Very helpful - especially the online calculator for plugging in DEXA results to get a more accurate BMR estimate. I had my scans done here in Australia (where they didn't provide all the extra analysis charts etc) and plugging in the LM, FM and BMC figures it came up with a figure that was pretty much 'spot on' where I thought it was (from tracking my weight and calories for the past six month of weight loss and exercise regime). Surprisingly my LMI from DEXA scans 5 years ago and last month (both 24.6) is pretty good (esp. at age 62), so my *only* problem was carrying about 40kg of FM. Walking (20K steps/day), resistance training (2x or 3x per wk), and caloric deficit (around 800 cals/dy) have reduced that to 18kg FM (18% BF), and I plan to get to about 10kg FM (about 13% BF) by the end of the year, then focus on recomp next year. Hopefully this will fix up the NAFLD I found I had earlier this year.
Hi. Yes, you can gain muscle eating at maintenance, but all muscle gain is highly dependent on the quality of your training programme. You might have a high octane fuel (in the form of sufficient calories and high protein) but if the car isn't tuned or you're in the wrong gear (your programme isn't optimised in the aspects of volume, intensity and technique), then you'll be wasting a lot of effort. Because your weight must stay the same at maintenance, muscle gains made at maintenance must necessarily be offset by a loss in fat - this is classic body recomposition: eg, a kilo of muscle gained for a kilo of fat lost. But recomp of this type is only worth attempting when fat is fairly low, because gains in muscle are typically much smaller and slower than reductions in fat. If you have 20kg of fat to lose, this is far more than you will ever gain in muscle - muscle gain over a year might be only 2-5kg, so wait till you have about the same excess fat to lose before you attempt one-for-one body recomp in this way. Also, muscle definition (what most people call 'tone') is a product of lower fat, much more than increased muscle. Muscle gain is optimised when you are in a SMALL calorie surplus (what you call excess), probably around 5% of your maintenance calories and rarely a surplus above 200-300 calories. With a great, consistent weights programme, your body weight will typically increase by between 0.5% and 2% per month (and probably at the lower end of that scale). So, for a 70kg man, that might be just 350g a month (4.2kg a year). You will, of course, be at risk of fat gain when you're in a surplus, but by starting with that very small surplus (100 cals, say), just track how things go - if you can pinch more around your waist then you are gaining fat, meaning either the surplus is too high or your programme is not optimised (not enough volume, intensity, frequency, poor technique) or both. The biggest reason people don't put on muscle is that they simply don't work hard enough. Think of muscle gain as a long-term project. Finally, you cannot force feed a gain. Anything above that small surplus is guaranteed to go to fat. Fine-tune the programme and you can convert a few more surplus calories to muscle but there is a limit. The gyms are full of 'permabulks' - overweight and obese men who are forever eating in a huge surplus and just piling on more fat.
@@Bodyscan Also depends on your age -- I could put on noticeable muscle fairly quickly doing 3x/wk wt training in my 20s and 30s, but now I'm in my 60s I had noticed my muscles starting to decrease when I wasn't going to the gym (especially since transitioning to 'work from home' for the past 3-4 years and not walking as much), and going back to the gym it is slower to gain muscle (and the workouts are a lot more tiring, and recovery slower) than it used to be, and I have to make an effort to make sure I get plenty of protein, esp. when mainly trying to lose weight and reduce body fat.
Very helpful - especially the online calculator for plugging in DEXA results to get a more accurate BMR estimate. I had my scans done here in Australia (where they didn't provide all the extra analysis charts etc) and plugging in the LM, FM and BMC figures it came up with a figure that was pretty much 'spot on' where I thought it was (from tracking my weight and calories for the past six month of weight loss and exercise regime). Surprisingly my LMI from DEXA scans 5 years ago and last month (both 24.6) is pretty good (esp. at age 62), so my *only* problem was carrying about 40kg of FM. Walking (20K steps/day), resistance training (2x or 3x per wk), and caloric deficit (around 800 cals/dy) have reduced that to 18kg FM (18% BF), and I plan to get to about 10kg FM (about 13% BF) by the end of the year, then focus on recomp next year. Hopefully this will fix up the NAFLD I found I had earlier this year.
A very helpful video. Comprehensive and concise. Many thanks. I am in Oxford, so not too far to travel.
Well said
can you gain muscle by eating maintainance? or do you have to eat excess, but then i would risk gaining fat. whats the solution?
Hi. Yes, you can gain muscle eating at maintenance, but all muscle gain is highly dependent on the quality of your training programme. You might have a high octane fuel (in the form of sufficient calories and high protein) but if the car isn't tuned or you're in the wrong gear (your programme isn't optimised in the aspects of volume, intensity and technique), then you'll be wasting a lot of effort.
Because your weight must stay the same at maintenance, muscle gains made at maintenance must necessarily be offset by a loss in fat - this is classic body recomposition: eg, a kilo of muscle gained for a kilo of fat lost. But recomp of this type is only worth attempting when fat is fairly low, because gains in muscle are typically much smaller and slower than reductions in fat. If you have 20kg of fat to lose, this is far more than you will ever gain in muscle - muscle gain over a year might be only 2-5kg, so wait till you have about the same excess fat to lose before you attempt one-for-one body recomp in this way. Also, muscle definition (what most people call 'tone') is a product of lower fat, much more than increased muscle.
Muscle gain is optimised when you are in a SMALL calorie surplus (what you call excess), probably around 5% of your maintenance calories and rarely a surplus above 200-300 calories. With a great, consistent weights programme, your body weight will typically increase by between 0.5% and 2% per month (and probably at the lower end of that scale). So, for a 70kg man, that might be just 350g a month (4.2kg a year). You will, of course, be at risk of fat gain when you're in a surplus, but by starting with that very small surplus (100 cals, say), just track how things go - if you can pinch more around your waist then you are gaining fat, meaning either the surplus is too high or your programme is not optimised (not enough volume, intensity, frequency, poor technique) or both. The biggest reason people don't put on muscle is that they simply don't work hard enough. Think of muscle gain as a long-term project.
Finally, you cannot force feed a gain. Anything above that small surplus is guaranteed to go to fat. Fine-tune the programme and you can convert a few more surplus calories to muscle but there is a limit. The gyms are full of 'permabulks' - overweight and obese men who are forever eating in a huge surplus and just piling on more fat.
@@Bodyscan Also depends on your age -- I could put on noticeable muscle fairly quickly doing 3x/wk wt training in my 20s and 30s, but now I'm in my 60s I had noticed my muscles starting to decrease when I wasn't going to the gym (especially since transitioning to 'work from home' for the past 3-4 years and not walking as much), and going back to the gym it is slower to gain muscle (and the workouts are a lot more tiring, and recovery slower) than it used to be, and I have to make an effort to make sure I get plenty of protein, esp. when mainly trying to lose weight and reduce body fat.