DEXA Scan after Cut (x-post r/bodybuilding)

[ruthofzion]

I am curious as to how people correlated their change in lean body mass after a cut. Did you find that your lifts went down, but your LBM stayed about the same? Did you find your lifts stayed the same, but LBM went down a bit? I know there's been some discussion on the "muscle memory" phenomena on this forum. Did you find you were able to bounce back quick?

 

[micah111]

@ruthofzion This is going to vary quite a bit depending on the severity of the cut. Cutting down to sub 10% and a contest prep are two very different things. Also, pretty much all methods for testing bodyfat are poor for tracking individual changes, this includes DEXA.

Like other techniques, DEXA does well when looking at group averages, but not so well when looking at individuals. Individual error rates tend to hover around 5%, although some studies have shown error rates as high as 10%.

The Pitfalls of Body Fat “Measurement”, Part 6: Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)

This article summarizes most of the research available looking at contest prep: A Science Based Review of Physiological Changes During a Natural Bodybuilding Contest Prep

Despite these approaches, most of these competitors lost roughly 2-4lbs of fat mass for every 1 lb of lean mass lost

 

[pj1007]

@ruthofzion Lifts went down and lean body mass stayed about the same, and yes strength and muscle did come back fairly quickly when I started bulking again

 

[paparazi257]

@ruthofzion Lifts usually decrease a bit during a cut but I have always been able to get back to normal within a few months. Typically during a slow cut of 0.5-1 lb/week I can preserve most of my muscle mass (~75+% of weight lost is fat) but as the cut goes on (>3 months) it tends to get worse (

 

[chainbreaker2814]

@ruthofzion In terms of 'tracking' losses in lean body mass, I've never used any science to this. I tend to focus on trying to keep my performance up as I cut (which I can usually do quite well) and then just compare my lean physique with the prior year. I find I can usually tell from visuals whether I have added (and retained) any mass over the year.

I've never had a dexa scan but have been considering using these to get a better handle on how my bulk / cut has gone.