What Is Body Recomposition
Body recomposition is the process of changing the composition of your body. That means, changing the proportion of fat mass and muscle mass in your body.
In simple words, body recomposition means gaining muscle mass and losing fat at the same time. Though it sounds simple but it is not easy to achieve. However, there are a lot of studies that prove you can do it if you have science at your side.
In this article, we will give you a science-based approach to look at your training and nutrition with a comprehensive body recomposition workout plan.
Can You Lose Fat & Gain Muscle at the same time?
Well, if you design your diet and exercise regime smartly and stick to it with disciple then it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously.
All you need to do is to increase your LBM (lean body mass). LBM is your total body weight minus fat mass. In other words, you need to decrease your body fat percentage. (1)
Is body recomposition possible for everyone?
Theoretically, yes. But it varies with your experience level. Studies show that body recomposition is comparatively easy for newbies or non-lifters than advanced-level athletes.
That’s why bodybuilders focus on one thing at a time. They do bulking and cutting alternately. So if you have several years of experience, then it would be better to focus on either gaining muscle or losing fat.
Summary
Body recomposition means increasing lean body mass by gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously.
Body Recomposition Workout: How To Plan
For a successful body recomposition, you need to have a well-designed workout plan that involves both weight training and cardio in proper proportions. In this way, you can build muscles and lose fat at the same time.
Here are the things you need to consider for a result-oriented body recomposition workout plan.
Resistance Training
Resistance training or weight training is the foundation for body recomposition. It helps in building muscles, increasing strength, and burning calories by boosting metabolism.
But how should you approach your resistance training?
Do 4-5 Weight Training Sessions Weekly
You have to give enough amount of resistance to your muscles to grow. But overtraining is also a factor that can come your way. Hence, 4-5 weight training sessions of about 1 hour are enough.
Make sure that your weight training session should not go beyond 60 minutes. As this may lead your body to a catabolic state.
Focus on Progressive Overload
The human body is designed in such a way that it does not respond to the same stimulus forever. We work and we adapt. After that, we have to increase the stimulus. And this principle works in every domain, be it in improving health or even in learning mathematics.
In the case of muscle building, this principle is called progressive overloading. It is essential to keep gaining muscle mass and increasing muscular strength.
In progressive overloading, you gradually increase the stress on your musculoskeletal system.
No matter how disciplined you are with your training, if you are not using progressive overloading, you won’t be able to grow.
How to use progressive overloading?
Here are the 4 ways to apply the progressive overload principle effectively:
1. Increase weights: Lifting slightly heavier than your muscles are used to, is the most obvious way of progressive overloading. It simply works like this-
Increase weight > Adapt > Repeat
Remember that it is not possible to increase weight in every workout. You have to give your muscles some time to adapt to that heavier weight.
For instance, if you can do 12 reps of shoulder presses with 80 lb, then move on to 90 lb in the next session and stay on that weight for some time until you feel comfortable with that 90 lb weight.
2. Increase Sets: Increasing training volume is another way of progressive overloading. You can do that by doing more sets.
Just by increasing the total number of sets or by doing extra exercise, you can force your muscles to grow by putting extra stress on them.
For instance, if you are doing 3 sets of bench presses previously, then start doing 4 sets from the next session.
3. Increase Reps: Doing the same exercise with the same weight for more reps is also a way to progress in the gym. But make sure to not go out of the hypertrophy rep range of 6-12 reps.
However, you can go outside of this range occasionally but most of your sets should remain in the hypertrophy rep range.
Read more: Principle of Progressive Overloading – Explained
Focus on Compound Exercises
A compound exercise is one that involves more than one joint and multiple muscles. Some of the major compound lifts are:
- Bench press
- Squats
- Bench press
- Deadlift
- Barbell bent-over rows
- Shoulder overhead press
For an efficient body recomposition workout plan, add all these major compound exercises to your resistance training routine. They give better muscle-building results, improve strength, and burn more calories as compared to isolation exercises.
Rest and Recovery
Proper rest and recovery is as important as training and nutrition. It’s the third piller of this body recomposition trinity.
There is a very famous saying “Train insane or remain the same”, you must have heard that and believed in that.
Though this quote is correct to some extent, some people push their limits too much which leads to overtraining which can impact your muscle growth in a negative way.
Those intense gym sessions won’t actually grow your muscles. In fact, weight training causes wear and tear to your muscles.
It’s the rest period where healing happens and your muscles come out to be slightly stronger for the next session. So it’s important to give your muscles enough time to recover.
Big muscle groups like legs and back need 2 to 3 days while for the short muscles like biceps or abs, 1 to 2 rest days are enough.
In addition to rest and recovery, a good night’s sleep is also important. So make sure to sleep 7-9 hours every night.
Cardio
If your only goal is to gain muscle or strength, then you can ignore cardio as it is not essential for muscle building. But if you want to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, you can’t remove cardio from the equation.
