20% body fat, 47% muscle mass- Cut or Recomposition?

[Adrenaline91]

5’11, 202 pound male.

18.4kg (19.8%) body fat and 43kg (47%) skeletal muscle mass.

I only just started dieting on a 500-600 calorie deficit with over 1g protein per lb of body weight and training hard 3-4 times a week in the last month.

With these stats should I be going for a slower cut to try to bring that muscle out? Or would a recomposition be better seem I only just started training and dieting seriously again?

[SuffolkPunch]

Stick with a 500 deficit. 19% means you have a fair amount of weight to shift.

You should still be able to make some progress in your training at the same time.

[Adrenaline91]

Thanks for that.

Any idea how much muscle mass I should expect to lose on the way down to 10-12% if I stay at a 500 deficit?

[SuffolkPunch]

If you curtail your deficit as you get below 14% then you shouldn't lose any measurable muscle mass. For now, 5-600 cals is OK.

[1MANU]

Do you have a pic of your current physique?

[Adrenaline91]

If you curtail your deficit as you get below 14% then you shouldn't lose any measurable muscle mass. For now, 5-600 cals is OK.

Ok, thanks mate. Go down to 300ish deficit after 14%?

[Adrenaline91]

Do you have a pic of your current physique?

There’s a few recent photos on my body space. Let me know what you think man.

One more question- I almost look like a different person with a pump and/or flexing compared to my every day relaxed body. Is this due to the higher body fat too?

[1MANU]

There’s a few recent photos on my body space. Let me know what you think man.

One more question- I almost look like a different person with a pump and/or flexing compared to my every day relaxed body. Is this due to the higher body fat too?

No back or legs pics. Huge pet peeve of mine.

I suppose you could drop 10-12lbs if you wanted then do a long sustained bulk. I would aim for a 300-400 calorie deficit. You will drop fat and allow some buffer to further drop calories if needed down the road. Never maximize all your tools at the beginning of a cut.

Pumped/flex/post training always will looks better. Relaxed will look better as your muscle/fat ratio improves.

[Adrenaline91]

No back or legs pics. Huge pet peeve of mine.

I suppose you could drop 10-12lbs if you wanted then do a long sustained bulk. I would aim for a 300-400 calorie deficit. You will drop fat and allow some buffer to further drop calories if needed down the road. Never maximize all your tools at the beginning of a cut.

Pumped/flex/post training always will looks better. Relaxed will look better as your muscle/fat ratio improves.

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. I’ll definitely cut down below 15% body fat before I do anything else, no matter how long it takes.

My current macros are

Calories: 2335
Protein: 224g (47%)
Carbs: 188g (40%)
Fats: 65g (13%)

Does this look like an adequate balance for maximum cutting potential?

[AdamWW]

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. I’ll definitely cut down below 15% body fat before I do anything else, no matter how long it takes.

My current macros are

Calories: 2335
Protein: 224g (47%)
Carbs: 188g (40%)
Fats: 65g (13%)

Does this look like an adequate balance for maximum cutting potential?

That’s far more protein than you’d ever need dude

[Adrenaline91]

That’s far more protein than you’d ever need dude

I’m 202lbs so was going by the guide of 1g protein per pound of body weight. Is this incorrect? I realise it’s about 20g over that but that’s just the way it fell with my meal plans, and I figured it can’t hurt?

Was more worried about carbohydrates being too high for someone trying to cut body fat...

[HangingChad]

I’m 202lbs so was going by the guide of 1g protein per pound of body weight. Is this incorrect? I realise it’s about 20g over that but that’s just the way it fell with my meal plans, and I figured it can’t hurt?

Was more worried about carbohydrates being too high for someone trying to cut body fat...

Looks really good to me, plus protein is good for satiety. I always go high protein when cutting, it makes life so much easier. What's the harm? As long as a person gets enough he should do what works for him.

[1MANU]

I’m 202lbs so was going by the guide of 1g protein per pound of body weight. Is this incorrect? I realise it’s about 20g over that but that’s just the way it fell with my meal plans, and I figured it can’t hurt?

Was more worried about carbohydrates being too high for someone trying to cut body fat...

That's fine if that's your preference for protein. I always do the same 1g per lb of BW and call it a day. Plus I love protein rich foods so diet always trends in that direction.

Worry about your total caloric intake and staying in a consistent deficit.

[AdamWW]

I’m 202lbs so was going by the guide of 1g protein per pound of body weight. Is this incorrect? I realise it’s about 20g over that but that’s just the way it fell with my meal plans, and I figured it can’t hurt?

Was more worried about carbohydrates being too high for someone trying to cut body fat...

The rule of thumb for protein is not 1g/lb as a minimum... it’s more like 1g/lb of lean mass, or at the most 1g/lb of your target weight if you’re cutting.

Carbs have nothing to do with losing bodyfat. It’d called bodyFAT, not bodyCARBS...

Calorie balance is what matters... carbs are a source of calories... so is fat and protein.

Carb fear-mongering is utter nonsense whether you’re cutting or bulking unless you have some kind of metabolic disease.

[Tommy W.]

Forget recomp, it doesn't work most of the time. Concentrate a good sized weekly deficit while training hard with good protein. When you get to an acceptable state of leanness then reverse diet into a very slight surplus. Your maintenance will be lower than before when you were heavier so take this in consideration when reverse dieting so you don't run too big a surplus. If you see you're adding too much fat dial down your calories.

[Adrenaline91]

Thanks for the input guys.

Feels like I’m building a bit of muscle in a deficit already, more so than losing any substantial amount of fat, but I’m guessing that’s muscle memory from when I used to train hard. Hopefully my calories are low enough and if I persist the body fat will start to drop as well.

[WolfRose7]

Thanks for the input guys.

Feels like I’m building a bit of muscle in a deficit already, more so than losing any substantial amount of fat, but I’m guessing that’s muscle memory from when I used to train hard. Hopefully my calories are low enough and if I persist the body fat will start to drop as well.

Recomp/slow cut is fine, possibly even more productive mentally.
Since I've returned to training in the last 4 months or so, I've slowly dropped a couple of kg, and gone from well below old numbers to lots of lifetime PRs, and definitely some more muscle in places.

My only focus food wise was getting 4 decent protein servings.