Can I Gain Muscle and Lose Fat… AT THE SAME TIME? Part II
Posted by Michael Vacanti
In Part I, we learned that you cannot lose fat and gain muscle in the exact same moment (we are pretty sure), and pondering the issue is an utter waste of time and mental energy.
Therefore, you have three options for physique change:
- Muscle Gain
- Fat Loss
- Recomposition
Today, I am going to introduce you to a strategy that has proven to facilitate fat loss and muscle gain over a period of time.
Recomposition: What is it?
Body recomposition is a change in the weight of specific components within the human body: Fat, muscle, water, organs, bones, etc.
Recomposition, as it relates to a fitness, is a strategy used to increase muscle mass and decrease fat stores while maintaining the same body weight.
Maintaining the exact same body weight isn’t a sticking point to the definition as you will see in the examples I provide; slow weight gain or weight loss variations of recomp exist.
Now, unless you are an obese beginner, a steroid user or a person regaining previously possessed muscle mass, the only way to recomp is through calorie cycling.
Before any of that, I want you all to know that my first exposure to recomposition was through Martin Berkhan’s Lean Gains method. The guy is a pro.
Calorie Cycling
Calorie cycling is varying your caloric consumption (and macronutrient composition) day-by-day based on your training schedule.
Andy: 6’0″ 200 pound (or 91 kilo, I see you guys too 😉 ) male, 14% bodyfat and caloric maintenance of 2750.
1. Slow Bulk Recomp
2. Slow Cut Recomp
3. Straight Recomp
Training Day v Rest Day
Notice in all three examples you will eat a caloric surplus on training days and a caloric deficit on rest days. The purpose of this strategy is to capitalize on muscle growth opportunity by feeding your body a surplus of calories during recovery from training.
Therefore, it would be best to consume the majority of your daily calories after you train.
If you are unsure how to calculate your caloric maintenance, go here.
Recomposition: Pros and Cons
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Hormones
Recomposition has a positive effect on the levels of important hormones.
Dieting screws with your hormones. A caloric deficit leads to: Leptin, down. Thyroid, down. Testosterone, down. Cortisol, up. This is why diets incorporate “refeeds” or “cheat days”.
A refeed is a high calorie day (at or above maintenance) during a fat loss program, scheduled at a frequency dependent on the trainees bodyfat percentage.
The less body fat you have, the more frequently you should refeed as leptin production is driven by total fat storage. Thus, a lean person’s leptin levels will drop faster on a caloric deficit than an obese person’s, all else equal.
Recomposition effectively provides 3+ refeeds per week, keeping your hormones at levels more conducive to muscle gain and fat loss.
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Lookin’ good year-round
I mean, this is why you want to recomp, right? Who cares about hormones, recomposition is the closest thing to “converting fat to muscle”.
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Losing Some Gainzz
Recomposition does not yield the rate of muscle growth or fat loss that a traditional bulk/cut program will provide.
Remember, muscles don’t grow in the gym; they grow during recovery. Adequate sleep and a caloric surplus is what allows growth.
“But we are getting a caloric surplus!” you plead, hoping to rationalize something you know deep in your gut cannot be true – that you can gain the same amount of muscle on a recomp as a traditional bulk.
You can’t.
Your muscles aren’t fully recovered 16 hours after training. Duration of complete recovery depends on the intensity of your training (as well as a zillion other factors) and can span from 2-5 days.
So, when you are back on a deficit come Tuesday, you miss some of the recovery/growth that you would achieve on a traditional bulk.
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Lack of Routine
Human beings are creatures of habit. People resist change in all facets of life.
The psych experts say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. In a traditional fat loss program, you become accustomed to the lifestyle. Things start to click. You have your go-to foods, you know when you eat them and you know what to avoid. It becomes your new “normal”.
When bulk and cut days are sprayed at you rapid fire, things get confusing. Monday night, you eat a 12oz porterhouse steak and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. You are happy, full and sleep like a baby.
Tuesday night you are supposed to eat 2 grilled chicken breasts, 1 cup of spinach, 2T olive oil and some roma tomatoes? After you polish off dinner, which does little for your taste buds, your brain is like, “uh, what happened to that Half-Baked ice cream?”
Alternating between high calorie and low calorie days can be psychologically draining.
