How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle At The Same Time Step By Step

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The first time we went to a gym, we worked with a personal trainer. They asked what our goal was, which was, of course, to get shredded. So we replied that we wanted to gain some muscle while losing fat. The trainer stepped back and said, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. You can’t lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.” What a bummer! But how many times have you heard that? It’s impossible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Well, we have good news for you: Yes, you can! This video is going to show you how you can run a successful body recomposition, and it’s actually not that hard. In fact, there are just three key points to follow.

In the past, the term body recomposition was rarely mentioned. It refers to the process of losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time and has been considered the Holy Grail of training. However, all serious lifters knew this was just a pipe dream. To see progress, you either trained for fat loss or you trained for muscle. If you wanted to gain muscle without getting fat, you had to do it in cycles by partaking in multiple bulks and cuts. Everyone believed this because fat loss is a catabolic process while building muscle is anabolic. Trying to do both at once would cause something termed metabolic antagonism, resulting in a stalemate.

What’s crazy is that this was the primary school of thought up until not that long ago. In fact, studies researching body recomposition didn’t really start to become a real thing until around 2020. If anything, body recomposition was believed to only be possible for two groups of people: the first group being newcomers to training. The basic explanation was that these individuals were so new to exercise that their bodies had stronger reactions and thus were able to have a successful body recomposition. However, as you train more, your body needs more specific stimuli to grow, and the response occurs to a smaller degree. Once you’ve been lifting for just a year, you can say goodbye to recomposition.

The second group consists of those with a high percentage of body fat. The theory behind this is that their bodies have so much excess fat that there’s plenty of energy readily available, even if they’re in a deficit. However, as their body fat percentage lowers, their calories become less accessible, meaning the body won’t have the energy to build muscle in a caloric deficit. So again, the leaner you become, the harder it gets to run a successful recomposition.

So was this line of thinking completely wrong? Well, they were kind of right when it comes to these two groups of people—both lifting newbies and those with high body fat percentages will be more likely to see better results in their recomposition. Where the error in thinking lies is with the idea that other groups of people can’t perform successful recomposition as well. This includes those with a lower body fat percentage and those who have been training for longer periods of time.

Now this is where our knowledge of exercise science and body recomposition has recently grown. There’s been an influx of studies showing that these recompositions are not only possible but possible for virtually everyone, even elite athletes. This means you too can run a successful recomposition and build muscle while losing fat at the same time if you follow the guidelines we’re going to give you.

So get ready because a lot of these studies are relatively new, meaning this might be the first time you’ve heard these conclusions. We want you to pay special attention to this next part, as we’re going to tell you what factors will determine a successful body recomposition. We’ll walk through some actual studies, assess their outcomes, and then apply the information to our training.

Let’s start with nutrition. Out of all the variables that will go into your recomposition, perhaps the most important aspect is going to be your nutrition. We don’t say that lightly, as everything is of utmost importance. However, when we look at all the studies on successful recompositions, nutrition is addressed consistently, specifically your protein intake. Upping your protein intake is probably the most important practice you’ll need to adopt to support your recomposition.

In fact, it seems to be the key to seeing how effective it is. Let’s look at a study from Dr. Jose Antonio of ISSN that was performed in 2015. In it, 48 resistance-trained men and women with an average of 2.4 years of training followed an 8-week progressive program using a 5-day split. So right off the bat, you can see these weren’t lifting novices. These 48 individuals were then put into two different groups, which differed only by one main variable: their protein intake.

We should note they also increased their caloric intake, but we can tell you now that this did not lead to what you think it did. The normal protein group was supposed to eat 1.8 g per kg of body weight, but they actually ended up eating more protein than instructed—2.3 g per kg. As far as calories, they ate 29.3 calories per kilogram of body weight. For example, a 100 kg (220 lb) person ate 2930 calories. Now the high protein group ate a whopping 3.4 g of protein per kg of body weight, which resulted in 35.7 calories per kg of body weight.

So in this group, a 100 kg person would have eaten 3570 calories. What happened after the 8 weeks of training was surprising. First, both groups saw a successful recomposition. Further, both gained on average 1.5 kg of muscle. However, things differed when it came to fat loss. The high protein group lost on average 1.6 kg of fat, while the normal protein group only lost 0.3 kg. This resulted in a greater decrease than that of the normal protein group, with a loss of 2.4% versus 0.6%.

