Body Recomp Advice - for the Experienced Out There

millerll

Hi! I'd like some of you knowledgable MFPers out there to give me some guidance for a recomp. I've checked several sources (Lyle MacDonald, Tom Venuto, Scooby, Steve Troutman), and they're all a little different.

Here's my situation: I'm a 49-year-old female. I started weight loss in Jan 2010 at 170 lbs. I don't know my bodyfat, but I think it was around 28-30%. June 2010, I was tested in a Bod Pod and I was 142 lbs., with 27% BF and LBM of 103lbs. Sep 2010, I was tested again, and I was at 128 lbs., with 18.4% BF and a LBM of 105 lbs.

Today, I re-tested at 123 lbs., with 15.1% BF and a LBM of 105 lbs. So, I managed to get below 16% BF (my goal), while maintaing as much LBM as possible. I'm very happy with this. Here's my problem (actually two of them): I still have love handles. I'm naturally thick-waisted, so I know I'll never have an hour glass figure, but it still bugs me. I also have cellulite on my upper inner thighs and on my lower butt, like most women. I've been trying to lose it, but at 15% BF, I don't think I should cut much more as my upper body is getting awfully thin. Do you think I should just acccept this and move on?

Problem 2: I want to bulk. I'd like to add 3-5 pounds of muscle while minnimizing fat gain (of course). I know some fat gain is inevitable, and I can deal with that. I'm thinking a total gain of 7-10 lbs. should do it. Then follow that with another cut to get the fat back down to 15/16%. What do you recommend I set my daily calorie limit at for a gradual gain? I'm currently eating 1350 a day, with 1 g/lb. of protein, about 40 gms fat, and the rest carbs (mostly fruits and veggies with occasional brown rice or quinoa). This is based on Steve Troutman's excellent article. I think a gain of 1/2 lb per week should be adequate (of which maybe 1/4 lb will be muscle if I'm lucky).

My routine consists of mostly powerlifting-type lifts, with assistance work on machines and free weights. I lift pretty heavy 5 days a week. I do 20-30 minutes of moderate cardio 5 days a week for heart health.

Any suggestions would be greatly appeciated! I worked my butt off to get this lean, and I don't want to ruin it with a poorly-designed bulk. Thanks in advance for your help!

hottottie11

Bump..I'll like to see this answered

Lift_hard_eat_big

You're getting the categories a bit mixed up. Either you attemp a recomp or you go the more traditional route and bulk first, then shred down to your goal BF%.
I just came off a recomp and it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm not saying it's impossible but for me, the traditional bulk then shred is much easier. On a CLEAN bulk you can minimize fat gain then during your shred you can minimize muscle loss by lifting heavy, high protein diet and low calorie deficit or cycle calories.

millerll

Thanks! I didn't realize I had the terminology wrong. Yes, I do hope to do as clean a bulk as possible, but I'm just not sure where to set my numbers. I've never done one before, as I've always been trying to LOSE weight! This is all new to me! Some sources recommend about 2000 kcals/day, others more. That sounds like a lot to me, but I'm willing to give it the old college try! I've been in a calorie deficit for nearly two years, and I am SO ready to eat!

Sidesteal

Given your training experience I would suggest you bulk instead of attempting a recomp. As far as intake goes, you mentioned you were at 1350 -- what pace were you cutting at given that intake?

Acg67

how big of a deficit are you currently running? i'd reverse diet up to maintenance and then shoot for about +20% of TDEE for a clean bulk.

as for your stubborn areas, you could look into something like lyle's stubborn fat loss solution and try out some of those protocols

millerll

Hard to say - it's complicated. Since I started, I've been using MFP's guideline of 1200 cals/day, plus exercise cals. Then I learned that my HRM really isn't accurate for weightlifting cals, so I switched to Steve's plan about 2 months ago. My weight's been between 121 and 130 for the last year. Since I just switched to the 1350 cals/day without regard to exercise cals, I've been losing about a pound or so a week. But I'm hungry all the time and it sucks. But it works. I still have some BF, but like I said, I don't know if I should try to lose that. My arms are getting thin, but I've actually gotten stronger the last 6 months or so, based on the amount I can lift in PL. Hope that helps. Thanks!

Lift_hard_eat_big

To sidesteel and Acg67, what do you suggest for her macro ratios?

Sidesteal

To sidesteel and Acg67, what do you suggest for her macro ratios?

