How to go about further recomposition?
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pandorakick
Posts: 901 Member
Last year I’ve lost 14 kg’s in weight and several dress sizes and I’m at the point that I really feel comfortable with my size again. The problem is that I still feel there is much room for improvement. I would really like the remaining wobbly bits to disappear and get somewhat more muscular. Especially my legs and behind could use some more muscle in my opinion. I don’t want to get any smaller though….
I could really use your input on how to approach further recomposition! Could you please give me some pointers? I don’t know whether you need the questionnaire for this, so to be on the safe side I already filled it in below:
• Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
I’m 34 years old, 1.65 m (5’5”), 56 kg (123.5 pounds) and about 24% bodyfat according to your estimate (Thanx again for that!)
• What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
One week ago I upped my net intake from 1800 to 1850 calories per day. This includes weightlifting, cardio calories are added on extra manually. This last week my gross intake was on average 1984 kcal’s.
• What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
Protein between 110 and 130 g, fats between 60 and 70 g, carbs between 170 and 200 g.
• Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
Yes.
• Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Yes.
• Do you take cheat days or days off?
No.
• How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
I’ve lost 12 kg’s in the period of August to December 2012, a neat 2 kg per month average. Then I slowly started to up my net calories with an extra 50-100 kcal’s per 2 weeks till I hit 1750. During that I lost another 2 kg’s in January and February, bringing the total on 14 kg lost. In March and until now I’ve been maintaining at 56 kg, even while upping my net kcal’s to 1800 and last week to 1850.
• Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity within the last couple of months?
In October to January I did Chalean Extreme. After that per March 1st I started my dumbbell only version of All Pro’s beginner lifting routine 3 times a week, 3 other days I did/do cardio; mainly hiit routines, elliptical and wii zumba for 30 to 50 minutes. One rest day per week. This Friday however I’m starting C25K for the 3 cardio days. I have a desk job and go to work by car.
• How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
I’m not stalled.
• Are you breastfeeding?
No.
• Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
Not that I’m aware of.
Thank you in advance for your reaction! :flowerforyou:
I could really use your input on how to approach further recomposition! Could you please give me some pointers? I don’t know whether you need the questionnaire for this, so to be on the safe side I already filled it in below:
• Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
I’m 34 years old, 1.65 m (5’5”), 56 kg (123.5 pounds) and about 24% bodyfat according to your estimate (Thanx again for that!)
• What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
One week ago I upped my net intake from 1800 to 1850 calories per day. This includes weightlifting, cardio calories are added on extra manually. This last week my gross intake was on average 1984 kcal’s.
• What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
Protein between 110 and 130 g, fats between 60 and 70 g, carbs between 170 and 200 g.
• Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
Yes.
• Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Yes.
• Do you take cheat days or days off?
No.
• How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
I’ve lost 12 kg’s in the period of August to December 2012, a neat 2 kg per month average. Then I slowly started to up my net calories with an extra 50-100 kcal’s per 2 weeks till I hit 1750. During that I lost another 2 kg’s in January and February, bringing the total on 14 kg lost. In March and until now I’ve been maintaining at 56 kg, even while upping my net kcal’s to 1800 and last week to 1850.
• Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity within the last couple of months?
In October to January I did Chalean Extreme. After that per March 1st I started my dumbbell only version of All Pro’s beginner lifting routine 3 times a week, 3 other days I did/do cardio; mainly hiit routines, elliptical and wii zumba for 30 to 50 minutes. One rest day per week. This Friday however I’m starting C25K for the 3 cardio days. I have a desk job and go to work by car.
• How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
I’m not stalled.
• Are you breastfeeding?
No.
• Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
Not that I’m aware of.
Thank you in advance for your reaction! :flowerforyou:
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Hi OP. I'm in a similar situation, but a little shorter and a little heavier. I feel quite small honestly but still fat in areas that I want to drop. My plan for now is to stay on a small deficit for a few more months and see how I feel about my body comp (amount of fat, muscle). I'm really here to follow and see what the mods say.
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Do you want to try the recomp route (slow going but no weight gain/loss) or a bulk/cut route?
Let me know if you want these explained further.0 -
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I've thought about trying a bulk, but earliest time for that would be at the end of this year because spring/summer is about to start around here. Also, because my bodyfat % is quite a bit higher then I thought, I would have to cut quite a bit again to get (what I understood to be) into the more ideal % range for bulking. That however would make me become smaller again....Do you want to try the recomp route (slow going but no weight gain/loss) or a bulk/cut route?
Let me know if you want these explained further.
So long story short: I'm not adverse against cut/bulk perse, but if I can get "ready" for a bulk percentage wise without becoming much smaller, that would have my preference. That would probably be the recomp route for approx. 6 months.0 -
Recomping at first sounds like the best alternative for you based on what your plans/goals are.
