maintain weight but build muscle?

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LauraFouhse
LauraFouhse Posts: 115
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am very close to my goal weight. I don't really want to get smaller but I am still at 29% body fat. My goal weight is 140lbs and I'm currently 144. I really want to get more lean but not necessarily smaller. Is this possible? And what should I do to achieve that goal?

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  • rijlee
    rijlee Posts: 13
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    maintaining weight would be to keep your calories where they are- based on your daily needs. However, to build muscle you need to give your body what it needs to build that muscle which is protein. So increase your protein intake while cutting out carbs and/or fats. So basically, keep the calories the same, just change where they come from :)
  • rrrbecca11
    rrrbecca11 Posts: 477
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    Lift weights. A lot. :)
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    maintaining weight would be to keep your calories where they are- based on your daily needs. However, to build muscle you need to give your body what it needs to build that muscle which is protein. So increase your protein intake while cutting out carbs and/or fats. So basically, keep the calories the same, just change where they come from :)

    That is very similar to how I currently am eating.. lots of protein, limited carbs etc. So essentially, once I'm on maintenance I would just increase my calories to stop losing weight but keep everything else the same?

    On another note... what is a good body fat % for me? What should my goal be?
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    Are you lifting?

    Body fat percents are a bit subjective. Just use your mirror as a guide and don't worry so much about the actual percentage.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
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    What you appear to want to do is often called a "body recomposition". Eat at maintenance, lots of protein and lift heavy. You need to stimulate the muscles if you want them to grow. It takes time, but it is possible.
  • rijlee
    rijlee Posts: 13
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    maintaining weight would be to keep your calories where they are- based on your daily needs. However, to build muscle you need to give your body what it needs to build that muscle which is protein. So increase your protein intake while cutting out carbs and/or fats. So basically, keep the calories the same, just change where they come from :)

    That is very similar to how I currently am eating.. lots of protein, limited carbs etc. So essentially, once I'm on maintenance I would just increase my calories to stop losing weight but keep everything else the same?

    On another note... what is a good body fat % for me? What should my goal be?

    "Lots of protein, limited carbs" is a very subjective sentence, no offense. Unless you know your caloric intake and the grams of proteins/carbs you are in taking a day, it is VERY easy to under/over estimate both- I know from experience. This reason might be the key to your goals. But, if you are on the right track as you say you are, you just may need more time to see the changes. And yes, increasing your calories beyond your daily in take needs would make you gain weight- either muscle or fat, but basic thermodynamics will not change the fact that if calories in> daily needs, you WILL gain weight. As for a "good" bf % once again, that is very subjective. I do not know what you mean by "good" I'm sorry :(
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    As to what bodyfat % is good for you anything between 20%-25%, but ultimately it's upto you and what you want to achieve or look like. If you want to look lean you'll be looking at lower than 20%.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I'm doing the same - recomp (short for recomposition).

    Calories at a level to maintain your weight.
    Sufficient protein (1g per pound of LBM should be fine).
    A good strength routine that stresses your muscles (progressive overload).

    Plus time and patience as it's slow. Slow for a man, very slow for a woman. If you are new to lifting you could make some reasonably quick gains for a while though.

    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    Are you lifting?

    Body fat percents are a bit subjective. Just use your mirror as a guide and don't worry so much about the actual percentage.

    Yes, I do weight lifting 3 x per week and cardio (HIIT) 3 x per week. So I"m assuming I need to just continue doing this to build muscle.

    I'm guessing the muscle build is a slow process. *sigh* I started going to the gym in September and my body fat was 36%. I'm down to 29%. My immediate goal is to get down to 25% but I only have 4 more pounds to lose before I'm at goal weight. So I was curious to see how I lose only 4 more pounds but another 4% body fat. I guess I could let go of the number on the scale and just focus on the body fat. (but what will I do with my time if I'm not obsessing about the number on the scale?)
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.
    What does this mean?
  • echoslug
    echoslug Posts: 73 Member
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    Well a healthy body fat % for women is considered anywhere from 15% - ~30% depending on where you get your info. I usually see if broken down:

    15%-19% athletic
    20%-22% "ideal" (don't like this word but that's how you'll find it during an internet search)
    23%-25% healthy
    26%-30% average

    I am also very close to my goal and shooting for 25% body fat at the moment. When I hit that I'll shift my goal to 22%.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
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    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.
    What does this mean?

