Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

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Replies

  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    Yep like Jeff Caveleire Athlean X?

    That's what I'm doing. Only I am getting there from the excess fat side. FR sent.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    So thought I'd try a photo to gauge thoughts hjl9wc96flpf.jpg

    What are you hoping for if you lose a few pounds more? You are under muscled in my opinion. Ur in a good place to bulk as long as you can do a decent resistance training programme. If that’s not an option for you atm then I wouldn’t lose more.

    I'm not trying to lose more but get stronger, not necessarily size. I've been doing marathons for years, so this is the runners physique without the strength training element.

    My goal is to be stronger, if I gain through strengthening existing muscles then I've achieved my goal.

    Just find a resistance training program that is focused on progressive overload. Really the only way to get stronger is resistance. So body weight, dumbbell, barbell.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    I'm finding my way around the forums, so maybe I'm not in the right place. I'm not hoping to make massive gains but stay fairly lean and build strength.

    For example, Andy Speers or Chris Hearia, not big guys but lean and fairly strong. I can barely do 2 pull ups at the moment, hence body weight work in lock down post T25, maybe P90x3 when I can do a few more pull ups, which I'm working on :D
    I'm finding my way around the forums, so maybe I'm not in the right place. I'm not hoping to make massive gains but stay fairly lean and build strength.

    For example, Andy Speers or Chris Hearia, not big guys but lean and fairly strong. I can barely do 2 pull ups at the moment, hence body weight work in lock down post T25, maybe P90x3 when I can do a few more pull ups, which I'm working on :D

    P90X3 is very minimal resistance training. Its basic and short. Bodybeast or AthleanX Zero would be a better option.
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I'm finding my way around the forums, so maybe I'm not in the right place. I'm not hoping to make massive gains but stay fairly lean and build strength.

    For example, Andy Speers or Chris Hearia, not big guys but lean and fairly strong. I can barely do 2 pull ups at the moment, hence body weight work in lock down post T25, maybe P90x3 when I can do a few more pull ups, which I'm working on :D
    I'm finding my way around the forums, so maybe I'm not in the right place. I'm not hoping to make massive gains but stay fairly lean and build strength.

    For example, Andy Speers or Chris Hearia, not big guys but lean and fairly strong. I can barely do 2 pull ups at the moment, hence body weight work in lock down post T25, maybe P90x3 when I can do a few more pull ups, which I'm working on :D

    P90X3 is very minimal resistance training. Its basic and short. Bodybeast or AthleanX Zero would be a better option.

    Thanks, will take a look at those 👍
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    KHMcG wrote: »
    Yep like Jeff Caveleire Athlean X?

    That's what I'm doing. Only I am getting there from the excess fat side. FR sent.

    Just had a look at Jeff, I'm not worried about bulking to that size! Also at 40 it might be a big challenge for a thin weedy marathon runner!
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    Don't underestimate what you can do. I'm 48 years old. Been working on it for 4 years now. You can do it too!

    8uds1k3ek4mn.jpg
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    KHMcG wrote: »
    Don't underestimate what you can do. I'm 48 years old. Been working on it for 4 years now. You can do it too!

    8uds1k3ek4mn.jpg

    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    KHMcG wrote: »
    Don't underestimate what you can do. I'm 48 years old. Been working on it for 4 years now. You can do it too!

    8uds1k3ek4mn.jpg

    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.

    I'm pretty sure he accomplished what he did with a lot of bodyweight exercise and minimal equipment.
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    edited May 2020
    KHMcG wrote: »
    Don't underestimate what you can do. I'm 48 years old. Been working on it for 4 years now. You can do it too!

    8uds1k3ek4mn.jpg

    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.

    That all I do. I have 4 kids at home and a very involved career.

    I am not against big lifters I'm just not that guy.
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    KHMcG wrote: »
    KHMcG wrote: »
    Don't underestimate what you can do. I'm 48 years old. Been working on it for 4 years now. You can do it too!

    8uds1k3ek4mn.jpg

    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.

    That all I do. I have 4 kids at home and a very involved career.

    I am not against big lifters I'm just not that guy.

    Cool, I thought you were agreeing reference the beast workout, where you require ez bars and benches etc. Happy to hear you did it on mostly bodyweight resistance training at 40+.

    And you had to trump me on the kid count ;)
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    There is growing group of us older guys doing this.

    Search for Midlife Crisis Fitness in the groups section.
  • fanncy0626
    fanncy0626 Posts: 7,080 Member
    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.

