Building legs slimming stomache?

modmustang97g

New member
Ive spent the last 13 weeks doing two a week leg workouts. Volume is around 30k lbs or so each day. During my bulking so far my belly has been pretty consistent or smaller. Especially as my weight has plateaued in the last week.

So, has anyone found that as their legs bulk up that their belly fat goes down? It makes sense that as my muscle mass increases, my caloric intake would change. The amount of fat I maintain will change as my body needs more energy to maintain my muscles. But still, has anyone seen that actually work?
 
I think you're talking about body recomp, is that it? Well that is going to work if you are new to training or prev overweight, but if you keep eating above maintenance (and keep training obviously) you will gain muscle and fat. And eventually you'll need to cut to get your slim waist back :)
 
modmustang97g said:
Ive spent the last 13 weeks doing two a week leg workouts. Volume is around 30k lbs or so each day. During my bulking so far my belly has been pretty consistent or smaller. Especially as my weight has plateaued in the last week.

So, has anyone found that as their legs bulk up that their belly fat goes down? It makes sense that as my muscle mass increases, my caloric intake would change. The amount of fat I maintain will change as my body needs more energy to maintain my muscles. But still, has anyone seen that actually work?
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Hey! Welcome to the forum!

There are likely a few factors at play here. Depending upon how long you've been working out and how quickly you are indeed putting lean muscle on your legs, you may be noticing a difference due to proportional changes. Meaning your legs are getting bigger, which is making it look like your stomach look smaller.

As for your second part of the question, in theory, yes, as you put on more muscle mass you will certainly become more metabolically active BUT it's likely not happening over the course of two weeks. However, your leg workouts may be more physically demanding than what you were doing prior, which would put you if you are still eating at the same intake, at a deficit. In which case, you are probably losing some body fat, while adding muscle, which is the holy grail by the way, so kudos :)

There are a lot of possible factors at play here, but if it's working for you keep it up! Also, I'm not sure the amount of protein you're eating but I might add in some additional protein to help you continue your progress!
 
Thanks for the info. I suspect that my calorie intake has dropped back to maintenance in the last couple weeks. Which may be the reason for leaning out a bit. I just completed a 7 week cycle of PHs as well. In the last few days, my belly has shrunk drastically. I'm sure this is due to water weight, but it is encouraging considering my legs have been growing as well.

I'll try upping my Protein a bit while keeping my calories at maintenance (and by maintenance I don't mean Base rate). Hopefully that will help to continue muscle gains while slimming down a bit more.
 
5'10" 243 lbs. measured after workout 21.6% bf

Though I don't know how accurate that bf number is, it is from a hand held electronic resistance measurement.

My calories are between 2500 and 3000 every day. I have been trying to hit 3000, but its tough getting that many calories in throughout my day without eating garbage. On a good day I squeeze in an extra PB&J.
 
Sounds like you have things dialed in really well. Gaining muscle and losing fat...cant ask for better than that. Nice work!
 
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