Maintenance with recomp, bulk or cut?

rickifaidley wrote: »

is it possible to eat at maintenance and gain muscle and lose fat?

It's not just possible - it's normal for someone training effectively and maintaining (roughly) the same weight. That a few highly trained individuals need to do cut/bulk cycles to progress doesn't translate to the general population needing to. They may choose or prefer to of course - but that's not the same as need.

And eating at maintenance doesn't have to mean every day eating at maintenance calories, your body doesn't "know" you are eating at maintenance, just over, just under and there's no mode switches that kick in at/around your average TDEE that switches on/switches off muscle growth.

Should you eat more depends on your goals, including your weight, short and long term.

rickifaidley wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Yes you can build muscle and lose fat over time with recomp. If you are maintaining your weight and getting enough protein and progressively stimulating your muscles. This thread can help explain it:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

In the end it depends on your goals and what you want to achieve.

I drink whey protein shake (60g of protein) after my workout. Thank you for the thread! I’m mainly looking to get more definition!

I would say more important is to look at your overall protein, I would aim for minimum 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight for optimal muscle building.

And definition will come from losing fat revealing muscle. You would need to have a decent amount of muscle to show. Recomp can definitely achieve that or a slight deficit depending on your stats

rickifaidley wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

rickifaidley wrote: »

is it possible to eat at maintenance and gain muscle and lose fat?

It's not just possible - it's normal for someone training effectively and maintaining (roughly) the same weight. That a few highly trained individuals need to do cut/bulk cycles to progress doesn't translate to the general population needing to. They may choose or prefer to of course - but that's not the same as need.

And eating at maintenance doesn't have to mean every day eating at maintenance calories, your body doesn't "know" you are eating at maintenance, just over, just under and there's no mode switches that kick in at/around your average TDEE that switches on/switches off muscle growth.

Should you eat more depends on your goals, including your weight, short and long term.

Well I’ve been eating around the same calories for 3 years now just recently upped my calorie Intake when I increased my exercise. I eat at maintenance but I include whey protein shakes in there. I’m looking to get definition, not so much of gaining muscle

As you are trying to add definition then it's cut (slowly) or maintain - not bulking.

rickifaidley wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

rickifaidley wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Yes you can build muscle and lose fat over time with recomp. If you are maintaining your weight and getting enough protein and progressively stimulating your muscles. This thread can help explain it:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

In the end it depends on your goals and what you want to achieve.

I drink whey protein shake (60g of protein) after my workout. Thank you for the thread! I’m mainly looking to get more definition!

I would say more important is to look at your overall protein, I would aim for minimum 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight for optimal muscle building.

I don’t really eat much protein because I have such a small window sometimes to cook and a very small window to eat so that’s why I included the whey protein shakes

Layne Norton covers a lot of information on recomp and it is an advanced bodybuilding technique for people that have built muscle.

Instead of crosstraining and doing isolation exercises for hours a day, choose a beginner routine. Starting Strength, StrongLifts or ICF 5x5.
You are doing what I did for years by doing random workouts everyday and that’s similar to playing the lottery without having a vision of what you will do with the winnings.

You have to have a foundation of strength before cutting unless you want to look like an endurance athlete.

If you are more interested in Calisthenics, check out Get Strong by the Kavaldo brothers which is a progressive calisthenics routine for beginners.

cgvet37 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

rickifaidley wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Yes you can build muscle and lose fat over time with recomp. If you are maintaining your weight and getting enough protein and progressively stimulating your muscles. This thread can help explain it:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

In the end it depends on your goals and what you want to achieve.

I drink whey protein shake (60g of protein) after my workout. Thank you for the thread! I’m mainly looking to get more definition!

I would say more important is to look at your overall protein, I would aim for minimum 0.8-1g per lb bodyweight for optimal muscle building.

And definition will come from losing fat revealing muscle. You would need to have a decent amount of muscle to show. Recomp can definitely achieve that or a slight deficit depending on your stats

Just to clarify, .8-1g per lean body mass, not total weight.

I usually go by goalweight if the person has a lot to lose since most people don't know their lean body mass and it's an estimate anyways. But if the person is close to goal or trying to gain (recomp or bulk) I say bodyweight. Again it's all a range, really.