Recomp or bulk?

jenbob1985 · May 2015

Hi all, I have been a lurker in the forums for about 8 months now and learned so much from the expert "meanies" on here so thank you to you all

I now have a question of my own and would be grateful for some advice. I have been cutting since February, logging all my food on here and have lost the 10lbs I gained from overeating over Christmas, business trips and a 2 week holiday. I have been lifting since October last year and have seen some nice results but my consistency hasn't been that great. Although my lifts have progressed and I now have some nice definition in my arms, abs and back, I'm not all that strong yet and would love to gain some muscle mass, particularly in my glutes.

I have just started the Strong Curves programme at 4 times per week (currently in week 2), which I'm loving so far, but I'm not sure whether to try a recomp or a bulk with it. I know Bret Contreras (Strong Curves author) is an advocate of recomping for women when they are already at their ideal weight (like me) rather than bulking/cutting cycles, but I see so much on here about it being very inefficient and slow and I don't particularly want to spin my wheels. However I'm worried about bulking as I'm going on holiday in late September (just after I turn 30 - eek!) and would love to look hot in my bikini! Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on which would be the better option for me?

My stats are:
Female, 29 years old
130 lbs
5 ft 8
BF estimate 18-20%
TDEE roughly 2300-2400 calories (FitBit estimate, and my weighing and logging seems to tally with this)
Other than lifting 4 days/week the only other exercise I do is walking (again based on my FitBit, an average of 7-8 miles per day as I walk to/from work and the gym and enjoy it).

Lastly, whether I do a recomp or bulk, how important is it to be consistent with my daily intake? For example, could I undereat slightly Monday-Friday and overeat at weekends providing I hit my weekly calorie target or would I get better results from being consistent?

Any advice from those in the know and/or with experience on the Strong Curves programme would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

sijomial · May 2015

Firstly remember what you decide to do now isn't forever.
If late September is your "look good date" you need to factor that in. Will you achieve vastly different results in four months? Doubtful.

My view is that someone relatively new to weights would be better to recomp first and see if that gets you to where you want to be. If it doesn't then at least you will have nailed down your maintenance calories which is useful data if you decide to bulk/cut in future.

The "spinning your wheels" comment gets thrown around a lot but really needs context. For someone advanced in body composition and with a lot of training years it makes more sense. For someone still relatively new excess calories are a minor consideration compared to training IMHO.

As for calorie cycling. That's a personal thing, some will eat more on training days for example. I do to a degree but that's for ease of weekly calorie adherence more than anything else. But really you are looking at small detail rather than big picture - relevant if you are looking at physique competition perhaps but for "ordinary people" maybe not so much.

ndj1979 · May 2015

sijomial wrote: »

Firstly remember what you decide to do now isn't forever.
If late September is your "look good date" you need to factor that in. Will you achieve vastly different results in four months? Doubtful.

My view is that someone relatively new to weights would be better to recomp first and see if that gets you to where you want to be. If it doesn't then at least you will have nailed down your maintenance calories which is useful data if you decide to bulk/cut in future.

The "spinning your wheels" comment gets thrown around a lot but really needs context. For someone advanced in body composition and with a lot of training years it makes more sense. For someone still relatively new excess calories are a minor consideration compared to training IMHO.

As for calorie cycling. That's a personal thing, some will eat more on training days for example. I do to a degree but that's for ease of weekly calorie adherence more than anything else. But really you are looking at small detail rather than big picture - relevant if you are looking at physique competition perhaps but for "ordinary people" maybe not so much.

pretty much all this..

I will just add that calorie cycling will not make you look "hot' by sepetember. consistent training, logging everything, and hitting macros/micros does that.

honestly with only about three months between now and September it is going to be hard to get any appreciable results from either bulking or recomping. If you start a bulk now you will put on some fat over next few months and not sure if that is your goal for September. Most people tend to bulk in winter and cut in fall/spring for beach/summer season.

i would suggest just eating at maintenance and keep lifting…essentially a recomp…..

sardelsa · May 2015

I agree with everything that has been said already. I did a 4.5 month bulk with Strong Curves, then maintained for a month, then cut for a month in time for my beach vacation (which I just returned from) so total time bulking and cutting (for me) was almost 7 months.

So in all honesty, I don't think you have enough time to bulk and cut from now until September unless you are willing to have a bit of fat for your vacation. Like the others said, I would also recommend recomping and reevaluate come fall. It will take time no matter how you do it but with patience and hard work and you can get there.

Good luck

Brolympus · May 2015

Sounds like your bodyfat is getting to the lean levels on the female scale if you truly think it is 18-20% (how did you measure this? Calipers?).

Trying to plan your current phase around your body's p-ratio is what I tell people if they don't know what to do. I agree with the other posters that 3 months isn't a whole lot of time to commit to either cycle. According to p-ratio, you drop fat faster at higher BF levels and gain muscle faster at lower BF levels. For men, 10% is considered the point where it gets increasingly difficult to become leaner. I think 10% on men translates roughly to 17-18% for women (anybody want to help me out?)

So essentially you are at the bottom of the "normal speed" weight loss bracket. You can drop more fat if you want, but it might be a bit more stubborn to come off than before, and you also will need to maintain a fairly strict lifting regiment and protein intake to keep your body from thrifting muscle as you try to drop fat. You could recomp like the other posters said, which will help you maintain essentially your current aesthetics and get a bit stronger maybe by Semptember. Or you could start a bulk if you are looking long term here, which is the most time-efficient of the three options in the long run at your current bf%, but doesn't seem to match your goal of aesthetic appearance.

