How To Choose Your Goal
There are three main paths you choose on your fitness journey, the fourth is unique, and not many can do it well:
1. Fat loss (aka cut)
2. Muscle gain (aka bulk)
3. Maintain current weight
4. Recomp (aka body recomposition)
“Which path should I choose?” is a very common question. If the answer is unclear, a few variables, like body fat %, muscle rate, and training experience, can answer this question. Let’s dig in!
>> Choose Fat Loss
If you are overweight or carry a large amount of body fat, regardless of your level of training experience
The goal is to lose fat while maintaining muscle. This path requires a calorie deficit. You may be able to gain some strength during a fat loss phase; however, your ability to do so decreases the leaner you get, the more advanced of a lifter you are, and the size of your calorie deficit. Also, any muscle gain achieved while losing fat may be obscure.
The more fat you have to lose and the less lifting experience you have, the more likely you will be able to do both simultaneously. Technically, this body recomposition, where weight might remain the same, or it might go down. The fat loss sweet spot for BFit members is around 250-500 calorie deficit per day, leading to about 1/2 to 1 pound of current body weight per week.
» Choose Muscle Gain
If you are underweight or are already lean enough to see your abs and wish to build muscle
The goal is to gain muscle at a steady rate while minimizing fat gain. The problem is muscle gain requires a calorie surplus, and people tend to panic when they see fat gain. They begin to cut calories before any real muscle has been added.
Gaining muscle is the building of new lean body tissue. This typically requires calories beyond what it takes to maintain your body weight. Muscle-building phases also take longer and require more patience than fat loss. Five months dedicated to a muscle-building phase is a good target, then you can switch to a fat-loss phase to reveal the beautiful muscle you built! The good news is the newer you are to weight training, the faster you will build muscle.
The muscle gain sweet spot for BFit members is around a 200-calorie surplus daily. The amount of muscle you can gain varies from person to person, but this is a BEST-CASE scenario:
- Beginner/Novice Lifters (~0-2 Years of Experience): 0.75-1.5% monthly. For a 150-pound person, this is 1.12 - 2.25 pounds.
- Intermediate Lifters (~2-5 Years of Experience): 0.5-1% per month. For a 150-pound person, this is 0.5 – 1.5 pounds.
- Advanced Lifters (~5+ Years of Experience): Less than 0.5% monthly. For a 150-pound person, this is less than 0.5 pounds.
» Choose Maintenance
When you need a diet break or want to recomp
Diet breaks are critical to successful fat loss phases, but people commonly skip them. They aren‘t necessary if you‘re trying to build muscle but to be successful with a fat-loss phase, you NEED diet breaks. Even if you feel like nothing is happening at maintenance, this is where the magic happens for several reasons: it helps mentally, boosts your energy levels, and allows room for the fun stuff without the guilt that might come with it. One of the lesser talked about benefits is that the more you practice maintaining your weight, the better off you‘ll be when you hit your final goal.
Diet breaks can range from a few days to a few weeks. You can gauge how you feel and make the best decision for yourself. Here are some frequency suggestions:
- Body-fat % : Frequency:
- <10% men / 18% women: every 6–8 weeks
- 10-15% men / 18–23% women: every 8–12 weeks
- >15% men / >23% women: every 12–16 weeks
Body recomposition, or recomp, refers to simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain. Typically, this means you eat at maintenance in an attempt to lose fat and gain muscle at the same rate so that weight remains stable. Everybody wants this. However, the rate you can achieve this diminishes with the weightlifting experience.
- I recommend recomp to relatively newer weightlifters and those returning from a rather long weight-lifting break.
- I do not recommend recomp to anyone who is underweight or overweight. If you are underweight, you should build. If you are overweight, you should lose fat first to improve your health. However, the less training experience you have, the more likely it is that you will gain muscle at the same time as you lean out (though you’ll lose weight overall).
If you are new to weight lifting and not under or overweight (a subjective judgment), consider maintenance for body recomp. Even if you’ve been working out for years, and your weight training has been less than adequate, you can likely still consider yourself “new.”
The cutoff for the level of weightlifting experience where recomp is unlikely to work is impossible to define clearly. If in doubt, consider giving it a shot for a few months. You can decide based on the outcome. Further, you can try a body recomp at any time during your lifting career. Still, when progress is hard to measure, it is hard to stay motivated, so I suggest most people build their physiques over time by alternating between fat loss and muscle gain phases.
Still Can't Decide?
- Fat Loss:
- Anyone overweight
- Experienced female lifter 23%+ body fat
- Experienced male lifter 16%+ body fat
- Build Muscle:
- Anyone underweight
- Experienced female lifter < 15% body fat
- Experienced male lifter < 10% body fat
- Maintenance:
- Anyone who needs a diet break or happy with the physique they have achieved
- Recomp: Inexperienced female lifter 20-35% body fat
- Recomp: Inexperienced male lifter 13-18% body fat
Hi, I'm Breanne
I am determined to remove the BS, misinformation, and fads from fitness and nutrition. In 2021, I released my best-selling nutrition book called Master Your Macros. Today, I thrive off helping others live life to the fullest while becoming their strongest, happiest, healthiest versions yet!
Are you ready to join me and the community of BFit members already transforming their lives? Let’s roll!