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There’s a common myth that body recomposition is not for everyone and that only some people can actually pull off a successful attempt at losing body fat and gaining muscle. However, the reality is quite the opposite.
The majority of people that try recomposition can make a significant increase in muscle mass, if only they truly dedicate themselves and stick to the plan. The only people that recomp really can’t work for are those that don’t even try it.
What is recomp anyway? It’s when you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. It’s a process you can try when you don’t just want to be skinny, you want to be lean as well. It’s basically a type of weight loss that has an added benefit: you build a lot of muscle in place of that fat. It increases your resistance and helps you burn more calories per day.
To sum it up, body recomp is about decreasing your fat percentage and increasing your muscle percentage. You don’t necessarily have to lose your overall weight, but that weight will be made up primarily by muscle mass and not fat.
If you want a brief overview of the kinds of people that recomp can work for, here it is. It can work if you’re a newbie at the gym, have recently quit but used to train regularly (are a detrainee), are overweight, or even seasoned gym goers. Now, let’s work out the specifics of whether recomp is for you.
When you’re working out and building muscle as a beginner, your body has more capacity to gain muscle than it will ever have. To recomp as a beginner, some things you have to do are: be in a moderate caloric deficit, eat a high protein diet, and constantly increase your resistance in the gym.
One of the most common beginner lifting mistakes is that you go too far when you’ve only just started out. A key element in body recomp is to train regularly and if you injure your muscles to the point that you have to take time off to recover, you’re missing out on being consistent in the gym.
If you’ve backed out of the gym due to an injury, or you just can’t prioritize the gym as much as you used to, your body still has the muscle memory from back when you used to work out. That’s because the myonuclei, which are the muscle control centres, don’t go away if you’ve been away from the gym.
When you’re lifting weights again, those myonuclei can actually speed up protein synthesis and get you into body recomp much faster. Bodybuilding takes a lot of commitment and dedication, so if one of the reasons you’ve been away from the gym is that you’ve been lazy, well, body recomp just might not work for you then.
When you’re overweight, the fat that your body has already stored up can actually work towards building your muscle. This reduces that amount of time you have to spend bulking and gives you the leverage to go through a bigger caloric deficit.
People often believe that you can’t lose fat unless you do a proper cut, but you can actually be gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time, which works to your advantage when you’ve already stored enough to give you the energy for powerlifting and going through more difficult resistance training than leaner people.
We have worked with many seasoned gym goers to successfully complete a body recomposition. With the right macronutrient balance and correct training techniques anyone can do a body recomposition. Bulking and cutting is not the most ideal way to build muscle mass and lose fat. This perpetual cycle should be a dead practice. You will see the same if not better results just maintaining your weight, eating at maintenance calories and building strength throughout your entire fitness journey.
Elite athletes have a harder time with body recomp than the four categories of people that we’ve listed above. However, studies show that elite athletes who already have a significant amount of muscle mass were still able to lose fat and gain more muscle, although this was seen more in women than in men.
Regular bodybuilding means that you’ve already gained quite a bit of muscle. You’ve probably also lost a large amount of fat over the years and any resistance training that you’re doing now might only be maintaining your current body, but not making any enhancements. Talk to a personal trainer in Burnaby and figure out a plan that keeps you on the path to building more muscle.
In case you didn’t pick up on this in our article, all the people we have discussed are exactly the kinds of people you’re already seeing at the gym. This is a telltale sign that body recomposition is an inclusive process that can be effective for all sorts of body types.
The main thing that matters when it comes to recomposition is that you stay motivated and know what your goal is. If your goal is to cut fat, then make the right adjustments to your diet and workout plan. If your goal is to gain muscle, then work accordingly.
Some people have issues with bulking first and cutting later, because they don’t like the fat gain at any point. If you talk to your personal trainer in Burnaby, they can guide you on exactly what kind of meal plan and training schedule you should be on.
Scared of making those typical, beginner lifting mistakes? Not sure if powerlifting is for you? Here at Kraken Training, we’re all about helping you figure out what works best for your goals, keeping your body type in mind. Call us at 778-322-3298 for a consultation or click the request more info button.