In the neighborhood of:

120 Pro min
45F min
X Carbs (as needed, as the above fluctuate)

However, given that she will eventually be in a surplus, I would expect Pro/F to exceed those rather easily.

I should add though: I set mins for P/F that don't change when I up calories. However, as I up calories I naturally end up overshooting both of those targets anyways.

Curious what you guys do.

millerll

That sounds reasonable. Lyle recommends eating at maintenance for 2 weeks, then bulking. I think my TDEE would be around 2000 on exercise days, and around 1750 on off days. That would give me about 2200 on lifting days and about 1900 on off days to bulk. I don't want to gain too fast, as tempting as that sounds! I think a bulk for about 3 months should be enough, depending on how fast I gain. I just want someone to sanity check this and tell me if I'm doing it right. Thanks for the help!

ETA: I plan to up protein to 120g/day whilst bulking.

Acg67

That sounds reasonable. Lyle recommends eating at maintenance for 2 weeks, then bulking. I think my TDEE would be around 2000 on exercise days, and around 1750 on off days. That would give me about 2200 on lifting days and about 1900 on off days to bulk. I don't want to gain too fast, as tempting as that sounds! I think a bulk for about 3 months should be enough, depending on how fast I gain. I just want someone to sanity check this and tell me if I'm doing it right. Thanks for the help!

ETA: I plan to up protein to 120g/day whilst bulking.

i agree with side on the macros.

i'd reverse diet up till you find your maintenance and stay there for a week or two then add about 20% to that amount of cals to bulk on, possibly a bit more on workout days and a little bit less on rest days. reverse dieting is a concept bodybuilders coming off competition prep use. basically you want to bump up your cals by a hundred to a few hundred every week or two till you cget back to maintenance. it allows your body to adjust to everything

Sidesteal

i'd reverse diet up till you find your maintenance and stay there for a week or two then add about 20% to that amount of cals to bulk on, possibly a bit more on workout days and a little bit less on rest days. reverse dieting is a concept bodybuilders coming off competition prep use. basically you want to bump up your cals by a hundred to a few hundred every week or two till you cget back to maintenance. it allows your body to adjust to everything

Not that I need to mention this, but I find it very funny that I just decided to start reverse dieting tonight, after about 10 weeks of deficit. Glad you posted this as this will be my first time doing this technique. I'm increasing 100-200/day (I have a window so to speak) but not putting a time limit on it-- going to see if I can keep hitting PR's and possibly burn off just a little more fat....

Sorry to semi-hijack-- just found it neat the reverse diet comes up in a thread a few minutes after

Acg67

i'd reverse diet up till you find your maintenance and stay there for a week or two then add about 20% to that amount of cals to bulk on, possibly a bit more on workout days and a little bit less on rest days. reverse dieting is a concept bodybuilders coming off competition prep use. basically you want to bump up your cals by a hundred to a few hundred every week or two till you cget back to maintenance. it allows your body to adjust to everything

Not that I need to mention this, but I find it very funny that I just decided to start reverse dieting tonight, after about 10 weeks of deficit. Glad you posted this as this will be my first time doing this technique. I'm increasing 100-200/day (I have a window so to speak) but not putting a time limit on it-- going to see if I can keep hitting PR's and possibly burn off just a little more fat....

Sorry to semi-hijack-- just found it neat the reverse diet comes up in a thread a few minutes after

i reverse dieted for about a month till i was around maintenance and i lose a little during that time period. stayed at maintenance for another week or so then upped cals

Lift_hard_eat_big

To sidesteel and Acg67, what do you suggest for her macro ratios?

In the neighborhood of:

120 Pro min
45F min
X Carbs (as needed, as the above fluctuate)

However, given that she will eventually be in a surplus, I would expect Pro/F to exceed those rather easily.

I should add though: I set mins for P/F that don't change when I up calories. However, as I up calories I naturally end up overshooting both of those targets anyways.

Curious what you guys do.

Good stuff, I aim for 150g Protein minimum myself, then the rest is touch and go, but when I'm on a cut, I cycle carbs.