In a result-oriented body recomposition workout plan, cardio has its own place. It will help you reduce that extra layer of fat and improve your cardiovascular performance.
How much cardio should you do?
Yes, cardio is important, but excess of anything is harmful. So avoid doing too much low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardio like long-distance running. It might lead to muscle loss.
Read More: 3 Cardio Mistakes Killing Your Gains
So 3 to 4 steadt state cardio sessions of about 30 minutes each fit best in a body recomposition workout plan.
You can do any form of cardio running, cycling, swimming, or something else. But make sure to do it at a low to moderate intensity. That means maintaining your heart rate at 50-70% of your maximum heart rate.
This type of cardio is effective in burning calories without making it so intense that effect your muscle-building progress in a negative way.
HIIT
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. This is a different way of doing cardio you can include in your body recomposition training plan.
This involves a short period of intense training followed by a rest interval. For instance, a 30-second sprint and then 90 seconds of brisk walking. You can do 5-10 sets of this 2-minute circuit.
HIIT is a quick, intense, and enjoyable way of burning a lot of calories in a short period of time. In addition, it also stimulates strength response and activates your muscles as well. (2)
You can jumble between traditional steady-state cardio and HIIT as both have their own benefits.
So if you are doing 4 cardio sessions per week, you can do 2 sessions of LISS and 2 sessions of HIIT.
When to do cardio?
Do cardio after weights or put your cardio session away from your weight training session.
The most common mistake that people do is to start their workout by cardio. You can do that if your goal is to lose weight or improve cardiovascular performance. But if you want to gain muscle then avoid doing cardio before weights.
According to a 2016 study done by The Journal of Strength and Conditioning –
“People who did a 20-minute cardio session before weight training experienced a significant decrease in their workout performance. They performed 9-18% fewer reps in the main lifts.”
Hence, never do cardio before weight training as your goal is to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously. The best time to do cardio is either after weights or in a totally different session.
You can also try to do empty-stomach cardio. Several studies show that an empty stomach steady state cardio is more effective in reducing fat.
Sample Workout Routine
Well, there is no one size fits all. So there can be no ideal workout plan that exactly meets all your requirement. A personalized workout plan would be better if you are serious about your body recomposition goal.
So this workout routine is for reference. You can do some modifications as per your body type, lifting experience, and body composition.
Here’s an intense workout split in which your train for 6 days a week.
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, and triceps
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Incline bench press | 4 | 6-8 |
| 2(a). Flat dumbbell press 2(b). Decline cable fly | 3 | 8-12 |
| 3. Barbell overhead press | 3 | 6-8 |
| 4(a). Dumbbell lateral raise 4(b). Dumbbell front raise | 3 | 10-12 |
| 5. Rear delt fly | 2 | 15 |
| 6(a). Skull crushers 6(b). Pully pushdown | 3 | 8-12 |
| 7. Dumbbell kickbacks | 2 | 15 |
Day 2: Back, biceps, and cardio (HIIT)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| 3(a). Lat pulldown 3(b). One-arm dumbbell rows | 4 | 5-8 |
| 2. Bentover barbell rows | 4 | 8-10 |
| 3(a). Lat pulldown 3(b). One arm dumbbell rows | 3 | 10-12 |
| 4. Barbell curls | 3 | 8-12 |
| 5. Spider curls | 3 | 8-12 |
| 6. Hammer curls | 3 | 8-12 |
Now do HIIT cardio – a 30-sec sprint followed by 90-sec brisk walking. Repeat this circuit 6 to 10 times.
Day 3: Legs, abs, and cardio (LISS)
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Squats | 4 | 6-8 |
| 2. Leg press | 3 | 8-10 |
| 3. Romanian deadlift | 3 | 8-10 |
| 4. Calf raises | 3 | 12-20 |
| 5(a). Crunch 5(b). Reverse crunch | 3 | 20 |
| 6(a). Russian twist 6(b). Bicycle crunch | 3 | 20 |
| 7. Plank | 2 | 1-2 min |
Do low-intensity steady-state cardio for about 20 minutes. It would be better to do your cardio away from the weight training session.
Now repeat these 3 workouts on the next three days of the week. And week by week try to increase training intensity or volume by lifting heavier or by adding more sets, reps, or exercises.
Whichever plan you follow, just remember two things – consistency and progressive overloading. These two are necessary to get the desired results.
Body Recomposition Workout Plan: TAKEAWAY
A workout plan is not something that you can download from the internet and follow blindly. You need to design your own schedule based on your body type and physique goals.
Here are the key takeaways that you need to consider while preparing a body recomposition workout plan:
- Make a smart blend of weight training and cardio in your workout.
- Train each muscle twice a week.
- Focus on compound exercises and progressive overloading.
- Add 3-4 cardio sessions of not more than 30 minutes.
