Calories during a recomp?

christopherlee147
christopherlee147 Posts: 22 Member
edited November 15 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm 32, 6'3", and just hit my goal weight of 180lbs. For the last number of months I have been eating around 1800 calories plus about half the calories I burn through cardio - 3 days/week - (I haven't been doing any weight lifting) I am working on finding my maintenance calories right now which should be around 2200 - 2300 without exercise. I am also looking to start lifting, not to gain size yet, but to gain strength... In the fall I hope to start a bulking plan.

If I use the iifym calculator and select my exercise level at 6days a week - 3 cardio and 3 lifting - It will give me a maintenance level of 2792cal. I've read to do a recomp you eat 15% above maintenance on days you "train" and 10% less on days that you don't train. But the site define training days only as days that you lift for at least 30mins, it doesn't say anything about cardio.

So I guess my question is, should I eat at 15% above maintenance for 6days a week and 10% below for 1, eat 15% above for 3 days a week and 10% below for 4, or set my activity level for 3 days a week (to cover the lifting) and eat 15% above for 3 days a week and 10% below for 4 but eat back all/most of my cardio calories?

clear as mud?

This is the recomp site I was looking at: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-basics-of-body-recomposition-how-to-lose-fat-gain-muscle-at-the-same-time/

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    There's many different ways to recomp which that blog doesn't seem to recognise. Saying it's hard and you have to calorie cycle is a generalisation. Recomp is also easier/harder depending on a lot of factors (how fat or lean, fully trained/under trained, age, gender, genetics....). Take a fat, 18 year old male new to training and recomp is easy for example.
    Take an old fella like me who started training in 1974 and progress isn't going to be rapid.

    So recomp could simply be eating at daily maintenance and training (and patience). Or it could be one of the very sophisticated calorie/nutrient cycling protocols.

    My version (perhaps peculiar to me!) is one day eating very low calorie (650 cals) and six days eating at a small surplus to cancel out the low day.

    TDEE or MFP eat back exercise calories is personal preference. I have very big daily and weekly differences so MFP method works best for me. If you have a regular routine then TDEE is more simple. Your actual calories are something you will have to experiment with especially if you change routines.

    Definitely start lifting a.s.a.p. though! You don't say what your cardio is. Personally I'm not a fan of HIIT in between lifting days as that's when your muscles should be recovering.

    My training is typically 3 days weights and 3 days cardio (mostly cycling in one form or another).



  • christopherlee147
    christopherlee147 Posts: 22 Member

    [quote="

    Definitely start lifting a.s.a.p. though! You don't say what your cardio is. Personally I'm not a fan of HIIT in between lifting days as that's when your muscles should be recovering.

    My training is typically 3 days weights and 3 days cardio (mostly cycling in one form or another).


    [/quote]


    I am a cyclist.. I do triathlons too typically Olympic and Ironman 70.3 distances, but my main focus is cycling. Right now my week is 1 x 45-60mins of very high intensity, 1 x 60 - 80mins tempo, and 1 x 120min+ of LSD.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    The blog quote: 'Next, figure out your training day calories. Take your MC, and increase it by 15%. Keep in mind, training days are ONLY days you train with weights.'

    If you are a triathlete how would this apply to you? I would think the bulk(pun intended) of your training is first in the saddle, 2nd on the road, and third in some water. Incorporating weight lifting with these 3 will improve muscle retention. How much and how often given what your training for is a fairly large variable. Maintenance needs to be figured out first. And (another old fart here like Simon) if I run 15-20 miles weekly, swim(1-2 miles), and cycle 70-100 miles training for a triatholon AND lift 3 x's a week my maintenance calories are going to be North of 3,500.

    So, first, find what your maintenance actually is. Calculations are great and calculators provide estimates, given what your doing or training for would call for more then 2300 I would think.

    The first step is nailing down a better approximate number of maintenance calories. If you cannot do this then you will truly be in brackish water.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited March 2015
    Your cycle training sounds similar to my routine.
    In the cycling season I'm doing hardly any strength leg work in the gym as my legs need the recovery time so it's really a split routine of upper body resistance/strength and lower body cardio on alternate days.
    In winter my time in the saddle reduces and I can do more gym leg strength work.

    Obviously everyone's recomp results will be different but as an example a couple of years ago over a six month summer period I lost approx. 7.5lbs of fat, gained 3.5lbs of lean mass for net weight loss of 4lbs. Not dramatic but definitely noticeable.
  • christopherlee147
    christopherlee147 Posts: 22 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Your cycle training sounds similar to my routine.
    In the cycling season I'm doing hardly any strength leg work in the gym as my legs need the recovery time so it's really a split routine of upper body resistance/strength and lower body cardio on alternate days.
    In winter my time in the saddle reduces and I can do more gym leg strength work.

    Obviously everyone's recomp results will be different but as an example a couple of years ago over a six month summer period I lost approx. 7.5lbs of fat, gained 3.5lbs of lean mass for net weight loss of 4lbs. Not dramatic but definitely noticeable.


    Looks like we do have a similar routine, it's fairly standard, get outside and ride when you can and during the winter focus on strength. Unfortunately, I was out of the game for about 18months and needed to get back in the saddle and shed some weight.
  • christopherlee147
    christopherlee147 Posts: 22 Member
    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    The blog quote: 'Next, figure out your training day calories. Take your MC, and increase it by 15%. Keep in mind, training days are ONLY days you train with weights.'

    If you are a triathlete how would this apply to you? I would think the bulk(pun intended) of your training is first in the saddle, 2nd on the road, and third in some water. Incorporating weight lifting with these 3 will improve muscle retention. How much and how often given what your training for is a fairly large variable. Maintenance needs to be figured out first. And (another old fart here like Simon) if I run 15-20 miles weekly, swim(1-2 miles), and cycle 70-100 miles training for a triatholon AND lift 3 x's a week my maintenance calories are going to be North of 3,500.

    So, first, find what your maintenance actually is. Calculations are great and calculators provide estimates, given what your doing or training for would call for more then 2300 I would think.

    The first step is nailing down a better approximate number of maintenance calories. If you cannot do this then you will truly be in brackish water.


    The 2300 is an approximate of my maintenance without exercise. I'm currently eating 1900 + 75% of my exercise so some day's it's 1900 others it's over 3000. I'm adding 100cal a day/week every week until I level out.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    christopherlee147 wrote: »
    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    The blog quote: 'Next, figure out your training day calories. Take your MC, and increase it by 15%. Keep in mind, training days are ONLY days you train with weights.'

    If you are a triathlete how would this apply to you? I would think the bulk(pun intended) of your training is first in the saddle, 2nd on the road, and third in some water. Incorporating weight lifting with these 3 will improve muscle retention. How much and how often given what your training for is a fairly large variable. Maintenance needs to be figured out first. And (another old fart here like Simon) if I run 15-20 miles weekly, swim(1-2 miles), and cycle 70-100 miles training for a triatholon AND lift 3 x's a week my maintenance calories are going to be North of 3,500.

    So, first, find what your maintenance actually is. Calculations are great and calculators provide estimates, given what your doing or training for would call for more then 2300 I would think.

    The first step is nailing down a better approximate number of maintenance calories. If you cannot do this then you will truly be in brackish water.


    The 2300 is an approximate of my maintenance without exercise. I'm currently eating 1900 + 75% of my exercise so some day's it's 1900 others it's over 3000. I'm adding 100cal a day/week every week until I level out.


    Now were talking.
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