Body Recomposition (The Holy Grail?)
Lose fat and build muscle at the same time. It's possible—just not for everyone.
What Even Is Recomp?
Recomposition means changing your body composition—less fat, more muscle—without your weight necessarily changing much. Your body basically swaps fat for muscle.
The scale might not move, but the mirror tells a very different story. Clothes fit better. You look more athletic. That's recomp.
Who Can Actually Pull This Off?
Let's be honest: recomp is slow, and it doesn't work equally well for everyone. It works best for:
Beginners: If you've never lifted seriously, you can build muscle and lose fat simultaneously pretty easily. Your body is primed for change. This is genuinely the easiest window you'll ever have.
People returning after a break: "Muscle memory" is real. If you used to be fit and fell off, you'll regain muscle faster than a true beginner while still losing fat.
People with higher body fat: If you're carrying extra fat, your body has plenty of energy reserves to fuel muscle building even at maintenance or a small deficit.
People on certain medications: Let's just acknowledge this exists without getting into it.
If you're already lean and experienced? Recomp is painfully slow. You're probably better off doing dedicated cut/bulk cycles. Be honest with yourself about which category you fall into.
The Approach
Eat at maintenance calories (your TDEE) or a very small deficit (100-200 calories max). You're not trying to lose weight quickly—you're trying to change what that weight is made of.
Protein: 1.8-2.2g per kg. On the higher end of recommendations because you're trying to do two things at once. This gives your body every chance to preserve and build muscle.
Training: lift heavy, progressively overload, hit each muscle 2x per week. This is non-optional. Without a strong training stimulus, your body has no reason to prioritise muscle.
What To Actually Expect
The scale might not move for weeks. That's normal—if you're losing fat and gaining muscle, they can cancel each other out on the scale.
Better markers:
• Progress photos: Take them monthly. Same lighting, same pose. You'll see changes the scale won't show.
• Measurements: Waist going down while chest/arms stay the same or go up? That's recomp.
• Strength gains: Getting stronger while weight stays stable is a good sign muscle is being added.
• How clothes fit: Honestly one of the best indicators.
Timeline: Think months, not weeks. Noticeable recomp for a beginner might take 8-12 weeks. For someone more experienced, could be 6+ months to see meaningful change.
When To Give Up On Recomp
At some point, recomp stops working efficiently and you need to pick a lane:
Switch to a cut if: You want to get leaner faster. Recomp will get you there eventually, but a dedicated cut is much quicker if that's the priority.
Switch to a bulk if: You're already fairly lean (sub 15% men, sub 22% women) and want to build muscle faster. A small surplus will accelerate gains.
Stay the course if: You're still making progress on both fronts and you value not having to cut later. Some people do recomp for years and are perfectly happy with steady, sustainable progress.
The Honest Truth
Recomp is often over-hyped online by people selling things. It's a real phenomenon, but it's not magic.
For beginners, it's genuinely the smart play. You'll look better without needing to obsess over surplus or deficit.
For experienced people, dedicated phases are almost always more time-efficient. Recomp at that stage is less "optimised strategy" and more "I don't want to diet or eat more." Which is valid—just know what you're signing up for.
Useful Tools
Sources
- Barakat et al. (2020). Body recomposition: can trained individuals build muscle and lose fat simultaneously? Strength & Conditioning Journal. Link
- Ribeiro et al. (2022). Resistance training promotes simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain in untrained adults. JSCR. Link
- Stokes et al. (2018). Muscle memory and the trained state. Journal of Physiology. Link