Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat
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If you have no prior knowledge of lifting I would suggest looking into starting with New Rules of Lifting for Women. Another that gets suggested is Stronglifts. You want to find something that is going to teach you. I would avoid exercises routines found in magazines or pinterest. I look into the credentials of whoever wrote the workout.4 -
If I still have a lot of fat on my stomach, should I start maintaining (and continue lifting heavy) or keep eating a deficit? I'm 5'8, 130 lbs so I'm thin but my waist is 28" and has a lot of fat to lose still. I used to have a 24" waist. It's not toned at all. (more here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10183559/still-a-lot-to-lose-on-waist-but-low-weight#latest)-2
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Well i didn't have magazines/pinterest in mind when i asked that. I was mainly thinking about programs given by trainers in a city gyms that you have no idea about their background. Thanks for answering everything
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holly55555 wrote: »If I still have a lot of fat on my stomach, should I start maintaining (and continue lifting heavy) or keep eating a deficit? I'm 5'8, 130 lbs so I'm thin but my waist is 28" and has a lot of fat to lose still. I used to have a 24" waist. It's not toned at all. (more here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10183559/still-a-lot-to-lose-on-waist-but-low-weight#latest)
I think you shouldn't worry about what your waist measurement is. A better thing to focus on is body composition. You're sitting at the lower end of the BMI scale. I have no idea what your body fat is, but I'm guessing that you should consider eating at maintenance while continuing to lift.1 -
Well i didn't have magazines/pinterest in mind when i asked that. I was mainly thinking about programs given by trainers in a city gyms that you have no idea about their background. Thanks for answering everything
I would talk to the trainers. If they put you on a circuit type program that's not what you are looking for. If you tell them you want to learn to lift and they start you on a squat progression or teach you how to deadlift they are going to help you reach your goals.1 -
My opinion in order of importance.
A solid strength program, as already mentioned. Or something that mimics that with mostly compound lifts. Typically 3-4 days a week.
Conditioning-HIIT, or a "lift weights faster" kind of workout. 1-3 days a week
Lower intensity cardio-hiking, biking, easy jogs 1-2x a week
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A woman i worked with went from 26% body fat to 16% body fat in 18 months. But she was extremely methodical with her eating (practically ate the same thing every day)So I know a recomp depends on a whole host of things, including how much body fat you have, how much weight you lift, how often you lift, how well you eat, and a bunch more. But in general--how long does it take to start seeing results from a recomp? 6 months? A year? Longer? I am in decent shape, always have been, but more from cardio. I am moderately strong, but have mostly done machines at the gym, resistance training and free weights for biceps and triceps only. Too much body fat, mostly on my thighs, back and triceps. Also, does age factor in?
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Thanks, @usmcmp, @senecarr and @SideSteel for the explanations! I've got the link to Lyle McDonald's article bookmarked and will do some more reading as this is the first time I've heard about this.1
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The hard part about this question is that the program needs to be matched to the goals and training experience of the individual.
Having said that, if we assume it's someone who is relatively new to resistance training, and someone that would like to make body composition improvements and strength improvements, then I would say the following characteristics are desirable:
The entire body gets trained 2 to 3 times per week.
The program is built around compound movements and typically those compound movements would be done first followed by possibly some isolation or accessory movements.
While rep ranges can certainly vary a great deal, most programs will land somewhere in between 5 and 12 reps per set.
There are exceptions to this, but most beginning and novice programs will likely land in this range.
There should be a method of progression assigned to the exercises. In other words, if it's just a list of exercises and reps and you have no idea when to add weight or when to increase volume, chances are the program is either no good or incomplete.
As much as I love squats and deadlifts, I would not call them a necessity, however the majority of programs that I've seen is that are template programs that are basically free and handed out to the public tend to include those movements.
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I know I'm late to the party but I'm now following. I'll be starting a recomp program in July so this is all good stuff.1
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She also sounds like she was highly motivated. IMO, motivation is most often the missing ingredient and often overlooked...
A woman i worked with went from 26% body fat to 16% body fat in 18 months. But she was extremely methodical with her eating (practically ate the same thing every day)So I know a recomp depends on a whole host of things, including how much body fat you have, how much weight you lift, how often you lift, how well you eat, and a bunch more. But in general--how long does it take to start seeing results from a recomp? 6 months? A year? Longer? I am in decent shape, always have been, but more from cardio. I am moderately strong, but have mostly done machines at the gym, resistance training and free weights for biceps and triceps only. Too much body fat, mostly on my thighs, back and triceps. Also, does age factor in?
