Is it possible to eat at maintenance and still lower body fat percentage?

[GreyArea]

inb4 "read the stickies" (which I did)

I want to know if this is possible. If you eat at maintenance, you'll stay at the same overall weight. But if you, say, add intense cardio sessions or lifting sessions if you've never done them before, will you lower you body fat percentage? I am very new to lifting, and I've been off of cardio for several months, so I wonder if adding these elements will affect my body composition even though I'm just eating at maintenance.

[WonderPug]

Yes. The process is known as a recomposition.

That said, it's hard to accomplish and, even if executed perfectly, it's generally vastly less efficient than using bulking and cutting cycles.

[bobdole12]

Yes. The process is known as a recomposition.

That said, it's hard to accomplish and, even if executed perfectly, it's generally vastly less efficient than using bulking and cutting cycles.

Unless you're new to bodybuilding, where you're early gains may 'seem' to make up for the lack of excess calories required for muscle growth as seen in a bulk.

[necon76]

Unless you're new to bodybuilding, where you're early gains may 'seem' to make up for the lack of excess calories required for muscle growth as seen in a bulk.

More likely to be neural adaptations & increased glycogen retention than actual muscle tissue growth though.

[Bejizzle]

More likely to be neural adaptations & increased glycogen retention than actual muscle tissue growth though.

Not true when absolute muscle size is still present even in a glycogen-depleted state. I've never heard this excuse before by the way.

To the OP, yes, it is certainly possible early in your routine before you start approaching the more advanced stages towards your genetic potential. I agree that it's certainly easier to bulk and cut but if you want to stay lean year round then this is a good option. Check out the leangains website for some testimonials. People have made good gains this way. AT the end of the day, it depends on your goals. If you aren't necessarily trying to "bulk up", but just build a lean, musclular physique and look good for the ladies, then you may want to consider a recomp. Just try it out, if it doesn't work, then bulk. Don't let anyone defeat or discourage you before you even try as others have had good success with recomping.

[Andrew_S]

If you're eating at maintenance and THEN add in exercise, it will create a deficit and you'll lose weight. That's a cut. Maintenance takes into account your activity and exercise, so if you're not eating enough to support your new exercise program, you won't be eating enough to stay the same or bulk, but will lose weight (slowly unless you're doing a lot of cardio).

[necon76]

Not true when absolute muscle size is still present even in a glycogen-depleted state. I've never heard this excuse before by the way.

What excuse? That's exactly what newb gains are. Rapid increases in strength brought on through learning motor patterns, & size increases from higher glycogen retention thus holding more water in the muscle. I'm not interested in what you've heard in your entire 6 months of training by the way.

Stop making arguments from nothing.

[WonderPug]

^ This x2.

[Bejizzle]

What excuse? That's exactly what newb gains are. Rapid increases in strength brought on through learning motor patterns, & size increases from higher glycogen retention thus holding more water in the muscle. I'm not interested in what you've heard in your entire 6 months of training by the way.

Stop making arguments from nothing.

I was talking about how one can build muscle from eating at maintenance. Anyways, I admit to misunderstanding your point since it was unnecessary to make (I figured "new to training" meant, as in my case, within the first year). Gains from neural adaptations necessarily occur within the first several weeks because muscle doesn't grow over night. First you get the strength gains and the muscle follows. Common sense. Wasn't trying to argue with you, you're just being too defensive.

[KingJames2012]

I was talking about how one can build muscle from eating at maintenance. Anyways, I admit to misunderstanding your point since it was unnecessary to make (I figured "new to training" meant, as in my case, within the first year). Gains from neural adaptations necessarily occur within the first several weeks because muscle doesn't grow over night. First you get the strength gains and the muscle follows. Common sense. Wasn't trying to argue with you, you're just being too defensive.

Maybe everything you say has an argumentative tone?

[Bejizzle]

^Maybe. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Not true when absolute muscle size is still present even in a glycogen-depleted state. I've never heard this excuse before by the way.

