Your Complete Guide to Body Recomposition

If you’ve travelled to the online spaces of the fitness community, you’ve certainly heard of cutting and bulking, popularized by bodybuilders in the 60s and 70s, which has received a resurgence of attention recently. And whether you’re a beginner looking to get into fitness, or experienced with the world of fitness and simply trying to hone in on goals and sharpen your approach, you might start to find yourself wondering whether a bulk or a cut is what you need.

Maybe you want to grow your muscles, but don’t love the idea of packing on the pounds. Or, maybe you want to lose some weight, but are worried about losing out on gains. Choosing between these two powerful motivators, burning fat versus gaining muscle, can be a really tough choice. And if that’s the case, then body recomposition may be right for you. 

Body recomposition refers to the simultaneous process of reducing body fat while maintaining or increasing lean mass, frequently with no changes in total body mass. People who place body recomposition as their driving fitness goal don’t see dramatic changes on the scale. Instead, they remain around the same weight, but focus on transforming their fat weight into lean mass. 

The Science Behind Body Recomposition

In the past, we’ve believed that losing fat often comes at the trade off of losing some skeletal muscle mass. Placing yourself in a deficit forces your body to pull from energy stores. When you don’t get enough calories, your body breaks down tissues (fat and muscle) for fuel, converting protein into glucose. Therefore, a common belief has been that to lose fat, you’ll inevitably have to sacrifice a little muscle. However, body recomposition begs to differ. 

By combining progressive resistance training and cardio with a strong focus on macronutrients, individuals were able to simultaneously lose fat and gain muscle—keeping people around the same weight, but drastically changing their body composition. 

Who is Body Recomposition Right For?

Whether you’re new to the fitness world or you’ve been around the block a few times, there’s a high likelihood that body recomposition could be right for you. Anyone who is interested in burning fat while gaining muscle can benefit from a body recomposition strategy.

You’ll benefit the most from body recomposition if…

1. You’re a fitness newbie: Body recomposition is an amazing strategy for beginners, who often aren’t focusing heavily on gaining or losing weight, but rather on becoming stronger and appearing more fit. You’ve probably heard of the phenomenon of “beginner gains”, or the rapid and significant increases in strength and muscle mass that people experience in the first 6-12 months of starting consistent resistance training. This period is temporary but highly effective for body transformation before slowing down, making it the ideal time to focus on body recomposition.

2. You’re returning to the gym after a period off: whether due to injury or other circumstances, people who’ve taken a break from the gym can experience the same “beginner gains”, making body recomposition an especially effective strategy.

3. You’re a frequent gym-goer, and you consider yourself sort of intermediate, but you haven’t been training at your full potential: the results may be slower to come, but body recomposition is still a very achievable goal. 

If you fit into any of the categories above, body recomposition can be a driving strategy to hone in your training and nutrition plan. Below is your guide to body recomposition, and everything you need to know about training, nutrition, and sleep. 

How to Get Started with Body Recomp

Create a Training Plan

First, you’ll need to decide on a primary goal: gain muscle or lose fat. Even in a body recomposition, choosing a primary goal—muscle gain or fat loss—helps guide your plan. You’ll still work toward both, but a main direction determines whether you lean into a slight surplus or slight deficit, how you train, and how you measure progress. Here are some general guidelines that can help you choose which strategy may be right for you:

Choose a muscle-gain focus if…

• You feel skinny, “flat,” or like you don’t have the muscle base you want yet.
• You want stronger lifts, better athletic performance, or more defined curves/shape.
• You’re new to lifting or returning after time off (prime time for muscle growth).
• You don’t mind the scale staying the same or even creeping up slightly.
• You have good energy, stable sleep, and can sustain a small calorie increase.

Choose a fat-loss focus if…

• You want to see more muscle definition or feel lighter and more comfortable.
• You’re already training consistently but aren’t happy with current body fat levels.
• You prefer structure around eating or feel best keeping calories a bit tighter.
• You’re okay with slower strength gains while you lean out.
• You’re motivated by visual changes, fit of clothes, or health markers.

