Gaintaining Is Holding Back Your Progress (new study!)

Key wellness / fitness strategies discussed

Know the asymmetry

• Fat loss is easier and faster than muscle gain.
  • You can lose significant fat in weeks
  • While meaningful muscle gain takes longer

Two main dieting approaches

1) Gaintaining (maintenance-based recomposition)

• Aim for approximately:
  • ~12–15% body fat (men) or ~20–25% (women) to make recomposition more likely
• Focus on:
  • Train hard
  • Hit adequate protein
  • Stay near maintenance calories on average (avoid intentional surplus/deficit)
• Benefits:
  • Lower stress (no aggressive bulking/cutting)
  • Built-in “mini zigzags” because most people aren’t perfectly at maintenance day-to-day

2) Bulking + cutting (structured surplus then deficit)

• Bulking: run a calorie surplus to gain muscle (and some fat)
• Cutting: run a moderate deficit to lose fat with minimal muscle loss
• Main claim from the new study:
  • Maintenance blunts both fat loss and muscle gain
  • Bulking/cutting tends to get more total muscle gain + more fat loss in the same timeframe

Practical protocol for best long-term results (as stated)

• Bulk: about +0.5 lb/week for 12–20 weeks (roughly 6–10 lb gained)
• Maintain / rest: ~2 weeks (up to 2 months+)
• Cut: about -1 lb/week for 4–8 weeks to burn off most of the bulk fat while preserving (or even slightly improving) muscle

Self-check / monitoring tip

Track performance to protect muscle

• If you’re dieting and strength isn’t dropping week-to-week, you’re “almost certainly” not losing much muscle.

Tools mentioned for monitoring

• RP Hypertrophy app (strength / muscle retention monitoring)
• RP Diet Coach app (dieting support)

“Gaintaining vs Bulking/Cutting” takeaway

• Gaintaining works (you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time)
• However, the video argues it’s typically slower because strict maintenance reduces the size of both processes
• Bulking + cutting is positioned as more effective for faster long-term progress
• Maintenance is presented as the lower-stress alternative

Presenters / sources

• Dr. Mike (host; “Dr. Mike here for RP Strength”)
• RP Strength (channel/brand referenced)
• Salvador Vargas Molina and colleagues (author team of the cited study)
• Eric Helms (referenced as supporting gaintaining conceptually)
• Meadow Henselmans (referenced as advocating that recomposition is more common than people think)
• Scott (appears as a conversational partner in the subtitles)