what if I eat at maintenance and lift heavy?

ixap
ixap Posts: 675 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm getting really close to my fat loss goal. The next thing I want to do is maybe add a little muscle, definitely gain a lot of strength.

I know that I won't gain much muscle while eating at a deficit.
What will happen when I start eating at maintenance? Or just a little over? 100-200 extra?

The bulk/cut cycles I see the bodybuilders do are really unappealing to me. I would love to just slowly gain muscle without the cycling, but does this work?

I have gained a ton of strength over the past 2 years since I started lifting, mostly while eating at a deficit, but from what I understand these gains will peter out soon until I start eating more?

Replies

  • jjefferies7
    jjefferies7 Posts: 120 Member
    you don't need to do what bodybuilders do. 100-200 is fine. Aim for a 1-2lb gain each month since training is not a new stimulus to you. Most likely much more than that will just be fat you will have to lose later.

    EDIT: You will have to cut eventually anyway but at least most of your gain will be muscle with little fat
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,632 Member
    If you just eat at your maintenance level then you will just maintain your weight & body composition, no fat loss nor muscle gain. However you will still getting stronger since weight lifting makes our bones denser.

    100-200 calorie surplus is fine for muscle gain.
  • ixap
    ixap Posts: 675 Member
    thanks so much guys!
    A follow-up question, how hard has it been for anyone who's done this to calibrate it that finely?

    I am supposedly eating at a level to lose .5 pound per week, -250 calories per day, but I'm losing 1 pound per week right now, so I guess I'm not super accurate in my food measurements (although I really do try to be pretty careful) or my metabolism is higher than I thought.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,340 Member
    thanks so much guys!
    A follow-up question, how hard has it been for anyone who's done this to calibrate it that finely?
    When bulking, your best friends will be a skinfold caliper, a tape measure and the mirror/photos. A scale can only tell you that you're gaining weight - measuring your bodyfat percentage with calipers, taking tape measurements and looking in the mirror (or at photos, since you don't notice day-to-day changes as much in the mirror) will tell the story as to what proportion of the gains are muscle and fat (it's pretty much inevitable that you're going to put on some fat when you bulk). Don't trust one of those scales that supposedly measures bodyfat or the electronic BIA devices you grab - they're grossly inaccurate.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,932 Member
    thanks so much guys!
    A follow-up question, how hard has it been for anyone who's done this to calibrate it that finely?

    I am supposedly eating at a level to lose .5 pound per week, -250 calories per day, but I'm losing 1 pound per week right now, so I guess I'm not super accurate in my food measurements (although I really do try to be pretty careful) or my metabolism is higher than I thought.

    It's likely you are inaccurate on your intake. That's what the % probability is. A metabolic difference would likely not account for so high a variance. I am doing just what you are asking about right now and it's coming along nicely. Eating about 200 to 500 over TDEE and working out heavy. I don't really calibrate it that finely. I just accept the fact that I might gain a littel fat with the muscle and will cut later anyway.
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