Sidesteal

i reverse dieted for about a month till i was around maintenance and i lose a little during that time period. stayed at maintenance for another week or so then upped cals

Cool, good to know the duration. I was anticipating in the 3-4 week range.

millerll

This is great stuff! Thanks guys! I'm going to add an extra 100 cals daily, and up it by another 100 per day each week til I reach maintenance and hold for 2 weeks. Then bulk. This should be fun! It'll be nice to struggle to eat ENOUGH every day. I guess I'd better stock up on (more) chicken and eggs! :drinker:

Acg67

This is great stuff! Thanks guys! I'm going to add an extra 100 cals daily, and up it by another 100 per day each week til I reach maintenance and hold for 2 weeks. Then bulk. This should be fun! It'll be nice to struggle to eat ENOUGH every day. I guess I'd better stock up on (more) chicken and eggs! :drinker:

i ran a smallish deficit, so i upped by 150-200 for a week or two, watched my weight, bumped it up another 150-200 and watched my weight till i found my maintenance, so i raised it weekly vs daily

Ebbykins

You have gotten some really grade A advice in here already and I would take that and go with it. The only thing I want to mention is if you are thick waisted, once you start bulking, you will want to start doing a pretty insane back workout to bring out your V-taper to give you that "hour glass" figure. Highly recommend going nuts on the chins/pull ups, it made a huge difference for my physique. Cellulite is often times genetic and a curse, but sometimes, you can bring up the muscle from underneath and it actually reduces the appearance somewhat. So by doing a bulk and focusing on building the muscles within those areas, could very well solve that problem. If you want to friends me feel free, I love having fellow heavy lifting female recompers/bulkers to relate with.

Ebbykins

PS You rock, I looked at your pictures, your changes have been phenomenal, it's so exciting to see someone educate themselves o, apply it and make it happen for them, and you do not look 49! You look like you've reverse aged and are beautiful! Kudos lady, so excited to see your progress from here on, I can only imagine, your an inspiration.

ninerbuff

Hi! I'd like some of you knowledgable MFPers out there to give me some guidance for a recomp. I've checked several sources (Lyle MacDonald, Tom Venuto, Scooby, Steve Troutman), and they're all a little different.

Here's my situation: I'm a 49-year-old female. I started weight loss in Jan 2010 at 170 lbs. I don't know my bodyfat, but I think it was around 28-30%. June 2010, I was tested in a Bod Pod and I was 142 lbs., with 27% BF and LBM of 103lbs. Sep 2010, I was tested again, and I was at 128 lbs., with 18.4% BF and a LBM of 105 lbs.

Today, I re-tested at 123 lbs., with 15.1% BF and a LBM of 105 lbs. So, I managed to get below 16% BF (my goal), while maintaing as much LBM as possible. I'm very happy with this. Here's my problem (actually two of them): I still have love handles. I'm naturally thick-waisted, so I know I'll never have an hour glass figure, but it still bugs me. I also have cellulite on my upper inner thighs and on my lower butt, like most women. I've been trying to lose it, but at 15% BF, I don't think I should cut much more as my upper body is getting awfully thin. Do you think I should just acccept this and move on?

Problem 2: I want to bulk. I'd like to add 3-5 pounds of muscle while minnimizing fat gain (of course). I know some fat gain is inevitable, and I can deal with that. I'm thinking a total gain of 7-10 lbs. should do it. Then follow that with another cut to get the fat back down to 15/16%. What do you recommend I set my daily calorie limit at for a gradual gain? I'm currently eating 1350 a day, with 1 g/lb. of protein, about 40 gms fat, and the rest carbs (mostly fruits and veggies with occasional brown rice or quinoa). This is based on Steve Troutman's excellent article. I think a gain of 1/2 lb per week should be adequate (of which maybe 1/4 lb will be muscle if I'm lucky).

My routine consists of mostly powerlifting-type lifts, with assistance work on machines and free weights. I lift pretty heavy 5 days a week. I do 20-30 minutes of moderate cardio 5 days a week for heart health.

Any suggestions would be greatly appeciated! I worked my butt off to get this lean, and I don't want to ruin it with a poorly-designed bulk. Thanks in advance for your help!

Cellulite is hereditary because it's tissue. Not to much you can do about it, but I have heard Zerona laser has had some success. Love handles are also genetic since your body fat is already low. On everyone, there will usually be one place where fat NEVER seems to reduce in quantity compared to the rest of your body.
So if you do bulk and cut, you probably want to change your reps and sets to a more traditional bodybuilding type workout. Usually the consensus is 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, however I believe for legs you do 15-20 reps. Your macros and calorie surplus seemed fine from the above responses.

jenomaha

Bump, great info here