When you are natural, “gaintaining” doesn’t work. A 100-200 calorie surplus is not going to make a noticeable difference. You should either fully commit to bulking, accepting some fat gain, or focus on recomposition.
For natural lifters with minimal experience, the best approach is to lean out to a reasonable body fat level and then go into a 500-600 calorie surplus to build a solid foundation.
Maintaining is not practical for someone who is not going to benefit from such a small surplus. You could take 200mg of testosterone and get more out of “gaintaining” than you ever would as a natural lifter, and for most people, it wouldn’t even negatively impact your health markers.
