Recomp Help

gaz458
gaz458 Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Please bare with me and hope this all makes sence kinda stressing out that I do not want to get fat again but also want to gain muscle and loose the belly. There are so many different opinions on the forums so not sure if asking these on here will even help but here goes.

About me im 5ft10 163lb down from 294lb
I've lost the weight but now I'm skinny fat (slim can see ribs abs ECT but have belly fat/skin) and have small amount of muscle I try to go to the gym 3x a week and cycle the other days. Maybe I'm already recomping?

Now I've been looking into recomp and it seems like this is the way to go. I have set my calories to -0.5 according to MFP this is 2150. ( I have been at 2250net but been eating less like 1700net last 3 days as I just can't get rid of the belly but it does not seem to be working, I have not lost weight nor have a gained. I have not felt hungry on 1700 a day Net)

Anyways

So I believe on gym days add 15% so 2470 and none gym days -10% so 1935 is what I've read anyways.

My questions are.

Can I do gym days Mon Wed Fri and eat the 15% calorie increase of 2470

But do my cycling Tue Thurs Saturday with a net calorie of 10% deficit? So finish the day with 1935 net calories

So say I have 1935 to eat Tuesday but cycle and burn 1200 extra calories and eat 3135 that day my NET will still be 1935 at a 10% deficit?

Also I read you should not do much cardio when recomping and should do more HIT training on non gym days. But I love my cycling I cycle around 10-15avg hours a week (6000miles so far this year) on none gym days some time at a high heart rate some times at endurance pace. Using a Garmin and heart rate to get the calories burnt.

Will this still work or is the cardio going to hinder the muscle gains / fat loss

Or have I got it all wrong??

And 2nd question

Do i eat all the calories back even if I'm not hungry as this stresses me that I'll just get fat again.

Thank you.

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Massively over complicating what is a very simple and normal thing. Recomp isn't at all special and doesn't require this excessive nurturing - it's just your body's normal response to a training stimulus.

    If you want to maintain weight why not just use this site as intended and eat at maintenance and eat back your exercise calories? Yes you should eat back your exercise calories to maintain. Cycling calories aren't at all difficult to get perfectly reasonable estimates for.

    Only go for a deficit if you actually want to lose weight.
    Only go for variable deficit/surplus if you think it gives you some performance or adherence benefits. It's certainly not required to be so regimented.

    Cardio itself doen't hinder muscle gain/fat loss but with your very high cycling volume you are probably compromising your lower body lifting in the gym and recovery from that lifting. HIIT and strength training are a particularly poor combination as both put a lot of stress on your body and require recovery.

    No you won't get fat again unless you eat in a significant and sustained calorie surplus and ignore your weight on the scale trending upwards for a very long time without intervening.

    The one thing that crucially you haven't mentioned is your actual training program - it's your training that drives the process, diet merely supports it. Your focus is completely lop-sided at the moment TBH.
    As Eric Helms puts it - diet is permissive. It allows you to benefit from your training but it's the training that you need to optimise.
  • gaz458
    gaz458 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks for the reply I was hoping for simplness. I want to loose fat so

    Set MFP to -0.5lb a week
    Lift heavy
    Keep Cycling
    Eat calories back.

    The gym days do u add calories or just stay at -0.5lb a week ?

    Training programme is next thing to look at atm I just go to the gym an do
    Mon Shoulders legs
    Tue Cycle
    Wed Chest and arms
    Thurs Cycle
    Fri Back and arms
    Sat Cycle
    Sunday Rest/family time
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    gaz458 wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply I was hoping for simplness. I want to loose fat so

    Set MFP to -0.5lb a week
    Lift heavy
    Keep Cycling
    Eat calories back.

    The gym days do u add calories or just stay at -0.5lb a week ?

    Training programme is next thing to look at atm I just go to the gym an do
    Mon Shoulders legs
    Tue Cycle
    Wed Chest and arms
    Thurs Cycle
    Fri Back and arms
    Sat Cycle
    Sunday Rest/family time

    Again - only set to a deficit if you want to lose weight. Recomp is usually done at maintenance but a very small deficit can work especially if you are new or returning to training.

    The fat loss when recomping while maintaining your weight is at the rate you gain muscle effectively.

    Yes log your gym as "strength training" (in CV part of diary). A modest but reasonable estimate.

    That's not a program - that's just a selection of body parts.
    It is difficult when you have a lot of cycling to fit in (I have the same compromise to make) but there's no reason not to train your upper body and core fully three times a week. Focus on the big compound lifts primarily not isolation work as that's inefficient.
  • gaz458
    gaz458 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks again

    I will stick to maintenance then and see how that goes I'll not weigh myself as that gets to my head instead use measurements and pictures.

    I will look into the training programmes on net or ask a PT at the gym. Cheers again

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