Recomp: Building muscle and losing fat at the same time
December’s Theme: MUSCLE BUILDING 💪
Today’s topic: Body recomposition
Let’s talk about the most sexy and elusive unicorn in all of Fitness World™—body recomposition.
Or rather, gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time.
Now first let me be clear: In order to be a healthy, strong person who is capable of doing the things they love (and getting off the toilet by themselves) well into old age, you need to fight for every ounce of muscle as long as possible.
It will get harder and harder to do so the older you get. Thinking you need to fight less for something that is already declining is fuckin’ NONSENSE.
That being said, the sidecar goal of fat loss is ALWAYS to preserve as much lean mass as possible, and even fight for more. Why? Because in a calorie deficit, your body will likely lose some of its muscle mass 😩😩😩
So in my program, even someone with a fat loss goal is doing a recomp, because that’s what makes for a powerful, resilient body, and that’s what The Adventure Ready Academy is all about.
You wanna be a stick figure go try the cocaine and cigarette diet. Here, we train so we can DO more awesome stuff.
So how to do preserve and even build muscle while losing fat?
Two things make recomp pretty easy at first:
Be new to strength training, or come back to it after a long (several months) break.
Be very overweight. I don’t mean “lose the last ten pounds,” I mean above 30% body fat for women and 20% for men.
When most people join a fitness program, they usually check one of these boxes, which means the first 2-3 months they make fast, impressive progress, also called “newbie gains.”
For the iron jungle veterans and those who are on the slightly leaner side, body recomposition is more difficult. Possible? Yes. But it will take longer and results are slower to surface.
Unless you’re a physique pro, this can feel arduous.
Which is why the standard advice for people with low recomp potential is just to focus on a fat loss phase (cutting) or a muscle building phase (bulking).
I’ll use myself as an example. I hang out at around 17-18% body fat and I’m an intermediate lifter. Which means I have low recomp potential *cue sad trumpets*
To see some serious abs, I’d need to do a fat loss phase and risk some muscle loss (🙃).
To pack on some muscle so my pronouns are Fe/Fi/Fofum, I’d need to do a muscle building phase and gain a little fat with it (🙃).
Is it a perfect system? No. This is hard. But it’s less hard if you chill out and relax into the process by focusing on eating and sleeping like a champ and getting stronger.
Most of us just want to look like we work out, be reasonably fit, and be confident we can go play in the world without breaking down.
So should I bulk, cut, or recomp?
This might be the most frequently asked question in the history of fitness-related forums and message boards. Fortunately, there are no wrong answers. There are a few questions to consider before making a decision:
Do you have relatively high (or low) potential for successful recomposition, based on your training status and body composition characteristics?
Which route (gaining muscle vs losing fat) is most exciting to you at the moment?
Which endpoint (muscle gain vs fat loss) is a higher priority at the moment, and how much urgency is attached to this outcome?
If you were to focus on fat loss first, how lean would you want to get?
If you were to focus on muscle gain first, what magnitude of simultaneous fat gain would you be comfortable with?
🚨 Don’t forget: The majority of your life will be spent in maintenance, just enjoying your strength and health habits out in the world!
Then maybe once or twice a year you could focus on a sprint toward a physique goal.
Remember, building your dream body takes years. That’s why you need to take structured breaks and use sustainable methods that feel good to you.
In the Academy, once someone has built their strength and nutrition foundation, they can enter Physique Mode, which is a short push in one of these directions, with a sustainable exit plan.
If you’d like some guidance in this convoluted area, consider applying to the Academy and let’s get you moving toward your best self, shall we?
Love & muscles,
Coach Mac
Muscle Sherpa
