muscle memory and recomp after novice

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello,

I have just finished the beginner routine which I ran at mostly maintenance calories and made good progress but am now stalling (I lost a couple of inches on my waist too and got down to 32 inches though recently gained some due to overeating here and there).
I am now looking to start PB1 now but don’t want to gain any more bodyfat as my waist is around 33.5 inches and I’d like it to be around 31 just for comfort. However, I’d still like to gain more muscle and strength. My question is whether I can still expect to recomp during PB1 by eating at maintenance calories as my understanding is that this usually only happens for novices. Although I’m not a novice, I was a fair bit stronger roughly 5 years ago (due to various factors I regressed), so was wondering whether muscle memory would make a recomp possible similar to how a novice might to regain my strength and size. The benefit for me if recomping is possible over cutting/bulking is just that I don’t enjoy eating in a calorie deficit.

My current lifts are roughly
Squat : 140kgx3 (used to be 180kgx3)
Deadlift: 160kgx3 (used to be 210kgx3)
Bench: 90kgx3 (used to be 110kgx3)

Thanks!

2

You can expect to gain a bit of muscle and lose a bit of fat with proper nutrition, training, and lifestyle factors for the rest of your training career. The magnitude may be significant or infinitesimal depending on a variety of factors.

Muscle memory is still somewhat of a mystery. We know the the myonuclei (muscle fiber’s cells) persist for a long time, even with detraining. Because the myonuclei are responsible for maintaining the area of the muscle fiber it’s near, a return to training signals the nuclei to make more protein and restore the lost muscle size. This would likely happen to the extent it was going to within months of returning to training, provided you lost a significant amount of muscle mass in the interim. I’m not confident that there’s strong support for strength regain via “muscle memory.”

For more practical advice, after using your preferred approach for another 4-6 weeks and see how you feel about it. If you’re okay with how things are going, carry on. If you’re frustrated, I’d likely change course to more distinct cutting and bulking cycles.