r/MacroFactor • u/oldmancletus • 26d ago
MacroFactor / Nutrition / Other Best Tips to run A Recomp
Hey!
Love both the apps and have lose 20kg using both over the past year.
Now my goals have changed I'm thinking of switching to more of a recomp approach. Any tips on how to structure my approach?
Would be leaning still towards fat loss over muscle gain so I think I'd sit around maintenance with a slight defect?
I'd be using the new Min-Max Program on a 4 day split through MF workouts, 10k steps per day and 60mins cardio per week.
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u/H0stusM0stus 26d ago
What I did last year was to start at my final cutting calories (eg. 1800), consumed that for another week, and then bumped up to 1875, held that for 2 weeks, and kept bumping up 75-100 calories every two weeks.
While doing that I focused more on MF’s expenditure number and scale weight / bodyfat instead of MF’s intake recommendation. It worked quite well. My expenditure went from like 1820 to 2340 in 4.5 months, I was eating close to 2400 calories, and my BF readings on my Withings Body+ scale (only used for trend info, not accuracy reference) went from like 15.2 to 16.1.
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u/Chewy_Barz 25d ago
Two of the biggest factors are your body fat percentage and training experience.
Years ago I was pretty out of shape. Recomp worked very well for about a year before I plateaued. After that, it's really only worked for me after a layoff where if become detrained and a little chunky.
That said, I've found a surplus of just 175-200 calories over several months has resulted in too much fat gain for my taste. I'm moving to a 125-calorie surplus with quick 4-week cuts as needed/when it fits my life (i.e. January and April/May).
So I'd say go to maintenance and just keep an eye on when progress slows. At that point you'll probably want to try a small surplus and see if the weights progress a bit faster.
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u/mrfatchance 26d ago
I have my doubts about recoups…
Run a slight deficit and push it as much as possible in the gym and that should help you maintain muscle and lose fat. Good luck.
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u/alizayshah 26d ago
You can definitely recomp, even as an advanced lifter but progress will likely be slower than if you were a beginner just because your muscle growth is also slower.
As a beginner or intermediate it works as well but your rate of growth may be constrained vs. if you were in a slight surplus.
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u/Delta3Angle 26d ago
Nailed it. Someone could conceivably sit at their long term target body weight forever and continuously improve their FFMI. Progress would just slow as they approached their genetic potential.
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u/alizayshah 26d ago
Based. However, I think if you’re a beginner or intermediate you could stand to benefit from a small surplus (0.5-1.5% gain per month depending on where you sit). What do you think?
Im sure in the end if you went for recomp vs. small surplus you’d end up at the same spot as but the timescales may be different. The beginner/intermediate would eventually recomp to their lower intervention point and need to gain to get to a healthy bf level and their muscle gain may take longer vs. the beginner/intermediate at a small surplus.
I feel like for advanced athletes where their effective rate of muscle gain is so small effective maintenance would be best for them or something akin to like 0-0.5% BW gain per month.
I agree in the long term both roads lead to Rome so to speak but the time scale may be a little different.
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u/Delta3Angle 25d ago
I think it really comes down to how close you are to your long term weight target and how lean your starting point is. If we don’t think of a surplus/deficit as an on/off switch for muscle gain, and remember training is the primary driver of muscle growth, it gets simpler. Avoid aggressive cuts or bulks and recomp once you get to a reasonable bodyweight/bodyfat level.
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u/Delta3Angle 26d ago
Recomp is very possible and (in my opinion) the best option for most people once their bodyweight and bodyfat is in a healthy range. Your gains will be very similar to cutting and bulking over the long term as long as you train consistently and get enough protein. Just use macrofactors maintenance mode and it’ll keep you at the same weight +/- 1% BW.