Recomp or continue bulking?

[bob_from_it]

22f, 5’4”, currently weigh 133.4

Should I recomp now OR bulk then recomp later?

I’ve been 120 pounds since I was 17 years old. I never gained more than that. I always wanted to gain weight but it never came naturally. Albeit, I was someone that always inconsistently ate; many days I’d only eat 1 or 2 real meals because I just didn’t feel like eating.

When I started a glute-growing program , it was recommended to be in a caloric surplus. It’s been 1 month since I started. For the first 2 weeks, I wasn’t tracking my calories.. I was just eatinggg + drinking mass gainer protein shakes. Then when I started tracking these past 2 weeks, I’d eat in a 500 surplus (I didn’t realize at the time that I only should’ve been eating 200 above! ). I used to eat 2500-2800 calories. I instantly gained 14 pounds. It’s like I gained a pound each day, at least that’s what the scale said when I weighed myself in the morning after peeing. I was surprised that I quickly gained since my whole life, the scale never moved lol. I was so happy at the time (I am now 133.4 but I still physically look the same in size tho).

THE ISSUE IS.. I think I messed up? I have a huge belly.. like a protruding belly! I get very bloated but it’s STILL always been big. I’ve had it even before I gained the 14 pounds but it’s grown a bit more. I am thinking that maybe I was supposed to first lose weight by being in a deficit then bulk??

My belly is so big and I’m still bulking (but only 200 above, so 2175 calories) but everyone keeps saying you can’t lose fat and gain muscle at the same time!

So idk if I should trust the process and just continue bulking then do a recomp or cut later on?
Or if I should be in a deficit now and start over??

 

[bob_from_it]

I wish I could attach a pic..

 

[roman1982]

@bob_from_it You can, just use imgur.com or imgbb.com

 

[dinafrancis]

@bob_from_it How fast did you actually gain that 14lbs? A 500 calorie surplus would only be a pound a week. Maybe an extra pound or two from more food weight in your system.

As for your belly, you could just be very bloated from what you have been eating. Personally, id drop the mass gainer shakes, focus more on eating whole foods and not just a cup of carbs

Recomp is the slowest method of both muscle gain and fat loss. Your best bet is probably just to slow your weight gain down, finish your program (or however you're dictating the end of your bulk) and then cut. And then you know for next time to not eat as much

 

[bob_from_it]

@dinafrancis Ok ok, I officially started going to the gym at 12/10/23. So that’s when I started drinking protein shakes + eating more, but I wasn’t tracking my calories until 2/17/24.

Thank you, I switched to more whole foods when my mass gainer protein supplement ran out like 2 weeks ago. But this reminds me to stick to it for the remainder of my bulking!

I’m currently eating 2174 cal. That’s 200 above my caloric maintenance. How much should I slow it down?

 

[dinafrancis]

@bob_from_it Okay so you didn't just balloon up in a very short time! Cus if you had gained 14lbs in like 2-3 weeks, mannnn you woulda been massively over eating!

200 cal surplus should be fine. Just watch the scale and make sure your weight gain is under a half pound a week. Slow and steady is the way to go. Next time around, stick to around a half pound a week from the get go.

If you start feeling too fluffy before you want to start cutting, you can recomp a little there, but just till like the end of the program. I wouldn't spend an extended time in recomp land at the end of a bulk. Now if you wanted to cut down and be lean for summer and maintain that weight, recomp there is fine, it's still slow progress, but at least you get to look good haha

 

[bob_from_it]

@dinafrancis Hi can you dm me? Thanks!

 

[adnerb]

@bob_from_it If you’re new to lifting, you can just recomp. The newbie gains go pretty far and you can definitely lose fat while gaining muscle as a new lifter. There is lots of literature on this that you can Google. The further along you get and the more muscle you develop, the harder it is to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, but if you’re new to lifting, you are probably pretty far from that.

It sounds like you are unhappy with your belly, so doing something that exacerbates that while you are putting in hard work seems like it might de-motivate you rather than keep you going, so that is def worth considering.

On the other hand, if you’re pretty resilient and feel like you really want to gain that extra bit in your glutes, then trust the bulk and then do a cut later. Nothing is permanent if you do the things to make change.

The biggest thing that you do not want to do is switch between bulking and cutting in short increments. Stick to a bulk for at least three months if you’re going to do it.

Best of luck!

 

[bob_from_it]

@adnerb Thank you for d response! If I started lifting in 12/10/23, am I still considered a new lifter?

& I may stick to the bulk since it doesn’t bother me too much.

 

[adnerb]

@bob_from_it For sure!

Yes, you’re considered a new lifter for the first 2 years. Newbie gains start to trail off after about 6 months to the first year, but changing up programming and your exercises every few months will let you tap into your muscles in new ways and kind of extend that newbie phase. But make sure to stick to the same exercises every week for at least 8 weeks.