To the OP, yes, it is certainly possible early in your routine before you start approaching the more advanced stages towards your genetic potential. I agree that it's certainly easier to bulk and cut but if you want to stay lean year round then this is a good option. Check out the leangains website for some testimonials. People have made good gains this way. AT the end of the day, it depends on your goals. If you aren't necessarily trying to "bulk up", but just build a lean, musclular physique and look good for the ladies, then you may want to consider a recomp. Just try it out, if it doesn't work, then bulk. Don't let anyone defeat or discourage you before you even try as others have had good success with recomping.

Neural adaptations and increased glycogen storage aren't excuses they are well documented realities of trainings effects on the body.

Nobody is trying to defeat the OP, just pointing out the pitfalls of a slow and tedious process.

OP do you like small returns for hard work? If you do then re-comping is the way to go. Inefficient, tiring, and with tiny increments of positive feedback. You can absolutely re-comp, but its a horrible waste of time and energy.

Getting your body to grow muscle is hard enough in a surplus. Go read the thousands of journals with people beating the hell out of themselves in a surplus struggling to get some growth going, compare their workouts to yours. Then ask yourself if you are really going to out work and outperform them at maintenance, while many of them are 200-800 calories in surplus? Will outperforming them be easier with less fuel?

[GreyArea]

Not true when absolute muscle size is still present even in a glycogen-depleted state. I've never heard this excuse before by the way.

To the OP, yes, it is certainly possible early in your routine before you start approaching the more advanced stages towards your genetic potential. I agree that it's certainly easier to bulk and cut but if you want to stay lean year round then this is a good option. Check out the leangains website for some testimonials. People have made good gains this way. AT the end of the day, it depends on your goals. If you aren't necessarily trying to "bulk up", but just build a lean, musclular physique and look good for the ladies, then you may want to consider a recomp. Just try it out, if it doesn't work, then bulk. Don't let anyone defeat or discourage you before you even try as others have had good success with recomping.

Cool. So it is possible, albeit slow. Really, my goal is to get from 17% bf to a more athletic bf (10-12%). I don't feel comfortable bulking because I've already got pudge, and I don't wanna cut because, overall, I don't weigh much (150 at 5'7.5") and I'm not very strong.

Because I have just started lifting (only one cycle of All Pro's) and I haven't done cardio up to this point, I think the continued lifting, cardio, and cleaner diet will benefit me greatly.

[necon76]

Cool. So it is possible, albeit slow. Really, my goal is to get from 17% bf to a more athletic bf (10-12%). I don't feel comfortable bulking because I've already got pudge, and I don't wanna cut because, overall, I don't weigh much (150 at 5'7.5") and I'm not very strong.

Because I have just started lifting (only one cycle of All Pro's) and I haven't done cardio up to this point, I think the continued lifting, cardio, and cleaner diet will benefit me greatly.

Can't tell you what to do, but I strongly suggest you check this out. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=148733753


And I can't see how pudgy you could really be at 150.

[JackedPlusRich]

Cool. So it is possible, albeit slow. Really, my goal is to get from 17% bf to a more athletic bf (10-12%). I don't feel comfortable bulking because I've already got pudge, and I don't wanna cut because, overall, I don't weigh much (150 at 5'7.5") and I'm not very strong.

Because I have just started lifting (only one cycle of All Pro's) and I haven't done cardio up to this point, I think the continued lifting, cardio, and cleaner diet will benefit me greatly.

Good luck with your getting nowhere and likely quitting before 2014 goals!

I've have literally lost count of the number of people I have told that recomping is stupid. If it was an effective way to bodybuild then literally everyone would be doing it, obviously everyone would love to be getting leaner and bigger all the time, but it's slow, ineffective and simply DOES NOT WORK for a lot of people.

Sigh.

[layarph]

^Maybe. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

I sincerely hope, for the sake of people around you, that you aren't like this outside of this forum. I have never said this to anyone, but you are actually the definition of a b*tch.

You argue things that aren't there, for the sake of it ... you're like a chick off teen mom.

[WonderPug]

What's sad is the OP appears to be listening to the poster that is providing clearly erroneous information and, thus, he is likely to waste months and months of effort.