Recomposition Assistance

[act2234]

I have been tracking my macros for a little over a year now, experimenting to figure out what works and what doesn't for my body. I usually average a 37-40-23 (C,F,P) despite the dietary adjustments I make, but I've found that I can successfully lose about 2 pounds per week at that ratio with caloric restriction and strength training 4-6 days per week (upper/lower-body splits), sometimes throwing in 25 minutes or less of cardio 1-3 times per week.

When I diet I lose about 18% muscle - 1.8 pounds of muscle for every ten total lost. Whenever I try to gain muscle, it seems like I add some with a lot of fat (maybe the low protein ratio?) never breaking that 18% loss (I add 1.8 pounds or less of muscle for every 10 pounds gained). I'm happy with the weight I've gotten myself to (~190) and feel "muscular" but I'd like to have better definition. I've been down as low as 175 in the last six months, but that was also at a lower lean weight which left me feeling small.

Can anyone suggest a workout plan and/or dietary recommendations that would help to get me to about 12%BF at my current lean mass of 150#s? That would put me at an approx. total weight of 170.

Thanks.

[rossb88]

You need more protein for sure.

[bklein28]

May also help to ditch the "ratio" of your C, F, P. Go with a minimum protein of .8g and a minimum fat of .4g per pound of body weight. Fill in the rest of your calories with whatever you like.

[dipatel13]

How are you determining your "consistent" 1.8lbs of muscle loss?

[act2234]

How are you determining your "consistent" 1.8lbs of muscle loss?

It's an averaged ratio over the last year (18%). The 1.8 was just for explaining purposes (18% = 1.8 pounds for every 10 total lost). I have experimented with tweaks to my diet and with my workouts (both structure and frequency) which has resulted in more muscle loss or less muscle loss, but I averaged all of that to result in a drop in lean mass of 7 pounds when I lost 38 total. Went from 30%BF at 225# to 16% at 176.

[dipatel13]

It's an averaged ratio over the last year (18%). The 1.8 was just for explaining purposes (18% = 1.8 pounds for every 10 total lost). I have experimented with tweaks to my diet and with my workouts (both structure and frequency) which has resulted in more muscle loss or less muscle loss, but I averaged all of that to result in a drop in lean mass of 7 pounds when I lost 38 total. Went from 30%BF at 225# to 16% at 176.

Are you using some handheld bf% device or an online calculator? These methods can be wildly inaccurate.

Eat minimum of .8g/lb protein and .4g/lb fat, lift heavy, maintain adequate deficit. Read more here: Calculating Calories and Macronutrients

[act2234]

Are you using some handheld bf% device or an online calculator? These methods can be wildly inaccurate.

Both, sort of. The readings were taken with a bio-electrical impedance scale, at the same time every month and at approximately the same hydration level. To account for error in the method (I think they're right some 80% of the time) I would also compare using the Navy's bodyfat calculation method, which always came within +/-2% of where the scale was reading.

That thread is very comprehensive; I'll read through it more later.