I'm at a Loss & Need Some Advice

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I have been training for about 4 years now, mostly doing Upper/Lower and 531 training. My bodyfat sits between 10-12 %.

About a month ago I inserted doing cardio, so basically I workout in the morning and on my lunch break I go to my office gym and do 20 minutes of rowing, according to the rower I’m burning 400 calories in that 20 minutes, I know the calorie calculator is not correct so don’t really go off that I go off the miles I do on the rower which around 3.3 miles each session, I follow this up with some Dips, Pull Ups and Crunches.

Now my struggle is I’m eating the same exact calories I was eating before I implemented these two a days, I meal prep and weight out everything and pretty much each the same thing 90% of the time, but the scale weight is staying the same just sitting at 198. I don’t know if it’s my mind playing tricks on me but my pants seem to fit looser.

Can someone explain what might be going on?

2

I don’t believe in magic bullets, but if I did it would look like a concept2 rower. They just seem killer for stripping fat, sustained power, and just all kinds of good.

So, low bf=good carb tolerance, good exercise selection and programming, pretty much amounts to ideal circumstance.

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3

Sorry but I guess I’m missing on what your trying to say. Are you trying to say that I’m possibly losing bodyfat and gaining muscle?

All my big lifts in the gym are still moving up in weight, Squats, BP, DL and OHP.

4

  1. You are either eating more then you were or,

  2. You may have added the small second session but, are naturally moving a little less through out the day. That session is probably just burning 200-300 calories

5

  1. I’m eating the same exact thing I was eating before.

  2. Moving the same amount I always do, nothing has changed in that regards.

6

Then what do you think it is? Because what I can tell you is that is it NOT any type of “metabolic damage”

7

Can’t know for sure without measurements, but it has happened to people, even if for brief periods.

Recomping is real. Even (especially) in the good body comp ranges. In my entirely unscientific opinion, especially in the lower range.

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8

The only thing I can think of is a body recomp.

9

I really only measure my waist every Sunday morning and my waist line has dropped about and inch.

10

As in you added 20 min of cardio and put on muscle?.. Doubtful.

11

No. He added what amounts to a feeder work out X times per week.

12

It is on a rower so it’s a bit of a workout on its own and I also do Dips, Pull Ups and Ab Work after.

All I’m saying is my the weight on the scale stayed the same, my waist line has dropped an inch and I’m getting stronger in the gym. I don’t know if it’s 100% a body recomp but that’s the only inclusion I can come up with.

13

Maybe? I do not think so though.

I do not see Dips, Pull Ups and 20 min of cardio making that big of a change in about a month. Not unless the 20 min is all out and the BW exercises are taken to real failure. Even then I would expect fatloss especially since you stated you are eating the same thing and are already pretty lean.

14

I agree and that’s why I’m confused.

The Dips and Pull Ups are taken to failure.

In this time period for all my big compound lifts I have added 20lbs to each lift along with losing an inch off my waist line.

15

3.3 miles in 20 min. is getting it pretty good on a rower. I was hitting almost exactly 1 km. per 5 minutes session for the past 14 weeks.

What’s your avg. wattage output over the course of a typical session?

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16

My work gym does not have a C2, I wish they did. We have a water rower instead so it does not give your average wattage at the end of the session. I do know my average 500/M is 1:55. I do intervals on the rower 1 minute rowing hard and 1 minute taking an easy.

17

That makes sense. The few people I’ve seen that do/did rowing intervals got leaner and stronger very quickly.

18

This entire thread seems like a flex :wink:

Congrats on the progress!

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19

LOL, totally not.

You just here people say body recomp’s can’t happen, especially on people that are new beginners so my mind doesn’t know what to think.

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20

Lactic acid burns fat and builds muscle (citation needed).

Intervals on the rower are like anaerobic, lactic acid fueled work (citation needed).

Maybe you did an awesome lactic acid training wave, building muscles through metabolic stress and burning fat as feul during your rowings.

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