Do you want to build lean muscle? Are you looking to ramp up your exercise routine?
Or lose weight?
Body recompositioning is gaining traction as more studies show the benefits of simultaneously building muscle and losing fat. Scientists believed this only happened sporadically or only in obese populations, but more scientific literature shows that under the right conditions, even trained people can benefit from this nutritional and exercise strategy.
What Is Body Recomposition?
Although not a well-defined term, increasing skeletal muscle mass and decreasing fat mass have various health benefits and can improve athletic performance.
It combines resistance training programs, manipulating exercises on a specific schedule, and enhancing muscular hypertrophic stimuli (resistance training). It increases fat and protein while eliminating all processed foods and high carbohydrate slash low nutrient foods, such as bread and pasta.
Key factors also include sleep, hormonal balance, and hydration. Most individuals increase the amount of water intake, some as much as doubling their intake to meet their body’s needs.
Sleep plays an important factor in regulating hormone production, particularly cortisol. Body recomposition training recommends a full night’s sleep every night to achieve optimal results. Some studies show losing one hour of sleep five times a week (the average most people do lose during a normal work week) can nearly halt both fat mass loss and muscle building. It also can substantially increase ghrelin, known as the hunger hormone, and increases the likelihood of weight gain. Some studies indicate the lack of sleep may be why some individuals fail to achieve any weight loss.
How To Get Started With Body Recomposition
The first step is to alter your diet: eliminate processed foods and increase the number of vegetables. Choose quality, whole cuts of meat and freely use natural oils such as butter, olive oil, and nut oils.
Secondly, combine aerobic exercise with weight training nearly every day. Many classes at gyms now incorporate weights within their overall training.
Then, you have to make sure you get enough sleep and drink more water. Any day you wake up tired will be a day your body aims to store fat rather than lose it.
It’s best you work with a trained professional coach or physical trainer who can guide you through the nutritional and exercise aspects of body recomposition. Most people see results fairly quickly as the body begins to focus on shedding fat and gaining muscle.
Body recomposition has it all covered if you’re looking to give your body the best ability to lose fat and gain muscle. It requires dedication and a long-term approach, and it can give some fabulous results.
References:
Zemski AJ, Keating SE, Broad EM, Marsh DJ, Hind K, Slater GJ. Preseason Body Composition Adaptations in Elite White and Polynesian Rugby Union Athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Jan 1;29(1):9-17. Doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0059. PMID: 29757054.