Which makes it easy - as you are basically doing everything right for it. Basically, just eat at maintenance and keep lifting. You actually do not have that much to lose. 4% is only about 5 - 6lb. You should be in a great position by the end of the year to bulk, if you want to that is.
I would sit at the intake level you are now for a couple of weeks and monitor your weight. If you are seeing a trend of it increasing, cut by 100 calories and if you are seeing it decreasing, up by 100 calories. Keep reassessing - but give water weight a chance to settle down so look at trends over a couple of weeks rather than changing every week.0 -
Thank you for your reaction Sara! :flowerforyou:Recomping at first sounds like the best alternative for you based on what your plans/goals are.
Which makes it easy - as you are basically doing everything right for it. Basically, just eat at maintenance and keep lifting. You actually do not have that much to lose. 4% is only about 5 - 6lb. You should be in a great position by the end of the year to bulk, if you want to that is.
I would sit at the intake level you are now for a couple of weeks and monitor your weight. If you are seeing a trend of it increasing, cut by 100 calories and if you are seeing it decreasing, up by 100 calories. Keep reassessing - but give water weight a chance to settle down so look at trends over a couple of weeks rather than changing every week.
I'll keep on doing what I do and reasses calories every 4 weeks / month. One last question (for now
): my hybrid set up of the TDEE method and eating back cardio calories is allright to continue as well? 0 -
Thank you for your reaction Sara! :flowerforyou:Recomping at first sounds like the best alternative for you based on what your plans/goals are.
Which makes it easy - as you are basically doing everything right for it. Basically, just eat at maintenance and keep lifting. You actually do not have that much to lose. 4% is only about 5 - 6lb. You should be in a great position by the end of the year to bulk, if you want to that is.
I would sit at the intake level you are now for a couple of weeks and monitor your weight. If you are seeing a trend of it increasing, cut by 100 calories and if you are seeing it decreasing, up by 100 calories. Keep reassessing - but give water weight a chance to settle down so look at trends over a couple of weeks rather than changing every week.
I'll keep on doing what I do and reasses calories every 4 weeks / month. One last question (for now ): my hybrid set up of the TDEE method and eating back cardio calories is allright to continue as well?
Absolutely. Do what works best for you from an energy/adherence perspective. Just make sure the calories average out over the week.0 -
Will do! Thank you :smooched:0
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Hi Sara and Patrick! It's been 4 months since my original post and I would really appreciate your advise on how to take further recomposition from here.
Short recap: in April you estimated me at approx. 24 % BF at 56 kg. I had just upped my daily intake to 1850 kcal, March 1st I started my dumbbell only version of All Pro’s beginner lifting routine 3 times a week, 3 other days I did/do cardio, yoga etc.
Last few months I've been increasing my intake further to 2000 kcal per day (still excl. "cardio calories" earned) and dropped weight to 54 kg as of today. I'm still doing All Pro's (now in cycle 5), but don't see myself doing this routine for longer then perhaps another cycle after this one.
And that brings me to the plans for the upcoming months. I want to start my first bulk at the beginning of October and am currently cutting a bit more to get in the right BF% range. When I'm at 52 kg I suspect I will be good to go. Agree?
I was thinking of the following:
- 12 week bulk, with a total planned gain of 6 kg max.
- up intake to 2250 kcal (increasing when weight gain seems to stabilize) in order to do so.
- after that cut for approx. 12 weeks to be in shape for next summer
Is this a good way to approach this?
Regarding lifting: as I wrote above, I don't see myself doing All pro's anymore come October. It's getting a tad boring to do the same workout day in, day out. So, what program to do next?
I was thinking of Wendlers 5/3/1 in a 3 day per week schedule, but I'm not certain I should shift from a full body to a split routine with the start of a bulk. What would your advise be?
My goals are mostly improving my looks (I'm becoming rather puny and I'm not even at my desired leannes yet!), although getting stronger in the process is a nice bonus.
Thank you very much for reading through all of this and your view on things! :flowerforyou:0 -
Hi Sara and Patrick! It's been 4 months since my original post and I would really appreciate your advise on how to take further recomposition from here.
Short recap: in April you estimated me at approx. 24 % BF at 56 kg. I had just upped my daily intake to 1850 kcal, March 1st I started my dumbbell only version of All Pro’s beginner lifting routine 3 times a week, 3 other days I did/do cardio, yoga etc.
Last few months I've been increasing my intake further to 2000 kcal per day (still excl. "cardio calories" earned) and dropped weight to 54 kg as of today. I'm still doing All Pro's (now in cycle 5), but don't see myself doing this routine for longer then perhaps another cycle after this one.