    Get kettlebells. I use them and follow Paval Tsatsouline. Google strongFirst he is chairman of that fitness organization. They train Navy Seals. Read his book Simple & Sinister. You will get amazing results!

  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    fanncy0626 wrote: »
    Fair play on those stats.

    My issue really is that I lack the equipment at home and have a 5 year old and 10 month old, not an excuse but I need something fairly quick and I don't have benches or larger dumbbells like you see in some of the workouts.

    I'm reliant on bodyweight.

    Get kettlebells. I use them and follow Paval Tsatsouline. Google strongFirst he is chairman of that fitness organization. They train Navy Seals. Read his book Simple & Sinister. You will get amazing results!

    I have a few kettlebells, will take a look at that as well, thanks.
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    Week 1 on maintenance cals and todays weight was the same as last Thursday, so a good start. I'm wondering if body recomp is right for me being lean and as said above 'under muscle'
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Week 1 on maintenance cals and todays weight was the same as last Thursday, so a good start. I'm wondering if body recomp is right for me being lean and as said above 'under muscle'

    If recomp was the right choice for you a week ago it's right for you for at least a period of months!

    You really do need to seriously think about and set your desired goal physique and fitness capabilities before choosing the tools and methods to get there as well as making the time commitment.

    If you commit to having a similar physique to Andy Speers or Chris Hearia that you mention you have to train well, long and hard. Being lean already you have the advantage that interim progress will show far more quickly that if you were carrying a layer of fat. You would also probably have to accept that it would compromise your long distance running ability somewhat. That balance and compromise is yours alone to decide and also where to decide when to stop building muscle. No-one gets that physique accidentally.

    (e.g. I would love to have a far better power to weight ratio for my cycling performance but I'm not willing to aspire to an elite cyclist's physique or to diet so hard to get there. Compromise.)
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Week 1 on maintenance cals and todays weight was the same as last Thursday, so a good start. I'm wondering if body recomp is right for me being lean and as said above 'under muscle'

    If recomp was the right choice for you a week ago it's right for you for at least a period of months!

    You really do need to seriously think about and set your desired goal physique and fitness capabilities before choosing the tools and methods to get there as well as making the time commitment.

    If you commit to having a similar physique to Andy Speers or Chris Hearia that you mention you have to train well, long and hard. Being lean already you have the advantage that interim progress will show far more quickly that if you were carrying a layer of fat. You would also probably have to accept that it would compromise your long distance running ability somewhat. That balance and compromise is yours alone to decide and also where to decide when to stop building muscle. No-one gets that physique accidentally.

    (e.g. I would love to have a far better power to weight ratio for my cycling performance but I'm not willing to aspire to an elite cyclist's physique or to diet so hard to get there. Compromise.)

    Thanks @sijomial training hard and long is not an issue, I trained for a sub 3 marathon and that was 70+ miles a week up to 3 hours running in one day, so this should be less time.

    I may have not been clear above, I see lots of people talking about recomp as they are heavier and want to stay the same weight but change the muscle/BF ratio. Whereas I'm fairly lean so it's not such a ratio change.

    I'm trying to set small goals, it worked well with running and I think is the same for this, however, overall goal is low BF and stronger. Think calisthenics, being able to do multiple pull ups, dips, handstands maybe - not lumping big weights around the gym to get size as such. Does that make sense?

    As for long distance running, I've achieve my goal there, so time to challenge myself elsewhere and maybe just run the odd 5km.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member

    I may have not been clear above, I see lots of people talking about recomp as they are heavier and want to stay the same weight but change the muscle/BF ratio. Whereas I'm fairly lean so it's not such a ratio change.

    You can most probably get much stronger without changing your body composition much at all. Most novice lifters don't initially gain much if any muscle until they have adapted their central nervous system to more effectively use/activate what they already have. This gain in strength is sometimes quite linear and dramatic at first. Once you've maximized those CNS adaptations and are still unable to meet your goals for these calisthentic type movements then you would have to increase your overall muscle mass to keep improving.

