Should Gay Men Try Body Recomposition or Cutting & Bulking?
Introduction
In this post you will learn the difference between body recomposition vs. cutting and bulking, and which approach is the best fit for you.
After coaching gay men for years, I've found that before defining what you are looking to do, it's important to define what not to do. If you have ever said any version of "I don't care about the weight, I just want to tone up," this one is for you. Here is what you are not looking to do:
You are not looking to turn fat into muscle since it is biologically impossible.
You are not just looking to lean out while staying the same size if you have been working out for more than a few months.
You are not going to lose fat in specific areas since spot reduction doesn't work unless you are talking about surgery.
What you are actually looking to do is called body recomposition. It is often called a body recomp. Whether it is the right path for you or not is exactly what we are going to unpack.
Body Recomposition
Body recomposition means building muscle and losing fat at the same time. Sounds amazing, right? Unfortunately, not many can do this efficiently. If they could, most would. If you have attempted to build muscle and drop fat at the same time, you have likely found that it is incredibly inefficient for most men. If you have ever felt like you were stuck and were consistently going to the gym, this may be why.
For most men, attempting to recomp will be a sure way to not make progress. There are exceptions to every rule, and there are some men who can recomp successfully. So, who can successfully do a body recomposition? You're most likely to succeed at a body recomposition if you are:
A beginner just starting in the gym. You should expect to experience what many refer to as "newbie gains".
Coming back after an injury or long break from training.
Switching to a drastically harder program.
Significantly overweight. Your body has enough energy in reserve to pull from fat while building muscle.
If you are not in one these groups, attempting to recomp usually means a lot of effort for very little payoff. In these cases, structured cutting and bulking phases almost always get you faster results.
There is a saying "if you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both." That is exactly what happens when most men attempt to body recomp. By trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, most men usually do neither well enough to make any progress. If you are not in one of the groups mentioned above, when you compare body recomposition vs. cutting and bulking, most men see faster results by committing to one path at a time.
Cutting & Bulking
Most gay men that have come to my program have wanted to lose fat or body recomp and have been working towards this goal for months or years with little progress. Here's what will get the most amount of progress in the shortest amount of time for most gay men:
Start with a Cut
To lose the fat they want to lose around their stomach, they needed to go through a cutting phase that lasted about 12 weeks. In this time we took them through a process of:
Focusing on consistently remaining in a calorie deficit
Getting consistent with workouts
Getting a basic routine around food with a consistent number of meals every day and increasing the amount of protein in their diet
Beginning to focus on their recovery
In this process, lean out and feel confident a lot faster than they thought they would. You can lose fat a lot faster than you can build muscle. This is why I recommend unless you are at a spot where you can see all 6 abs clearly, to initially go through a cutting phase. It creates quick wins that will keep you engaged in your fitness journey.
Transition into a Bulk
Once you have gotten as lean as you want to get, transition into a bulk to create an environment where you can build muscle as efficiently as possible. To assist the clients that just lost the fat, we focus on the following in a muscle building phase:
Focusing on consistently remaining in a slight calorie surplus so they can build muscle without accumulating more fat than is needed
Remaining consistent with the workouts
Swap meals to more calorie-dense meals and staying on track with protein goals
Remaining consistent with recovery, since muscle is built while we rest
This approach of cutting then bulking will get you to your goal faster than spending months around the same while attempting to do a body recomposition.
To assist you in visualizing the difference, think of it this way:
Recomp Path (Gold Lifter) - This is what it would look like if you hover around the same weight for 6 or 7 months. You would make changes with building muscle and with fat loss that would be barely noticeable.
Cut Then Bulk Phases (Blue Lifter) - You would drop fat fast, then build muscle steadily. As your body weight moves up and down, you and others will notice a more dramatic visual transformation. This makes you feel good about the effort you are putting in and makes you feel more confident and increases the odds you actually stick to your goal of being a more healthy person.
Over 28 weeks, the man who cycles cutting and bulking makes more visible, satisfying progress than the man who tries to do both at once.
A Video Explaining Further
The Bottom Line
The point of this post is to help gay men know what to do to stop thinking staying around the same weight is going to get them to their goals efficiently. If you are looking to look and feel better in your clothes, feel more confident on beaches, bars, and bedrooms, or finally build the body you've been dreaming of, going through phases of cutting and bulking will almost always get you there faster than attempting to do a body recomposition.
This doesn't mean that body recomposition never works. Some men, like beginners, those coming back after a break, men who are overweight, or men on steroids can likely do it. But in most cases, the men I have seen do a body recomposition, almost do it by accident. They were clearly leaning into bulking or cutting, increased the intensity of their plan, and were doing the right things around food and recovery. This created the environment to for body recomposition.
Committing to one path at a time is the more direct path. It keeps motivation high since you are actually going to be getting measurable progress.
Want To Learn More?
If you would like to learn more about this for free I made the Clueless to Cut guide and a free training video to assist you: https://b.link/c2crecomp
Built For You
If you would like a more specific plan built to account for you, your life, your obstacles, and your goal, buy a training program. On your onboarding call, we will see you came from this post and take you down a different process to build something specific to you.
To get a program click here: https://b.link/startrecomp
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