And that brings me to the plans for the upcoming months. I want to start my first bulk at the beginning of October and am currently cutting a bit more to get in the right BF% range. When I'm at 52 kg I suspect I will be good to go. Agree?
Assuming most of those losses are fat, that will put you sub 20% BF which is a good place to bulkI was thinking of the following:
- 12 week bulk, with a total planned gain of 6 kg max.
- up intake to 2250 kcal (increasing when weight gain seems to stabilize) in order to do so.
- after that cut for approx. 12 weeks to be in shape for next summer
Is this a good way to approach this?
Imo, that is too aggressive. We can only gain about 1/4lb muscle a week at most. You should try to keep your weight gain to no more that an average of 1/2lb a week. The 6kg is more than 1lb a week.
You should slowly up your calories and find your maintenance, then add approx. 300 cals only this (a little more than the 250 that represents 1/2lb due to your metabolism increasing slightly)Regarding lifting: as I wrote above, I don't see myself doing All pro's anymore come October. It's getting a tad boring to do the same workout day in, day out. So, what program to do next?
I was thinking of Wendlers 5/3/1 in a 3 day per week schedule, but I'm not certain I should shift from a full body to a split routine with the start of a bulk. What would your advise be?
5/3/1 is an intermediate program and you will not make the same gains that you will on a program more in line with your 'lifting life'. You also need to be really careful at programming the assists, otherwise you just do not have the volume to make the most of the possible gains. A possible alternative would be a 2 day split - either upper/lower or push/pull repeated twice a week - so 4 days. However, I would still lean towards a 3 x a week full body where you can add hypertrophy range assists in.
How long have you been lifting in total?0 -
Good to hear!Hi Sara and Patrick! It's been 4 months since my original post and I would really appreciate your advise on how to take further recomposition from here.
Short recap: in April you estimated me at approx. 24 % BF at 56 kg. I had just upped my daily intake to 1850 kcal, March 1st I started my dumbbell only version of All Pro’s beginner lifting routine 3 times a week, 3 other days I did/do cardio, yoga etc.
Last few months I've been increasing my intake further to 2000 kcal per day (still excl. "cardio calories" earned) and dropped weight to 54 kg as of today. I'm still doing All Pro's (now in cycle 5), but don't see myself doing this routine for longer then perhaps another cycle after this one.
And that brings me to the plans for the upcoming months. I want to start my first bulk at the beginning of October and am currently cutting a bit more to get in the right BF% range. When I'm at 52 kg I suspect I will be good to go. Agree?
Assuming most of those losses are fat, that will put you sub 20% BF which is a good place to bulk
Doh! I was aiming at a gain of 1/2 kg per 2 weeks (1/2 lbs per week) but messed up the calculations for the 12 week period. Total planned gain would then be about 3 kgI was thinking of the following:
- 12 week bulk, with a total planned gain of 6 kg max.
- up intake to 2250 kcal (increasing when weight gain seems to stabilize) in order to do so.
- after that cut for approx. 12 weeks to be in shape for next summer
Is this a good way to approach this?
Imo, that is too aggressive. We can only gain about 1/4lb muscle a week at most. You should try to keep your weight gain to no more that an average of 1/2lb a week. The 6kg is more than 1lb a week.
You should slowly up your calories and find your maintenance, then add approx. 300 cals only this (a little more than the 250 that represents 1/2lb due to your metabolism increasing slightly)
Ok, maintenance cals + 300, check!
I started with ChaLean Extreme in October, and while I realise that it isn't a "proper" lifting routine, I did progress in the weights used. Then in March I started All Pro's.Regarding lifting: as I wrote above, I don't see myself doing All pro's anymore come October. It's getting a tad boring to do the same workout day in, day out. So, what program to do next?
I was thinking of Wendlers 5/3/1 in a 3 day per week schedule, but I'm not certain I should shift from a full body to a split routine with the start of a bulk. What would your advise be?
5/3/1 is an intermediate program and you will not make the same gains that you will on a program more in line with your 'lifting life'. You also need to be really careful at programming the assists, otherwise you just do not have the volume to make the most of the possible gains. A possible alternative would be a 2 day split - either upper/lower or push/pull repeated twice a week - so 4 days. However, I would still lean towards a 3 x a week full body where you can add hypertrophy range assists in.
How long have you been lifting in total?
Also, I prefer 3 days of lifting per week, leaving 3 days for any other workout of choice. I'm not apposed to another full body routine after All Pro's, suggestions?
At the moment I'm still working out from home with my trusted dumbbells. However, I'm approaching the limits of dumbbells for some lifts (42 kg total weight SLDL anyone?) so I'm mentally preparing myself to join a gym again somewhere the upcoming 2 months.0 -
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