Staggered calorie days?

cnbbnc wrote: »

I'm asking this based on doing a recomp.
I've done some reading and opinions seem to be divided on this, but is anyone lumping higher calories into lifting days and less on rest/cardio days? Is there a benefit?

Yes, I do eat more on high intensity days and less on rest days. But there is nothing magical about a day or a week. As long as you’re on a slight calorie deficit overall, you’ll lose fat.

Allan Misner
NASM Certified Personal Trainer (Corrective Exercise Specialist, Fitness Nutrition Specialist)
Host of the 40+ Fitness Podcast

You can recomp with calorie cycling or not.
Also TDEE or MFP eat back calories methods depending on what you prefer.

It's not as complex as people trying to sell programs try to tell you!
Eat foods you like at or around your maintenance calories and train - that's it. The rest is optional.

You really don't have to be precisely at maintenance - that's just causing unnecessary stress, there's no magic switch that gets thrown one calorie either side of TDEE that prevents/enables muscle growth.

What percentage improvement do you think will really come from calorie cycling? Minimal to none would be my guess. If you like it do it, but don't feel compelled to.

For me recomp is a by-product of improvements in my performance/strength levels rather than a standalone goal.

(PS - I actually like "deficit cycling" when I'm losing weight as it makes adherence easier for me and keeps my exercise energy levels up.)