Body recomposition refers to the process of altering your ratio of fat-to-muscle mass by engaging in weight training, diet and supplementation programs.
Dieters typically focus on losing body fat through reduced caloric intake and exercise to expend energy, but doing this may also result in decreased muscle mass (13).
Beginner weightlifters have an advantage when it comes to building muscle. They can both lose fat and build it at once!
Weight Training
To build muscle, it’s necessary to lift heavier weights each time you hit the gym. This is an integral component of body recomposition that often gets neglected when trying to lose weight alone. But you don’t need to go overboard when starting strength training: for beginners with only limited weight lifting experience (say less than six months of experience), focus on increasing rep range as you increase reps gradually – over time you will gradually progress and build muscle without injuring yourself!
Body recomposition involves maintaining an optimal level of lean mass, or the percentage of total body weight comprised by muscle. This is particularly essential for athletes competing in sports that demand strong power-to-weight ratios such as gymnasts and weightlifters – the greater your lean mass, the more power can be produced relative to total body weight.
One common misperception about those who are overweight or obese is that it’s harder for them to build muscle and lose fat, yet research indicates otherwise. Untrained individuals may find it easier than more-trained counterparts as they have more fat to shed off than experienced exercisers.
Body recomposition is an integrative fitness approach that takes your physical appearance and overall feeling into account, not only the number on the scale. Body recomposition can help you reduce excess body fat, tone your muscles, increase energy levels and sleep better at night while decreasing risks such as heart disease and diabetes.
To reach your recomposition goals, it’s crucial to set clear and measurable goals and monitor progress over time. Tools like progress photos and strength benchmarks can help keep an eye on how well you are progressing toward meeting them. It is also crucial to stay consistent. Body recomposition requires patience and perseverance – but if you commit yourself fully, the effort may pay off big time.
Cardio
Cardio is essential in body recomposition training plans, but don’t go overboard. Instead, focus on high intensity interval training (HIIT), which has been shown to both burn fat and promote muscle growth while taking less time than cardio workouts – making them easier to fit into your busy schedule.
Miss sessions can increase the calorie-burning potential of your routines. Just make sure that weight training and nutrition come first when adding MISS sessions; resting well is also necessary to maintaining muscle gains while decreasing fat loss during body recomposition. Newbies who take an intense approach can often gain one or two pounds per month of muscle in their first year, known as newbie gains; this will help achieve the lean, muscular look you’re after.
Diet
Body recomposition requires striking a balance among carbs, proteins and fats in order to effectively lose fat while building muscle simultaneously. Aim for 0.8-1 grams per pound of your body weight as your protein goal.
On days that you are training or performing cardio, it is crucial that you create a small calorie deficit. This will allow you to efficiently burn off body fat and speed up progress at the gym. Most of your calories should come from carbohydrates and proteins; fat consumption should only account for 30% or less of total calorie consumption.
As part of your body recomposition journey, tracking macros daily is crucial. Doing this allows you to monitor how much protein, carbs, and fats you are consuming each day – MyFitnessPal is an ideal app for this purpose.
Tracking your workouts weekly is also beneficial in showing your progression in the gym, such as being able to lift more weight when in a caloric deficit and improving form in the gym.
People seeking to reduce body fat tend to focus on the scale, yet it doesn’t give an accurate portrayal of how your body has altered over time.
As the best way to gauge progress is comparing measurements, the easiest way to do so is through comparisons. For instance, when trying to lose body fat and gain muscle it is essential that women focus on waist and hip measurements; men can put more focus on chest, arms and shoulders for measurement purposes.
Keep in mind that body recomposition may not be suitable for everyone. People competing in physique competitions or who already have high body fat percentages may struggle with gaining muscle while on a calorie deficit diet, and once individuals reach their genetic potential it will be harder for training and diet alone to change body composition.
Supplements
Whey protein supplements can be an excellent way to meet your daily protein requirements, but the optimal way is to incorporate more whole food sources like eggs, meat, fish, nuts, nut butters, beans and yogurt into each meal and snack.
On days that you workout and do cardio, consume enough calories to support maintaining muscle. On other days when not working out or performing cardio exercises, consume in an attempt to lose fat by creating a caloric deficit.
Over six months with a proper training program and proper diet you can build lean muscle and drop fat significantly, leaving you looking great. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t work well for individuals looking to build massive amounts of muscle or prepping for competitions; nor for people wanting quick results who wish to change weight class or drop body fat quickly.
