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Recomp tracking?

BulkMeUp

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What should i be looking for while doing a recomp? In the past 2-3weeks neither my bf% nor weight has changed. Nor has my waist size. My lifts are doing well.

So should i try hold the same weight and keep lifting assuming the bf will go down? or simply lower cals a bit (~100cals or 5%) until bf and weight starts to go down. Or lower a bit cals on cardio days only and not on weight days? Of course, all the while trying to lift as much or more.
 
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BulkMeUp said:
So should i try hold the same weight and keep lifting assuming the bf will go down? or simply lower cals a bit (~100cals or 5%) until bf and weight starts to go down. Or lower a bit cals on cardio days only and not on weight days? Of course, all the while trying to lift as much or more.
Certainly try to hold your weight steady.

There are a few things you can do -
1. sit tight and see how things go over another 3 weeks.
2. decrease your cals slightly (100-200) or just clean up your diet (take out all the extra's and swap 'not the best' food for 'better' choices.
3. Alter your macro-ratio's for a few weeks
4. add in a little more cardio/shake things up a bit with different cadio
5. alter your weights routine to shake things up a bit (if you have been doing the same routine for >8 weeks you probably need a change).
Then re-assess in another 2 to 3 weeks.
 
Emma-Leigh said:
Certainly try to hold your weight steady.

There are a few things you can do -
1. sit tight and see how things go over another 3 weeks.
Ok, will give it another 3 weeks.

Emma-Leigh said:
2. decrease your cals slightly (100-200) or just clean up your diet (take out all the extra's and swap 'not the best' food for 'better' choices.
Diet is as clean as can be. Strictly adhering to the diet we discussed earlier. I changed it a bit to adjust the protein and fats as per LBM. Just waiting to get my correct bf from the DEXA to run the diet by you. The @#$@ nurse always has an excuse as to why she hasnt recieved it yet :mad:

Emma-Leigh said:
3. Alter your macro-ratio's for a few weeks
Present macros are 45c/25f/30p. will keep an eye on that.

Emma-Leigh said:
4. add in a little more cardio/shake things up a bit with different cadio
Presently doint HIIT (3x/week). Just finished week 2. So HIIT is at 6mins (+3min warm up + 2min cooldown). Will be increasing it by 1min each week, so next week will be 7 mins. Last i did cardio/HIIT was 4months ago. Should i ditch the HIIT and try something else?

Emma-Leigh said:
5. alter your weights routine to shake things up a bit (if you have been doing the same routine for >8 weeks you probably need a change).
Then re-assess in another 2 to 3 weeks.
:hmmm: This might be what i need to change. I did legs/push/pull for 7 weeks (late jan-early mar) then took a 2week break. I decided to continue the same routine as i thought it would be the best way to tell if my lifts were upto par or if i was loosing. Maybe i should rework my routine as well. Probably same routine format with diff exercises? or a totally diff routine? what do you suggest?
 
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Do you really count calories to within 100? That's psychotic. Then again I eat in the dorms so its kinda hard to know what I am eating. I would keep the HIIT. I love that shit. Except your not doing it long enough. You should be starting off less intense like jog run intervals for atleast 15 minutes. Doing HIIT for 6 minutes is not enough.
 
Cuting 100 calories is like cutting a Nutri Grain bar out of your diet. Not going to do to much.
 
WilliamB said:
Cuting 100 calories is like cutting a Nutri Grain bar out of your diet. Not going to do to much.
Depends on your overall calorie intake - for someone eating 1400 cals a day, 100 cals is a significant amount (7% of their total intake).

But for someone eating 3500 cals a day - then you are correct - 100 cals may not do much.


And in terms of HIIT - if you do it correctly then you can get a HUGE benefit from short sessions. 6 minutes may well be enough (in conjunction with adequate warm up and cool down). Also, in the true sense of HIIT, then you would be lucky to last longer than about 10-15 minutes. Maybe if you were just doing intervals - yes, you could do more, but HIIT - not really... (the HI is the important bit ;) ).
 
