Body recomposition enables you to lose weight while still gaining muscle mass. Here’s what you should be aware of.
The terms “lean out,” “tone up,” and “get ripped” all refer to the same thing: body recomposition.
We typically concentrate on just one fitness goal. Either you lose weight, or you gain muscle. Body recomposition, on the other hand, allows you to do both at the same time. This method is challenging since it differs from simply wanting to lose weight.
Losing body fat while developing muscle appears paradoxical. This is because a caloric deficit helps with weight loss, whereas muscle growth requires consuming more calories than you expend. It is possible to do both, but it will require some fine-tuning of your diet and fitness routine. Everyday activities can also help you move more and burn more calories.
Here are some tried-and-true approaches to body recomposition that work.
Body composition refers to the % of body fat and that of lean mass.
Fat mass to lean mass equals your body composition. Body composition and body fat percentage are terms that are commonly used interchangeably, however body fat percentage is simply one component of overall body composition.
Muscles, bones, ligaments, organs and tendons, tissues and water make up what is known as lean mass. Depending on how you calculate your body composition, water may appear as its own proportion.
What about body transformation?
Body recomposition is the process of balancing your fat mass to lean mass ratio, example: losing body fat while obtaining muscle mass. The ultimate goal of body recomposition is to lose fat while simultaneously gaining muscle, as opposed to the typical strategy of “bulking and cutting,” in which you purposely gain a lot of weight (muscle and fat) and then go on an intensive calorie deficit to drop the fat and reveal the muscle below.
Skip the scale in favor of a tape measure when it comes to body composition to gain a better picture of your progress.
Body recomposition is about decreasing fat, not weight. You may maintain your present weight or even gain weight while on a body recomposition diet – recall the adage “muscle weighs more than fat”? This is just partly correct. Muscle weighs more than fat.
Rather than losing weight, your physique changes as a result of body recomposition. You may notice changes in your body as you progress through body recomposition, such as a firmer general appearance or that your clothes fit differently. You may even gain weight while maintaining a smaller physique at the conclusion of your body recomposition program.
For example, I now weigh the same as I did before to beginning to exercise and eat healthy. However, I am wearing smaller clothing and have greater muscle tone than previously. I also feel stronger than I did before beginning a strength training program (a nonaesthetic side effect of body recomposition). You can avoid using the scale because it does not distinguish between fat loss and muscle loss, and weight loss is not the primary goal of body recomposition.
However, there is one caveat to keep in mind: if your objective is to lose a big proportion of body fat while not increasing much muscle mass, you may end yourself losing weight in the long run.
Recomposition of the body takes time.
A body recomposition plan cannot be compared to a fad diet because you are striving to achieve two things at once: lose fat and build muscle. Healthy weight loss and muscle building are both time-consuming on their own; mix the two, and you’re in for a long haul. Body recomposition, on the other hand, generates long-term results, so you’ll be able to enjoy your new physique for as long as you follow those techniques.
Body recomposition requires a careful balance of muscle building and fat removal.
What is the procedure for body recomposition?
Your unique health and fitness goals drive body recomposition. There is no fixed plan for body recomposition, unlike traditional strategies of weight loss such as very low-calorie diets or periods of intense cardiac exercise.
There are certain general guidelines to follow. You will need the following items to correctly modify your body composition:
- Fat loss through cardiovascular activity
- Resistance (weight) training to build muscle.
- Calorie restriction in general to reduce weight
- Increased protein consumption for muscular growth
How to Get Rid of Fat
Fat loss ultimately boils down to calorie control. You must consume fewer calories than those you burn in order to lose weight. There’s no getting around the fact that cardiovascular activity, or a combination of aerobic with resistance exercises, combined with a nutritious diet, is the most effective technique for fat loss. Losing fat in a healthy way that is sustainable also includes setting realistic objectives and not depriving your body of the nutrition it needs; disordered eating habits are never worth the danger.
Resistance training is required for muscle growth.
Muscle Building
The two most significant parts of muscle growth are weight lifting and protein consumption. Because muscles do not grow until they are pushed, strength exercise is essential for changing your body composition.
Furthermore, in order to promote muscle growth, you must consume more calories than you burn. While all macronutrients are essential for muscle building, protein is especially critical. Your body will struggle to repair muscular tissues that have been injured during weight training if you do not consume enough protein.
Moreover, research shows that a high-protein diet might help with fat loss while improving muscle gain. Studies have proven that eating more protein when in a calorie deficit will help preserve your lean body mass (also known as muscle mass) more than being in a calorie deficit without adjusting your intake of protein.
In people who have already been following a strength training program, increased protein consumption combined with a strong weight-lifting practice contribute to improvements in body composition.
Bodybuilders are famous for their ability to generate very lean and muscular physiques. This is not for everyone, but it is a great illustration of what can be accomplished with body recomposition.
It may appear odd that you must intake less calories than the calories burned in order to lose fat, yet you must consume more calories in order to gain muscle. Once you understand the theory of calorie cycling, it’s actually rather simple: change your calorie and macronutrient intake to fit your daily goal.
The first step is to figure out how many calories you burn on a non-exercise day. This figure can be obtained by speaking with a licensed personal trainer, dietitian, or other health professional, or by using an online calorie calculator. The Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, used at the Mayo Clinic, is regarded as the gold standard among specialists.
Consume enough calories to meet your maintenance goals on the days when you do cardio exercise. Consuming only maintenance calories on a cardio day ensures that you’re in just enough of a deficit to encourage fat loss, but not so much that your body starts using muscle tissue as fuel. We’re after the muscle!
Which is better for weight loss: cardio first or cardio last?
On days when you finish a strength training program for 30 minutes or more, eat more calories than your maintenance number. Depending on how much muscle you want to acquire and how quickly you want it, increase your maintenance calories by 5% to 15%.
Eat 5% to 10% fewer calories than your maintenance calories on non-exercise days. These are your “rest day calories.”
Consider this: You consume new calories every day, and your body must decide what to do with those calories. Your body has three options: instantly burn the calories for fuel, repair and grow muscle tissue, or store them as fat.
You don’t want to store calories as fat if you want to change your body. You do, however, want your body to burn more calories in order to repair the muscles that were damaged during weight-lifting exercises.
On weight-training days, you’ll eat extra calories (and protein) so that your body can use those calories and nutrients for muscle repair and, eventually, muscular growth. You’ll also eat less calories on cardio days and days when you don’t exercise because you want your body to use stored fat as fuel rather than new calories.
Combining these two procedures will result in body recomposition.