    You do make a point about who generally benefits most from body recomposition. You need to decide what type of aesthetic you are aiming for. Maybe you don't want to be massive like a bodybuilder but you might want to have a more athletic and pleasing look. How much will you have to weigh to acheive that look and aesthetic? If you are pretty much already at that weight and just need to change composition - recomp will work, keeping in mind it is the slowest way to achieve most gains. However, if that body you want is going to require a significant increase in body mass, then recomp, by it's very nature, is not going to get you there. Also, being relatively lean means your body has less stored energy resources to use and an already slow process is going to be even slower.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,718 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Week 1 on maintenance cals and todays weight was the same as last Thursday, so a good start. I'm wondering if body recomp is right for me being lean and as said above 'under muscle'

    If recomp was the right choice for you a week ago it's right for you for at least a period of months!

    You really do need to seriously think about and set your desired goal physique and fitness capabilities before choosing the tools and methods to get there as well as making the time commitment.

    If you commit to having a similar physique to Andy Speers or Chris Hearia that you mention you have to train well, long and hard. Being lean already you have the advantage that interim progress will show far more quickly that if you were carrying a layer of fat. You would also probably have to accept that it would compromise your long distance running ability somewhat. That balance and compromise is yours alone to decide and also where to decide when to stop building muscle. No-one gets that physique accidentally.

    (e.g. I would love to have a far better power to weight ratio for my cycling performance but I'm not willing to aspire to an elite cyclist's physique or to diet so hard to get there. Compromise.)

    Thanks @sijomial training hard and long is not an issue, I trained for a sub 3 marathon and that was 70+ miles a week up to 3 hours running in one day, so this should be less time.

    I may have not been clear above, I see lots of people talking about recomp as they are heavier and want to stay the same weight but change the muscle/BF ratio. Whereas I'm fairly lean so it's not such a ratio change.

    I'm trying to set small goals, it worked well with running and I think is the same for this, however, overall goal is low BF and stronger. Think calisthenics, being able to do multiple pull ups, dips, handstands maybe - not lumping big weights around the gym to get size as such. Does that make sense?

    As for long distance running, I've achieve my goal there, so time to challenge myself elsewhere and maybe just run the odd 5km.

    OK, so now I'm confused (about the bolded).

    On your other thread**, from which we suggested you come here, you said:
    Sorry that wasn't clear, I'm don't have loads to lose, so by upping my training which is well within my capabilities and sitting at maintenance I'm hoping to see body changes that are reduced bf% and a few gains.

    If you want "reduced bf% and a few gains", how is that different from "stay the same weight but change the muscle/BF ratio"? That you're already pretty lean may put you at a little different point on the sliding scale of BF/muscle ratio than some other folks, but if you want lower body fat, and you don't want to lose much more weight . . . what is the option you're looking for, other than to add some muscle mass, while reducing your (admittedly already fairly small) fat stores?

    Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought you were saying that you were valuing your running performance, so don't really want to add body fat to add muscle faster (via a bulk & cut strategy).

    If that's so . . . how would you reduce body fat and make gains - assuming you mean muscle gains - simultaneously, without changing the muscle/BF ratio? What strategy would achieve that if not eating at maintenance (or maybe a very small increment above current maintenance) while increasing strength training more than your previous baseline?

    Like I said, now I'm confused about your goals and your view of tradeoffs.

    ** https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10795313/changed-goal-from-1kg-a-week-to-0-75kg-with-zero-weight-loss
  • richiechowns
    richiechowns Posts: 155 Member
    jseams1234 wrote: »

    I may have not been clear above, I see lots of people talking about recomp as they are heavier and want to stay the same weight but change the muscle/BF ratio. Whereas I'm fairly lean so it's not such a ratio change.

    You can most probably get much stronger without changing your body composition much at all. Most novice lifters don't initially gain much if any muscle until they have adapted their central nervous system to more effectively use/activate what they already have. This gain in strength is sometimes quite linear and dramatic at first. Once you've maximized those CNS adaptations and are still unable to meet your goals for these calisthentic type movements then you would have to increase your overall muscle mass to keep improving.

    You do make a point about who generally benefits most from body recomposition. You need to decide what type of aesthetic you are aiming for. Maybe you don't want to be massive like a bodybuilder but you might want to have a more athletic and pleasing look. How much will you have to weigh to acheive that look and aesthetic? If you are pretty much already at that weight and just need to change composition - recomp will work, keeping in mind it is the slowest way to achieve most gains. However, if that body you want is going to require a significant increase in body mass, then recomp, by it's very nature, is not going to get you there. Also, being relatively lean means your body has less stored energy resources to use and an already slow process is going to be even slower.

    I've decided I want to be lean but stronger, more muscular, there are loads of examples, the two I mentioned above and Frank Medrano for example. These guys are lean, muscular but not massive.