If you’re still unsure…

• Pick the direction that feels easiest to stick with right now.
• Ask yourself which outcome would make you feel more confident in the next 8–12 weeks.
• Remember: you’re not locked in. Many people spend a few months leaning one way, then switch as their needs or comfort level shifts.

Maximize your Nutrition to Meet your Goal

That driving goal comes into play during the nutrition plan. If your primary goal is to build muscle, you’ll want to enter a slight caloric surplus (5-25% of maintenance intake). If your primary goal is to lose fat, you’ll want to be in a slight deficit (10-20% of maintenance intake). 

This slight deficit or surplus will help you to achieve your goals without having a huge effect on your overall weight. Once you know how many calories you plan to eat daily, you can form a nutrition plan. 

First, Protein

Protein is the centerpiece of body recomposition. When you’re trying to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, your body has to be convinced, constantly, to hold onto lean tissue rather than break it down for energy.

Recent studies have found that during body recomp, 1.6g/kg of body weight/day may be more beneficial than the 0.8 commonly recommended, because you’re training hard while not eating dramatically more or less. Aiming for the upper end of the protein spectrum gives your body the amino acids it needs to:

• repair and grow new muscle
• prevent muscle breakdown during a deficit
• support satiety and stable blood sugar
• maintain lean tissue even when calories are tight

Think of protein as the “protective shield” that keeps your muscle safe and growing while your body composition shifts, and focus your diet around it. Aim somewhere around 0.8-1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. 

Then, Fat

Then, you’ll want to aim for a fat intake of Then, you’ll want to aim for a fat intake of about 20–35% of your total daily calories. This range is high enough to support hormone health, recovery, and joint lubrication, but low enough that you can prioritize protein.

Finally, Carbs

Finally, you’ll want to fill in the rest with carbs. Focus on complex carbohydrates like whole grains, starchy vegetables, legumes, and fruits. They’ll give you sustained energy, digesting slowly and providing steady fuel for intense workouts. They’ll also keep you full longer, preventing overeating and aiding fat loss. They also offer essential vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients for overall health.

Making a Training Plan

To train for body recomposition, you’ll want to incorporate progressive resistance training and aerobic activity. This will allow you to build muscle while also targeting those fat stores.

A general guideline is to complete progressive resistance training three to four times a week, incorporating compound movements. Progressive resistance training (PRT) is an exercise method that builds muscle strength by gradually increasing the challenge (resistance) as you get stronger, using weights, bands, or machines to ensure continuous adaptation.

Depending on the intensity level of the cardio you incorporate, you should aim to perform aerobic activity around 3-5 times a week. For some people, this may mean a few extra days of lower intensity cardio, like cycling or jogging. For others, it may be two or three days of High Intensity Interval Training or Crossfit. 

Overall, you’re looking to strike a balance between strength training and cardio that allows you to gain muscle while also burning fat. So, listen to your body, and adapt to its needs.

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is not ancillary to body recomposition. We’re constantly told how important sleep is for pretty much everything, and a lot of the time we brush this advice off. Of course, in the perfect world, everyone would be getting enough sleep. However, when it comes to adopting a body recomposition strategy, sleep can make or break your results.

Studies have shown that sleep plays a huge role in muscle retention. In one study, researchers sought to measure the effects of sleep on weight loss outcomes, having one group sleep an hour less than another group. Although both groups lost the same amount of weight, the group that sleeps one hour more loses 83% of the weight from fat, whereas the other loses 85% of their weight from lean mass.

Need an Extra Boost?

If you’re ready to grab body recomposition by the horns, but you think that you might need a little extra push, consider joining a gym and signing up for some workout classes to help you stick to your goals!

Ready to work with people who understand you and your fitness needs? Sign up for a free intro today!