experienced lifters, etc.. It can also be preferable for personal preference reasons - such as not wanting to bulk or cut. In addition, some people's gym performance can be significantly effected while at a deficit, and so having to cut me not be the best route.

For women, generally, I would either recommend a lean (slow) bulk, or just eating at maintenance and recomping.

macchiatto

OK, thanks! I've recently started eating at maintenance (loving it ) and I ended up ordering NROLFW, which should be here on Tuesday. Looking forward to diving into it!

Megmo127

OK, thanks! I've recently started eating at maintenance (loving it ) and I ended up ordering NROLFW, which should be here on Tuesday. Looking forward to diving into it!

Looking forward to your results!

Sarauk2sf

OK, thanks! I've recently started eating at maintenance (loving it ) and I ended up ordering NROLFW, which should be here on Tuesday. Looking forward to diving into it!

Nice! I am going to lock the thread so we can track active ones, but please PM one of us, including a link to this thread, if you have any further questions or want to update us as to how you are doing, and we will unlock it.