Cutting vs. Increase in Exercise
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kapoorpk
Posts: 244 Member
Would increase in exercise, let's say adding some cardio days have the same effect with respect to losing a higher rate of body fat?
Just planning my first cut/bulk cycle rotation so trying to fully understand how it works. I have been in a recomposition mode so far.
Just planning my first cut/bulk cycle rotation so trying to fully understand how it works. I have been in a recomposition mode so far.
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I would argue that they won't have exactly the same effect. For purposes of discussion and to make this more practical though, here's my opinion on this very generally speaking.
At some point, dieters may be faced with the decision of either reducing calories, or increasing activity, or a combination of both in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fat loss.
That decision is typically based on current activity levels, current calorie levels, individual preferences, lifestyle, satiety, and ability to recover for the resistance training program (and perhaps other factors that I'm not thinking of at the moment).
For some anecdote, I have one client who was at a weight loss plateau when I started with him and his overall level of activity was quite high. Multiple cardio sessions per week, 3 resistance training sessions per week, and using a pedometer showed his step counts to be very high. He was also eating what I could consider to be a good amount of calories and he didn't have any major issues with hunger levels. With this particular client the decision to decrease calories rather than add activity was an easy choice and it proved successful with just a very minor decrease in calories.
Conversely, I've also worked with a female client who had already lost a great deal of weight on her own and was stuck. Her intake was in the neighborhood of 10 cals/lb (on the low end of reasonable) but her day to day activity was quite low. For someone like this, decreasing intake further wasn't really much of an option when there exists all kinds of room to add in additional activity to try to get fat loss moving again.
These are just examples, but the overall point here is that you really need to handle the choice of "add activity or reduce intake" with context in mind. Look at the variables I mentioned and let those guide your decisions.
Now as far as going from a recomp to a bulk or cut, I'd first look at your current program and diet and from that make some small changes to see if you can get things moving in the right direction. In my own case, I keep training the same and reduce intake to start a fat loss phase, and if I start having recovery issues I reduce training volume (number of sets typically) to accommodate.
Hopefully these random ramblings made some sense.0 -
Conversely, I've also worked with a female client who had already lost a great deal of weight on her own and was stuck. Her intake was in the neighborhood of 10 cals/lb (on the low end of reasonable) but her day to day activity was quite low. For someone like this, decreasing intake further wasn't really much of an option when there exists all kinds of room to add in additional activity to try to get fat loss moving again.
Not to hijack, but can you expand on the 10 cals/lb information, please?0 -
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Conversely, I've also worked with a female client who had already lost a great deal of weight on her own and was stuck. Her intake was in the neighborhood of 10 cals/lb (on the low end of reasonable) but her day to day activity was quite low. For someone like this, decreasing intake further wasn't really much of an option when there exists all kinds of room to add in additional activity to try to get fat loss moving again.
Not to hijack, but can you expand on the 10 cals/lb information, please?
It's a very vague figure that certainly isn't going to cover all scenarios but generally speaking setting cals in a range of 10-12cals/lb bodyweight tends to land people at a reasonable intake for fat loss.0 -
For me its not an issue of weight loss plateau. In fact, its not weight loss at all as I am way past my weight loss goal and have been focused on recomposing for the past 9 months or so and trying to master the art of keeping fat %age low given the muscle strength i have been gaining.
What I am finding though is that the cutting and bulking approach is really for very advanced body builder and worry that its too much of a swing in intakes, from what I am learning.
May be all I have to do is to keep up with my routine, keep it progressing and reducing calories when fat surpasses an acceptable level but not by much. May be 100-200 calories off my 2800 TDEE would be enough to see the effect of reducing fat.
If I were to do that, would you reduce calories overall while keeping macros intact or reduce just the carbs?0 -
For me its not an issue of weight loss plateau. In fact, its not weight loss at all as I am way past my weight loss goal and have been focused on recomposing for the past 9 months or so and trying to master the art of keeping fat %age low given the muscle strength i have been gaining.
What I am finding though is that the cutting and bulking approach is really for very advanced body builder and worry that its too much of a swing in intakes, from what I am learning.
May be all I have to do is to keep up with my routine, keep it progressing and reducing calories when fat surpasses an acceptable level but not by much. May be 100-200 calories off my 2800 TDEE would be enough to see the effect of reducing fat.
If I were to do that, would you reduce calories overall while keeping macros intact or reduce just the carbs?
I'm not 100% clear on what you're suggesting. Can you rephrase your question as it pertains to exercise vs calories?0 -
sure,
Calories vs. more exercise was a component of thought I was vetting through around creating the best method of burning fat. My whole issue right now is trying to control fat growth with muscle growth that I am seeing. So, I wondered if I should reduce my calories as typically suggested, create a slight deficit and accelerate fat reduction or could I eat the same exercise with a little bit more cardio perhaps and still end up with the same net deficit presumably burning more fat.
I am reluctant to reduce too many calories, but don't want the fat grow along muscle growth. Reluctant because calories have really fueled my muscle growth well that I like. So, the holistic picture is muscle growth with fat reduction trying to figure out how to achieve it faster than recomposition, without giving up too many calories.
I am also afraid that if i do reduce calories i would lose strength and won't be able to lift progressively. I guess I have to chose - a calorie deficit or a slowly reducing fat percentage, if I don't want to reduce my calorie deficit.
That's all. Thanks.0 -
sure,
Calories vs. more exercise was a component of thought I was vetting through around creating the best method of burning fat. My whole issue right now is trying to control fat growth with muscle growth that I am seeing. So, I wondered if I should reduce my calories as typically suggested, create a slight deficit and accelerate fat reduction or could I eat the same exercise with a little bit more cardio perhaps and still end up with the same net deficit presumably burning more fat.
I am reluctant to reduce too many calories, but don't want the fat grow along muscle growth. Reluctant because calories have really fueled my muscle growth well that I like. So, the holistic picture is muscle growth with fat reduction trying to figure out how to achieve it faster than recomposition, without giving up too many calories.
I am also afraid that if i do reduce calories i would lose strength and won't be able to lift progressively. I guess I have to chose - a calorie deficit or a slowly reducing fat percentage, if I don't want to reduce my calorie deficit.
That's all. Thanks.
Training performance isn't going to be an on/off switch where you go into a deficit and your training goes into the tank, and you go into a surplus and suddenly you're smashing PR's every day. You probably know this, but I'm mentioning it anyways because I don't want you to fear that a slight deficit is going to cause you to not be able to train.
The way I would handle things is to make the decision as to whether or not you believe you need to lose fat. If you do need to lose fat AND if you are not currently losing fat at a reasonable pace then make a slight reduction to calories, or an increase to activity, or both, depending on the variables I mentioned earlier.
I think most people will still make strength gains in a calorie deficit. Eventually that might stop or slow down, and when you get very lean and when you get very strong those strength gains aren't going to come about as easily. There's also likely some individual variability at play as well -- some people tend to have performance issues more readily than others. Size of deficit obviously plays a role as do macronutrients.0
