Is a slow recomp truly possible?

[Soda]

Or, do you just end up spinning your wheels while maintaining the same weight? In other words, you're just in a state of equilibrium/homeostasis. I'm starting to wonder if that's all that is happening.

[Leah Lutz]

My progress feels so minor that it sometimes feels like I'm moving backward. But I'm not. But I feel like I'm making zero progress about 75% of the time.

[Str8shutr]

I say yes.

For the past four months my weight has bounced from 288-293. During that time, my belt size went from the fourth hole (48") to the eighth hole (44"). Even though I don't feel thinner, I don't think my 10mm thick belt has stretched that much in 4 months.

However, I did this by starting a job that is extremely physical, has me on my feet for at least eight hours per day, and routinely lifting parts in excess of 50lbs.

[Simon Rest]

I believe so.

my weight is reasonable stagnant, maybe with a 2-3kg variation upwards, but I notice a reduction in fat deposits around my mid section. essentially my gut is changing shape. My wife noticed this as well. on the upside, my pants still fit about the same so i don't have to rush out and buy new clothes (again)

[Briks42]

Like Harry said, it's absolutely possible going from 20 down to 17 and probably even down to around 14 or 15. After that I don't know.

[perman]

Recomping certainly can work, a better question is whether it is preferable to more traditional cuts and bulks. My experience with recomping is that it's very slow. I think semi-slow cuts and very slow bulks may be better personally, cause spending as much time as possible in a small calorie surplus will allow for more recovery and volume.

May be wrong though, never had the discipline to properly control my diet, and I don't know enough of the science here.

[32shutout]

There are hundreds of examples of novice lifters eating right at maintenance and completely transforming their bodies, so of course it is possible. The caveat would be that the most remarkable ones generally start quite overweight, so in a sense you could say they actually have a surplus even if eating at maintenance. I imagine the results from a recomp decay exponentially with training experience.

I think the only people who would actually be happy with the results of a recomp are newbies who can literally do anything and see great results, and very advanced lifters who are comfortable just coasting and making progress over very long time periods without having to put nearly as much effort/planning into it.

[Gerhard]

It's definitely possible, but you've got to be incredibly anally consistent with the amounts of food you eat over longer periods of time, eg eating no more than +/- ~300 calories each day. You can't have binge days or days where you just say "fuck it" to diet and eat what you like, and you can't have "not feeling all that hungry" days where you don't eat much at all, unless you are compensating for them, but even then, the water retention and glycogen depletion factors are still in play.

It's complicated, I just follow consistency, and found I was still losing body fat eating 3400-3700 calories a day for quite a while.

[HamptonMike]

I think so. It is hard though. I think the best way is to estimate your macros and track them. Hit your macros for a week and then titrate according to progress in the gym, selfies, measurements, weight(not the best indicator), and honest self-assessment. You'll hit a sweet spot and will be able to go from there. The hardest part is sticking with it when you don't see immediate results. If you are making progress in the weight room and your weight is staying about the same, you're making progress.

[mrflibble]

It's definitely possible, but you've got to be incredibly anally consistent with the amounts of food you eat over longer periods of time, eg eating no more than +/- ~300 calories each day. You can't have binge days or days where you just say "fuck it" to diet and eat what you like

This is not true. Yes, a slow recomp is possible, but it can be done with regular planned cheats/binge/refeeds/whatever you want to call them, coupled with accurate tracking of progress and intake on other days.