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I haven't seen anything BMI-based but from what I've read in the past, being overweight, underweight, low weight, or skinny fat are not ideal for recomping. I look at the bodybuilding.com female forums and here is a post from somebody who usually has fairly good advice. She estimates a good range, bf-wise, is 24-30% for women.
Okay, I read that post. If recomp is such a long, arduous process, why does anyone do it? Why doesn't everyone just bulk and cut? I don't see the difference in benefits between recomp vs. bulk and cut. Confused!
For me, personally, I didn't start out saying "I'm going to do a recomp" and following the plan to the letter; it just happened that a recomp is what I ended up doing in a roundabout way. All I was aiming to do was add some muscle.
Because of the way chores are organized in my household, I wouldn't be able to follow a strict bulking diet anyway -- I'm not the cook. And I'm aware that I'm in the worst possible category for putting on muscle, with regard to my gender/age/hormone status, so it might not be a successful approach anyway.0 -
I am a bit late to the party, but I have this thread bookmarked and read up everyday. First thanks to @usmcmp for starting this thread..
But long story short, I have been lifting weights for the first time EVER in my "older" age at 46 years old (47 in a couple of months) since Feb of this year. I was a few pounds from my goal/happy weight and still not satisfied with my body. I have a loving husband that says I am "perfect" and not sure how I can change perfection (isn't he sweet,,, yeah I know... eeeewww)..
I am 5'4", 115 pounds at 20% body BF... my mini goal is 17%.. This has been a self taught, self learned process all on my own.. It is working and because I refuse to bulk as a newbie, this was my only alternative.. I have time to wait this through, my before and after pictures are motivating enough to keep going, and change up the lifting program and nutrition when needed...
Thanks again and I will keep reading daily as the MFP community responds and has their own questions and comments for added learning.... 3 -
She also sounds like she was highly motivated. IMO, motivation is most often the missing ingredient and often overlooked...
A woman i worked with went from 26% body fat to 16% body fat in 18 months. But she was extremely methodical with her eating (practically ate the same thing every day)So I know a recomp depends on a whole host of things, including how much body fat you have, how much weight you lift, how often you lift, how well you eat, and a bunch more. But in general--how long does it take to start seeing results from a recomp? 6 months? A year? Longer? I am in decent shape, always have been, but more from cardio. I am moderately strong, but have mostly done machines at the gym, resistance training and free weights for biceps and triceps only. Too much body fat, mostly on my thighs, back and triceps. Also, does age factor in?
Most definitely. I have rarely seen that type of motivation. Hell, even i dont have that motivation.
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holly55555 wrote: »If I still have a lot of fat on my stomach, should I start maintaining (and continue lifting heavy) or keep eating a deficit? I'm 5'8, 130 lbs so I'm thin but my waist is 28" and has a lot of fat to lose still. I used to have a 24" waist. It's not toned at all. (more here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10183559/still-a-lot-to-lose-on-waist-but-low-weight#latest)
I think you shouldn't worry about what your waist measurement is. A better thing to focus on is body composition. You're sitting at the lower end of the BMI scale. I have no idea what your body fat is, but I'm guessing that you should consider eating at maintenance while continuing to lift.
Thank you for responding! I'm not sure exactly, but I would say it's probably around 22%, maybe a little higher. I started at like 31%.
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7 weeks and lots of chicken9 -
Do you need specific macros for recomp?A woman i worked with went from 26% body fat to 16% body fat in 18 months. But she was extremely methodical with her eating (practically ate the same thing every day)
Or i should rephrase that, how many g of protein and fat is the best to have?
0.8 per lean body mass is what i've seen some mention on these forums but what if you can only judge your body fat percentage based only on measurements and not an actual test?
Do you estimate towards a higher lbm so your protein intake won't be less than what you need?
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very usefull post, thank you!0
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I'm only on my 7th week of a recomp. Man this takes patience. Every time I go to ask a question on this thread, I just hit back space because I either know the answer...or know no one really does.
Right now I'm getting this hangy/loose skin looking fat that I used to get right before I'd drop some weight in a deficit. I'm very curious what's going to happen with it on a recomp...Maybe my measurements will start to budge? Does this happen to anyone else?1
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