BulkMeUp said:
Diet is as clean as can be. Strictly adhering to the diet we discussed earlier. I changed it a bit to adjust the protein and fats as per LBM. Just waiting to get my correct bf from the DEXA to run the diet by you.
Right - let me know when you get it.


Presently doint HIIT (3x/week). Just finished week 2. So HIIT is at 6mins (+3min warm up + 2min cooldown). Will be increasing it by 1min each week, so next week will be 7 mins. Last i did cardio/HIIT was 4months ago. Should i ditch the HIIT and try something else?
You could switch things up for a few weeks - do 2 sessions/week of HIIT and add in one longer session of 30 min steady state (80% max). See how that works for you.

You could also do something like:
2 x HIIT
1 x longer high intensity (30 min @ 80% max)
1 x long lower intensity (45-60 mins @ 60-75%)

Sure, the longer session is not going to have a huge after-burn effect, but these types of sessions are good for their calorie burning at the time - as well as for stimulating things such as better/more efficient nutrient partitioning (which means better glucose disposal) and increased cardiovascular health and blood flow to muscles (which gives you better weights workouts).

:hmmm: This might be what i need to change. I did legs/push/pull for 7 weeks (late jan-early mar) then took a 2week break. I decided to continue the same routine as i thought it would be the best way to tell if my lifts were upto par or if i was loosing. Maybe i should rework my routine as well. Probably same routine format with diff exercises? or a totally diff routine? what do you suggest?
Then the least I would suggest is altering the exercises you are doing. After you do the same thing about 6-8 times your body will decrease it's responses and you will start to stagnate. So, if you want to change something, something has to change - this is why progressive training works - your body never adapts because it is constantly stressed.

You could look into different routines as well (there are a plethora to pick from) and see if anything jumps out at you. Basically, I would suggest that the more muscles you move each session - the better! More muscles = more metabolic advantages.
 
WilliamB said:
Do you really count calories to within 100? That's psychotic. Then again I eat in the dorms so its kinda hard to know what I am eating.
call me a Pascho, but yes i do calc ALL meals. I usually cook up a bunch of stuff on sunday and pack my meals and shakes for the week. I use a digital weighing scale to measure out all meals. I have been winging it for years and am sick and tired of doing that. Time to get really serious and see serious results, coz i'm not getting any younger! :p

I am at 2550 cals so 100 cals is ~4% diff!

WilliamB said:
I would keep the HIIT. I love that shit. Except your not doing it long enough. You should be starting off less intense like jog run intervals for atleast 15 minutes. Doing HIIT for 6 minutes is not enough.
Are you :crazy: 15 min jog and then HIIT. M'boy, here are my last HIIT session details:
Equip:Ellipitical

Warm up: 2+1 mins
Level : 1+1+3
rpm:40-45
Max heart rate BPM: 120

HIIT mins:6
low level:3 (15sec) rpm :40-45
high level:9 (45sec) rpm:110-115
max heart rate BPM:171

cooldown :2mins
level:1
End heart rate BPM:142

So i do 3x the level on the high(sprint) with 3x the rpm. Try your next session that way and let me know how u feel :D
 
Emma-Leigh said:
Then the least I would suggest is altering the exercises you are doing. After you do the same thing about 6-8 times your body will decrease it's responses and you will start to stagnate. So, if you want to change something, something has to change - this is why progressive training works - your body never adapts because it is constantly stressed.

You could look into different routines as well (there are a plethora to pick from) and see if anything jumps out at you. Basically, I would suggest that the more muscles you move each session - the better! More muscles = more metabolic advantages.
Ok, thanks Emma. I shall work a routine to incorporate your cardio suggestions as well as a training routine which will have diff exercises as much as poss as well as moving as many muscles as poss.
 
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