    Bulking and cutting is the most efficient way of adding muscle mass. You "cut" (i.e. are on a calorie restriction) until you get down to some low body fat %; then bulk (calorie surplus) to add mass (fat + muscle) all while lifting heavy things. Then you cut again to remove the fat you added during the bulk and keep repeating this cycle.

    The body recomp is a less effective way of doing the same thing, without the bulking/cutting cycles. Basically, it just takes longer.


    If you are currently 144 lb and 29% bf, then you have about 41 lb of fat on you right now, giving you a lean body mass of ~ 103 lb.

    At your 140 lb goal, if your lbm stayed the same, you'd be about 26% bf.

    If you put on 5 lb of muscle (lbm) your new lbm would be 108 lb, and at 140 lb you'd be at ~ 22% bf.

    Note, that for a female, you can expect to put on about a pound of muscle per month at best (ideal diet and training schedule).

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.
    What does this mean?
    Cutting is eating at a deficit while trying to lose as much fat as possible while retaining as much muscle as possible.
    Bulking is the opposite - eating at a surplus to gain weight, majority muscle and while minimising fat gain.

    The received wisdom is that it is quicker than recomping. If you don't have many "training years" under your belt (history of lifting) I would be tempted to recomp at maintenance for a while to benefit from newbie gains and then decide what to do. That would also give you the valuable knowledge of what your maintenance calories really are.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I've been recomping for just over a year-- I eat at maintenance, get 100 grams of protein, and lift weights. I've lost a couple of sizes and several body fat percentage points in that time. But it's very slow, so be prepared for that.
  • JimiB73
    JimiB73 Posts: 34
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    I'm doing the same - recomp (short for recomposition).

    Calories at a level to maintain your weight.
    Sufficient protein (1g per pound of LBM should be fine).
    A good strength routine that stresses your muscles (progressive overload).

    Plus time and patience as it's slow. Slow for a man, very slow for a woman. If you are new to lifting you could make some reasonably quick gains for a while though.

    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.


    Yup......this.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I'm doing the same - recomp (short for recomposition).

    Calories at a level to maintain your weight.
    Sufficient protein (1g per pound of LBM should be fine).
    A good strength routine that stresses your muscles (progressive overload).

    Plus time and patience as it's slow. Slow for a man, very slow for a woman. If you are new to lifting you could make some reasonably quick gains for a while though.

    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.


    Yup......this.

    Yep to the yup.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    The alternative would be cutting and bulking cycles. With your body fat percentage you would be looking to cut first.
    What does this mean?

    Bulking and cutting is the most efficient way of adding muscle mass. You "cut" (i.e. are on a calorie restriction) until you get down to some low body fat %; then bulk (calorie surplus) to add mass (fat + muscle) all while lifting heavy things. Then you cut again to remove the fat you added during the bulk and keep repeating this cycle.

    The body recomp is a less effective way of doing the same thing, without the bulking/cutting cycles. Basically, it just takes longer.


    If you are currently 144 lb and 29% bf, then you have about 41 lb of fat on you right now, giving you a lean body mass of ~ 103 lb.

    At your 140 lb goal, if your lbm stayed the same, you'd be about 26% bf.

    If you put on 5 lb of muscle (lbm) your new lbm would be 108 lb, and at 140 lb you'd be at ~ 22% bf.

    Note, that for a female, you can expect to put on about a pound of muscle per month at best (ideal diet and training schedule).

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

    Good advice. I am using this approach and am bulking now. The short term fat gains are not as bad as I expected. As I am putting on muscle, the fat is laying differently and I look more fit even though my weight is going up.
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    This I need to ponder...
    I can't, at this point, imagine intentionally putting on fat since I've been working my *kitten* off, literally, to get rid of it. But I'm a fair bit away from that stage anyway so I won't worry quite yet.

    Very interesting though. Thanks for your posts.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    This I need to ponder...
    I can't, at this point, imagine intentionally putting on fat since I've been working my *kitten* off, literally, to get rid of it. But I'm a fair bit away from that stage anyway so I won't worry quite yet.

    Very interesting though. Thanks for your posts.

    If you are at 29% BF, then you should not bulk. Either cut or recomp.

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