There is so much advice out there that tells us how to get the “perfect body”. From fad diets to crazy workout plans, everyone has an opinion on what is the next best shortcut to reaching your goals. Remember that your road to a healthy lifestyle is a journey! It’s important to look for sustainable means to reach your goals in order to keep your results long-term. Some seem to neglect the most tried and tested method to get that lean look that everyone is after-- Body recomposition.
Body recomposition is the process of losing fat and building muscle at the same time. Remember that your weight is composed of both fat and muscle along with other components of your body like the organs, bones and water. So with this method, it’s not really a good idea to focus on your weighing scales since muscle weighs more than fat. The more you build muscle, and the more muscle mass you gain, the heavier you will weigh on the scale. I know that that statement might scare you, but don’t worry because your fat loss can offset this! A better way of tracking your progress would be to take progress pictures to see how your body looks and feels!
The reason why body recomposition works is because it focuses on nutrition. This makes sense since fitness is 70% nutrition and 30% exercise. I know that may be hard to hear, and maybe even a little disheartening. But, this old school method may be what you’re looking for!
If you’re looking toward lowering your body fat percentage, it would be good to have a caloric deficit. This is when you eat less than your maintenance calories, or how much you usually eat on a daily basis. A 100-500 calorie deficit is a good range to follow depending on your goals. If you want to focus on gaining muscle, then you should do the opposite which is a caloric surplus, or consuming more than your maintenance calories.
The most important part of this is to consume enough protein. Protein rich foods help with building muscle and sustaining it. 1.8 g per kg of your weight is a good place to start. Once you start gaining more muscle, then you can lower it to 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg of body weight. This doesn’t mean that you should refrain from eating carbohydrates and fats! Those food groups are good for giving you energy and keeping you full throughout the day.
The next thing you need to do is focus on muscle and strength building exercises. This can come in the form of resistance training, which is training with weights, or calisthenics, which is bodyweight training. These types of exercises will help build muscle and increase your metabolism in the process. Your metabolism increases because the amount of muscle that you build contributes to how much energy you need to do daily activities. The more muscle you have, the more you burn doing nothing!
I know some of you may be getting worried by the amount of times we mentioned building muscle, but you shouldn’t get worried. If you’re a woman, lifting weights or trying to build muscle won’t automatically turn you into a bodybuilder. Some of your favorite REBEL coaches Carla Piscoso, Cam Lagmay and Jo Sebastian, our nutritionist, love to get under the barbell! If anything it will take years, intense progressive training and a strict diet to get huge muscles.
To learn more, check out REBEL’s registered nutritionist and dietician Jo Sebastian.
You can download the REBEL App for free to start your journey today.
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