A recomp problem

[kmankolb]

Im having a little bit of difficulty understanding exactly what recomp is. I've always been under the impression that you cannot add muscle mass while simultaneously losing fat. Is that not the case anymore?
For example if my maintenance was tdee was 2800 would i just eat at that level (maintenance) and continue going to the gym and hope that my body loses fat and gains muscle?

thanks

[dcmaggio]

Im having a little bit of difficulty understanding exactly what recomp is. I've always been under the impression that you cannot add muscle mass while simultaneously losing fat. Is that not the case anymore?
For example if my maintenance was tdee was 2800 would i just eat at that level (maintenance) and continue going to the gym and hope that my body loses fat and gains muscle?

thanks

Its never been impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at a time.

Its just usually easier to do one at a time.

For people who dont need a big change (ie someone who is like 11% bf and isnt scrawny) then they try to maintain their current weight while gaining muscle (lifting heavy + high protein diet) which would build muscle and lose fat.

If youre scrawny youre obviously better off doing a straight bulk, and if youre fat youre better off doing a cut

[Brayne]

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html


Fast. Train thrice a week. Eat 20% surplus on training days, 20% deficit on off days.

[jimsmith9999]

Unless you are very experienced, meticulous with you calorie counting and diet, you will likely be spinning your wheels trying to do this on your own.

Also - Martin (the Leangains guy) only recomps very lean people (at 10-12% BF or so) as he says you have to be lean to have the right hormonal response to do this. The leangains guide is also not how he does it (it was sort of what he did around 2008, but he has changed his ways a lot since then). He does low fat on all days, and cycles protein and carbs to make the caloric swings, which tend to be much lower than the +/-20% often cited (think +/- 300-500 calories). He also has insanely high protein intakes (think 300g ranges). Most of this info is from client testemonials and logs floating around the web btw (which are more recent than the leangains guide)