What’s the benefit of recomping?

[efosa]

I keep reading posts here about recomping saying it takes years - so why is it preferable to bulking and cutting if that’s so much faster? I’m 5’0 115 lbs but with more body fat than I’d care for - is there any reason I shouldn’t cut to like 110 on a high protein diet while lifting then just bulk?

 

[samanthaconner]

@efosa For me, I don’t want to diet. Eating high protein + doing progressive overload takes way less brain power than counting calories for me. And the more muscle I gain, the higher my metabolism gets, which means I can eat more.
I’m also focusing on building muscle for my joint and bone health when I’m older. So exchanging fat for muscle just is an added bonus.

 

[sandralois]

@efosa Recomping for me is more consistent with building sustainable habits and helping to shift my mindset towards the long term instead of the short term. It also makes more sense to recomp 1. If you're just starting out lifting and 2. If you're already at or close to a healthy weight

 

[rodneys]

@efosa Bulking and cutting requires a lot of dedication and it can be really hard on your body. A lot of people don’t really care what’s fastest, they care what fits the best with their lifestyle and feels the best for them. There are also a lot more things to consider than simply just aesthetics. Your performance while lifting will go down significantly when you’re in calorie deficit and that something a lot of people don’t want to deal with

Also, in your case, you would probably want to focus on bulking first and then cutting.

 

[godisatulpa]

@efosa Besides the things others have mentioned, I think the speeds of both bulk/cut and recomp are exaggerated when we talk about it online. Bulking and cutting doesn't happen overnight, it takes time to build significant muscle and it takes time to lose the fat. And while recompiing takes time, you will see changes within a reasonable amount of time, maybe not as much as you want but certainly progress.

The other thing with bulking is you really need to know what you're doing. It's not just workout and eat whatever you want. You really need to be on point with your strength training and progressive overload or else your muscle gain will not be what you want and you also need to be on point with your macros.