Plateau After Recomp

[ray0174]

I’m a little over 1 year into consistent lifting. I gained about 10 pounds of muscle and lost over 15% body fat in that year. I’m sitting around 200 pounds and I’m at a plateau in every facet of my regime. My weight hasn’t changed in months, the volume I’m lifting in the gym hasn’t changed much and I feel like my physique hasn’t changed much lately (that one is a bit harder to gauge.

I know that when you move into an “intermediate” phase, progress is harder, but am not sure what’s next for me.

Nutrition:
I consistently eat 150g+ of protein and shoot for 2200 net calories/day.

Exercise:
4 day upper/lower split. 3 sets of everything. I aim for failure on every set between 8-10 reps and spend about 90 to 120 minutes in the gym every session.

Sometimes, I run up to 10 miles on Sundays with friends.

I’d love some feedback from folks with more experience. What’s next? What can I be doing better/differently?

 

[lisa66uk]

@ray0174 If you want to grow then you will need to eat in a surplus. 2200 calories sounds at best like maintenance (but could be a slight deficit) at 200 lbs.

 

[ray0174]

@lisa66uk Thank you! Do you have any bulking resources that you have used in the past?

 

[lisa66uk]

@ray0174 For bulking, just up your calories by 200-300 kcal for a couple of weeks and see if your weight starts trending up. Weight might jump initially with more water and glycogen retention so look at weekly trends. If weight doesn't move keep increasing calories slowly until it starts trending up slowly (like max a pound per week).

Dr Mike (Renaissance Periodization on YouTube) is a great resource, he's got lots of videos on both diet and training.

 

[ray0174]

@lisa66uk I did some calorie calculators to double-check my targets. It said to aim in the ballpark of 3200 net cals, but that seems pretty high for me. I can try it out and keep track of my weight.

 

[favor2020]

@ray0174 That seems like a very low amount of protein to me. There are a ton of papers out there and opinions on exactly how much protein to eat but I have found for me shooting for a number a bit higher than my desired lean bodyweight has produced a lot of results. It has helped me bulk much leaner than in years previous and very category has improved really.

Feel better

Get stronger

Stay leaner

Crave less

Protein is the most satiating of all the macros and of course much more in your body than just the muscle building process requires protein.

Anyway I’m sitting in the low 150s when I’m not bloated as shit (I like to crush my fair share of cheats). I eat between 180 and 240 grams of protein on any given day. That high number is probably excessive but I’ve found when I am craving hard it’s generally better to eat even more protein and get a little bit more of fats/carbs than just blow up either one of those categories. Hope this helps my man. Regardless of your eating philosophy I don’t think it can really be debated that 150 is too low for someone sitting at 200lbs bodyweight even if your not that lean.

 

[ray0174]

@favor2020 Yeah, I was following the .7g/pound of body weight for my goal. I was looking to drop down to 180, but then realized it didn’t make a ton of sense to cut more in the winter.

I’m going to up my calories and protein for the next 6ish months.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[favor2020]

@ray0174 Absolutely! I would say that amount is closer to the minimum for basic health than it is the number for maximum benefit. Of course we can’t be maxing protein all the time but whether you are bulking or cutting upping that number typically only helps.

The only exception I would argue is when that number begins to cause a lot of digestive distress and even then the answer is often get more fiber, eat less processed food. Etc etc.

Best of luck man you’re on the path!

 

[dawn16]

@ray0174 Recomp worked for my first year then I hit a hard abrupt wall. You can try to continue but I recommend you commit to either a bulk or cut depending on your goals.

 

[ray0174]

@dawn16 Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, I think I was hoping that the beginner gains would last longer. It sounds like I’m going to be doing a winter bulk. What route did you take?

 

[comyn7]

@ray0174 What are your goals now? Where to go from here will depend on that. 2200 cals at your weight isn’t much, which explains why your training is stalling.

 

[ray0174]

@comyn7 I think the problem was that I didn’t have any goals. I think that now that we’re getting into the colder seasons, I’ll bulk and then cut in this spring.

 

[comyn7]

@ray0174 Good idea.

Start logging your weight daily and track the weekly average. You want the average moving up 0.5-1lb/week. Adjust food to hit that rate of gain.

 

[dawn16]

@ray0174 I PR’d after taking a week off to focus on stretching and mobility. Do with that what you will

 

[solochristo65]

@ray0174 more calories and more protein. at 200 lbs 2200 cals is pretty low. im 190 and my maintenance calories are around 2800. when im bulking i try to eat 3300 cals a day. 190g of protein

 

[mandycross]

@ray0174 2200 calories at 200lbs. You need more calories.