Personally, considering your short term goal for aesthetics, and since you haven't been lifting too long and don't have a ton of muscle to lose yet, I would actually recommend to cut a month or two more vs. the recomp the others suggested, and get super lean so that you can ride out the next bulk cycle for a longgg time. Cutting is not exactly a fun process; the leaner you get, the longer you can stay in your next bulk phase.

Ultimately, its up to you to decide whether you want to focus on short term or long term goals though.

Springfield1970 · May 2015

I agree with all the other comments re lack of time, new to lifting and a relatively low bady fat %
Eat at maintenance, lift in beautiful form, try eating all your exercise cals back in workout days.
Keep weighing yourself to see you're not gaining.

Pretty please take measurements and photos and report back to us! We love to hear about the results. It would be great if you could lose a couple of inches over the summer and keep your weight the same! Maybe change shape here and there...

jenbob1985 · May 2015

Thank you so much to all of you for your useful advice! Totally agree that 4 months isn't long enough to see any great results whichever way I proceed. I think a recomp would indeed be most beneficial for me right now, and I probably need to build a better strength base to start a bulk anyway. I'm definitely in this for the long haul and want to continue improving my body composition and strength for years to come yet as I absolutely love lifting and the results it has given me so far. So I will consider a bulk after my holiday depending on the recomp results.

@Brolympus you raise some really good points, but I'd ruled out cutting for longer as I like the curves I do have and worried they'd just disappear. I had my BF estimated at around 18% in late November (before I gained the 10lbs) in the Eat, Train Progress group, and now I've lost the weight I look pretty much the same as I did then. At a recent health check at work, my BF reading was 19.8% using electrodes attached to my hands and feet (I realise these aren't all that accurate).

I'm still a bit unsure what to do with my daily calorie intake. I know it's a minor detail and I'm probably overthinking it, but @Springfield1970 you mentioned eating my exercise calories back on workout days - I don't actually log my lifting workouts as I'm a bit unsure how to, and am aware it doesn't burn huge amounts of calories. I have my FitBit synced to MFP so that automatically adds in calories based on my steps (totaling about 2400-2500 calories Monday - Friday and 2000-2200 at weekends). Is it better to eat whatever my FitBit gives me daily, and log my lifting workouts and eat those calories too (if so, how do I log my lifting sessions?), or just eat consistently at my TDEE (2300-2400 calories) every day? Or does it not really make much difference?

Thanks again, and I'll be sure to take photos, measurements and report back

ndj1979 · May 2015

jenbob1985 wrote: »

Thank you so much to all of you for your useful advice! Totally agree that 4 months isn't long enough to see any great results whichever way I proceed. I think a recomp would indeed be most beneficial for me right now, and I probably need to build a better strength base to start a bulk anyway. I'm definitely in this for the long haul and want to continue improving my body composition and strength for years to come yet as I absolutely love lifting and the results it has given me so far. So I will consider a bulk after my holiday depending on the recomp results.

@Brolympus you raise some really good points, but I'd ruled out cutting for longer as I like the curves I do have and worried they'd just disappear. I had my BF estimated at around 18% in late November (before I gained the 10lbs) in the Eat, Train Progress group, and now I've lost the weight I look pretty much the same as I did then. At a recent health check at work, my BF reading was 19.8% using electrodes attached to my hands and feet (I realise these aren't all that accurate).

I'm still a bit unsure what to do with my daily calorie intake. I know it's a minor detail and I'm probably overthinking it, but @Springfield1970 you mentioned eating my exercise calories back on workout days - I don't actually log my lifting workouts as I'm a bit unsure how to, and am aware it doesn't burn huge amounts of calories. I have my FitBit synced to MFP so that automatically adds in calories based on my steps (totaling about 2400-2500 calories Monday - Friday and 2000-2200 at weekends). Is it better to eat whatever my FitBit gives me daily, and log my lifting workouts and eat those calories too (if so, how do I log my lifting sessions?), or just eat consistently at my TDEE (2300-2400 calories) every day? Or does it not really make much difference?

Thanks again, and I'll be sure to take photos, measurements and report back

after your holiday in September I would suggest running a bulk from say September to mid-febuary at .5 pound per week gain….

jenbob1985 · May 2015

Thank you for the advice @ndj1979 I think I'll give that a go after my hol!

dmt4641 · May 2015

Great thread. I have very similar stats and was about to post a similar question. I feel like people always say to bulk but I really hate cutting and would love to be done with it for good and just recomp forever. I may eventually bulk once I feel all my newbie gains have been exploited.

I have done Strong Curves (beginning program, not advanced) and loved it. I am not running it now but will always and forever add hip thrusts and glute bridges to my programs. They have changed my booty. I will cycle through the advanced program once I get stronger. One thing I will say is that the upper body portion was lacking for me. I know he designed it this way on purpose because most women prefer strong glutes but sleeker arms. But I want to get stronger everywhere. There is also no forced progression in the program (no added weights or sets each week) and the exercises change every day so I didn't feel like it was a good program for gaining strength in the main lifts. I am still new to lifting so I am now running programs with progression (all pros right now, will try a 5x5 program next probably). Once I have a better strength and muscle base I plan to go back to Strong Curves and maybe even try his Get Glutes program.

jenbob1985 · May 2015

Thanks very much for sharing your experience of the Strong Curves programme @dmt4641 that's really helpful and good to know. I'll see how I go with the beginner programme and think about my next options from there. Thanks again!

Recomp or bulk?

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