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It’s a Slow, Tedious Process
It takes incredible mental strength, willpower and most importantly – long term vision. You won’t get the daily/weekly satisfaction of visible change or training progression that a traditional fat loss or muscle gain program would provide.
How many calories above/below maintenance?
Mr. Berkhan recommends starting at a surplus/deficit of +20%/-20%.
In our example, Andy would have a (2750*20%) 550 calorie surplus/deficit. These numbers are just a starting point. They are not concrete, and you can move them around based on your goals.
For instance, +15%/-40% might make sense for a slow cut recomposition.
The important thing to focus on is your total surplus/deficit. If you choose to recomp with the primary goal of fat loss – make sure you have an overall deficit.
Macronutrients
This could be it’s own article, but we’ll keep it simple.
First, you don’t have to lose your mind tracking macros. If you hit your daily calorie target and protein goal, you are on the path to recomp success.
However, those of you willing to get a little nutty and keep each macronutrient in a specific range, here is how you do it:
Andy: 200lbs, 2750 maintenance.
Training Day Macros
- Calories: 3250
- Protein: 200*1 = 200g
- Fat: 3250*20% = 650 cals of fat. 650/9 = 72g
- Carbs: 3250 – (200*4) – (72*9) = 1800 cals of carbs. 1800/4 = 450g
Rest Day Macros
- Calories: 2375
- Protein: 200*1 = 200g
- Fat: 2375*40% = 950 cals of fat. 950/9 = 106g
- Carbs: 2375 – (200*4) – (106*9) = 625 cals of carbs. 625/4 = 156g
Note: If you are confused by this math, I’d check out the nutrition section of the beginner’s guide.
We can summarize this macronutrient cycling strategy as:
- Training day = high carb, low fat
- Rest day = low carb, high fat
Why do we do this?
When we are in a caloric surplus, fat is the macronutrient most easily stored as fat by the human body (carbs second, protein third). If you want to know why, here are 4,000 words of science. So, we keep fat low on training days.
However, fat also has countless benefits (related to inflammation, CNS, sex drive, etc), so on our rest days we increase fat intake. The numbers I used (20% and 40%) are just benchmarks – feel free to move them around.
Is Recomposition Right For Me?
- You want to gain muscle but are unwilling to gain ANY fat
- You are extremely disciplined and patient
- You’re already in decent shape. Bodyfat under 18% for guys – 28% for girls.
- You’re happy with your current physique
These qualities make a person a good candidate to recomp. But to be honest, I don’t think it is a great idea for most people.
MOST people are (a) not in a physical state where recomposition is the optimal strategy to achieve their goals and/or (b) not willing to dedicate themselves to the micromanaging nature of calorie cycling.
Patience and satisfaction with your current physique are important because, as mentioned above, recomposition is a slow, tedious process. I think the point is worth restating:
It takes incredible mental strength, willpower and most importantly – long term vision. You won’t get the daily/weekly satisfaction of visible change or training progression that a traditional fat loss or muscle gain program would provide.
But, if that list speaks to you, recomposition might be the best strategy for your goals.
Not a one-size-fits-all formula
I had a friend contact me about putting him on a program. His main concern was that if he lost too much fat his well tailored suits would no longer fit.
Extended periods of bulking and cutting weren’t appropriate for his goals. But, he is also the last person on earth I would trust to accurately cycle calories and macronutrients.
So, I recommended shorter, frequent bulk/cut cycles to keep his overall size consistent – a few weeks at a 300 cal/day surplus followed by 7-10 days at an 800-900 cal/day deficit.
The point is, there are infinite ways to do this stuff.
Final Thought
One important piece of advice I want to give: Pick a program based on your goals and stick with it. I see people changing their diet/training weekly or even daily. In the past, my own progress has suffered when I wavered between a surplus and a deficit.
Don’t let shortsightedness deter you from your long-term goals. Understand that your body is going to look different at various times irrespective of training and diet.
Hydration, lighting, a pump and 100 other factors could cause you to look huge, ripped or bloated. Remember that this is a long process that rewards consistency and discipline.
Brad
Also are you concerned with macros at each meal? Carbs used breakfast, pre and post? Or spread through the day? Separate fats and carb meals? You also said to use most calories post workout for recovery, so the ideal time to workout would be in the morning?September 16, 2013 at 1:14 pm |