Body recomp

[therealmccoy1234]

Hi all, flabby 50 year old seeks help with body recomp! I have one PT session a week focussing on lifting heavy and 2 gym sessions on my own lifting lighter but increased reps. Hoping to change my shape in about 6 months. Am I kidding myself? Can anyone recommend any books or podcasts with more information?

What are you doing with your diet? I think that will matter a great deal too - are you in a calorie deficit which will help with fat loss but inhibit muscle growth or are you going to focus on muscle growth first which then helps with the fat loss?

I've not been trying to lose weight as such rather than build muscle so I don't make much effort with my diet beyond getting plenty of protein and eating mindfully. I always lift heavy rather than having lighter seasons. In 7 months my body has visibly changed with much more muscle. My weight is about the same so I must have lost fat to allow for the extra muscle. So I'm sure you can have an impact on your body in 6 months with effort. Whether you'll get where you want depends on what you want and your diet. I'm in it for a longer change than 6 months.
I saw this book recommended here when I started out and it's good for someone new to it:

The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess amzn.eu/d/gCNLAEX

Hi, thanks for replying. I've been in a deficit for about a year and gradually lost 2 stone. I'm happy with my size now but still not happy with my appearance so want to shed the excess fat and build some muscle. I think I still need to be in a deficit but maybe a smaller one? Will take a look at that book 👍

I see different things to be honest and I've not looked into them properly as it's not my area of interest. It's harder to build muscle in a deficit but building muscle then makes it easier to lose weight as your body uses more calories. Beginner gains are easier, when you first start building muscle it's much quicker than once you have some.

If it were me, I'd probably go more to maintenance calories, up my protein (I aim for double kg bodyweight in g) including with powder as it's v high protein for the calories and build muscle. Then see where I'm at and look at deficit again. But with caution, as muscle weighs more than fat, so the scales may stay the same even though the body visibly changes.

And enjoy the process! For me strength training is the most wonderful life changing thing, and I know this isn't an unusual thing to feel. I get that hit from it being heavy though, I wouldn't as much with lower weight/higher reps. But whatever works for you is the best thing.

The reason I'm up at this time is because I'm up early excited about going to the gym. Getting on for 8 months and I still get excited every time!

If you're on Instagram look at content by Jordan Syatt, esg fitness and Chloe Madeley. All have very sensible sustainable approaches. Susan Niebergall is a woman over 50 who changed her body later in life by lifting weights. They all have podcasts too with lots of useful advice. Good luck!

That's great, thanks both

Another recommendation for Emma Storey-Gordon/ESG Fitness - fact based and backed up by research. Have a look at her IG and her podcast (ESG Fitness). Her work with Chloe Madeley at The EC Method - IG and podcast. I like another podcast series that Emma is on called Fitness Unfiltered.

Based on what you’ve said and that losing fat is important, I’d go for a 10 - 15 % calorie deficit, 10k steps, 100-120g protein, 3 workouts a week either push/pull/legs or upper/lower/full body. And take creatine mono hydrate, 5g daily. It’s very difficult and takes a long time to build extra muscle for women. One kg of extra muscle, which is a lot, burns 15 calories per day, just to give some perspective.

I took the same approach as @RayKray . I did the Stronglifts programme for 3 months until i started to get to the point where the weights were getting quite impressive. My weight dropped 10kg and muscle was showing.

I decided i didnt feel my body was ready for the continual increases the stronglifts programme brings so i have recently changed to PPL programme. I will return to Stronglifts in 2023. However i 100% believe in lifting heavy rather than cardio and high rep based exercise. I havent done a minutes cardio :-)

The other thing i did was eat properly. I have a lot of salads but mainly, its been about cutting out bread and junk food. Everything else pretty much is ok.

Thanks all. I've done a lot of reading over the weekend. I've decided to eat at maintenance on the days I train and drop about 20% calories on the other days. The main reason I don't go as heavy in the gym is really lack of confidence because I'm there on my own. I don't know any friends who would be interested in coming with me so I might have to be a weird smiley person and see if I can find a buddy in there to train with. This is all quite new to me as I've only ever gone to the gym to use the cardio equipment but that's just boring and despite doing it for ages hasn't really changed my body at all. Hopefully my new approach will work

Body recomp is very possible, while also losing weight. I did it at 58. I was lifting once a week, and doing other stuff 3-4 times a week - combination of HIIT, Pilates, and ballet. I calorie counted fairly strictly. Fell a bit off the wagon this year, and am heavier than I want to be, but I now weight train twice a week, and am lifting v heavy (85 kilo deadlift, 50 kilo back squats are fairly standard training weights, with PBs of 100 k and 65 k).

But have a look at this:

@therealmccoy1234 does your gym have a proper power rack? If so you can lift (Squat & Press) in them with 100% safety without a spotter as long as you know what you are doing. I even did a session with a PT on how to safely drop my 1rm squat safely. Once you know how to do it its kind of like releasing the demons. You can keep pushing knowing you can bail out at any time.

Its a little scary dropping so much weight:-)

Sorry I missed these messages. There's a smith machine - is that the same?

I've just googled and seen that it's not the same. It does have a proper power rack. Maybe I just need to ask about using it without a spotter. I'm using the smith machine for rdls and hip raises but might be able to use that for squats and presses I guess. Although with Christmas events I haven't been at all.in December although have kept up with PT but it's gonna HURT when I do go back in!

Not the same as a smith machine controls the trajectory upwards and downwards motion as it's on runners. A rack has safety bars you can set up so if you fail you put the bar onto the safety bars and can escape, but you're in control of the movement in all directions. A smith machine can also have safety bars. People to use them to squat, bench etc but it's a different thing.

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm going to ask the PT there just to run me through a decent workout I can do without a spotter 💪

👍 there's loads you can do without a spotter. I didn't have one for the first 6 months, only then did I learn how to use the safety bars and now have spotters. But I had a lot of fun doing all the stuff that doesn't need one. And I still do loads that doesn't need one too