To be clear, even though the high protein group consumed nearly 22% more calories at 35.7 per kg versus 29.3 per kg, they lost five times more fat than the low protein group. This means an 80 kg man would still lose more weight even though they were eating an extra 500 calories a day. How is that possible? The most likely reason is due to protein’s high thermal effect of food.

The thermal effect of food is basically the amount of calories needed to actually digest and transport the food. As you can imagine, protein is significantly harder for your body to digest—think steak versus rice. It’s estimated that protein has a thermal effect of food of around 20 to 30%. That means if you eat 1,000 calories of protein, your body will burn 200 to 300 calories just to digest it.

To further illustrate this, Dr. Antonio did another high protein study using 4.4 g per kg. Even though the individuals in the high protein group ate 800 more calories, they did not see any gain in fat. So how does this apply to you? Well, while your protein intake seems to be the key part of your diet for recomposition, your training still matters. Eating a ton of chicken and steak will definitely get your protein up, but it’s not enough on its own to significantly increase muscle mass.

You know how hard you need to train to gain muscle under normal conditions. Well, when you’re doing a recomposition, it’s even harder. In 2016, Dr. Antonio performed yet another study using high protein diets. These individuals ate anywhere from 2.3 to 3.2 g per kg of body weight while following a resistance training program. However, unlike in his earlier study, these individuals saw no significant improvements in their body composition even though they trained for a year.

So why are we telling you about a study with no results? Well, that’s because it actually has significant implications. Dr. Antonio addressed this contradicting result and noted one primary difference between the two studies. You see, the individuals in his 2015 study were put on a proper resistance training program which utilized periodization and progressive overload.

Periodization is a method of altering the total volume and load you lift throughout your program to create different stimuli for greater adaptation. In other words, instead of lifting just three sets of 10 reps for exercises, you might also use three sets of five reps and three sets of 15 reps. In this study, they used four rep ranges to hit the muscle, including three sets of five reps, three sets of eight reps, three sets of 10 reps, and three sets of 12 reps.

The study also used progressive overload. Progressive overload is the principle that says to ensure consistent growth, you must constantly place a slightly larger demand on the muscle over time. In other words, you need to lift more weight, more reps, or more sets. In comparison, those in his 2016 study trained but were simply instructed to train “as usual.” In other words, they weren’t using a well-structured training program.

With that said, they still tracked their training, including their volume, and it’s here that the researchers found out the likely cause for no improvement: there was no increase in total training volume. This is a crucial factor. Training volume is basically the total amount of work you perform in the weight room. This might be calculated as set volume, which measures the amount of working sets, or total volume, which is the summation of all the weight you lifted, found by the equation sets times reps times load.

By not increasing their total volume, the study group essentially never increased the amount they lifted throughout the program, so they never put a greater stress on their muscles. In this condition, we shouldn’t expect to see any increase in muscle mass. You see, volume is the most important variable that influences muscle growth. There have been dozens of studies that show a clear dose-response relationship with volume and muscle growth. If you want your muscles to grow, you have to increase your volume.

Those in this study didn’t. In fact, that’s exactly what Dr. Antonio concluded in his study, saying, “Thus one would speculate that without significant changes in the training stimulus, the mere provision of extra protein would likely not lead to changes in body composition.” Therefore, don’t forget the same principles apply for muscle growth when you’re doing a recomposition. This means you must increase the volume on a weekly basis. If you don’t, you’ll still maintain your muscle mass, but there won’t be enough stimuli for more growth.

Now let’s take a closer look at what the actual programs entail. Going back to Dr. Antonio’s 2015 study, we already discussed how it utilized periodization with progressive overload. More specifically, the trainees were put on a 5-day split with 5 to 8 exercises in each session. The exercises included your basics such as bench press, military press, dips, lat pulldown, and back squats.

Now let’s look at another study from 2018 which saw a successful body recomposition with female physique competitors. This study used a 4-day upper-lower split for an 8-week program. This equated to two upper body and two lower body sessions each week. The upper body days used six exercises per session and included exercises such as barbell rows, overhead press, and assisted pull-ups. The lower body day used five exercises per session and included back squats, deadlifts, and hip thrusts.

Further, it too used periodization training throughout the 8 weeks, using rep ranges of 3 to 5, 9 to 11, and 14 to 16. Now this study also looked at high protein—2.5 g per kilogram versus low protein of 0.9 g per kilogram. At the end of the study, the participants in the high protein group gained 2.1 kg of muscle versus 0.6 kg in the low protein group. The high protein group also lost 1.1 kg of fat while the low protein group saw no decrease.

What makes this study stand out was that again, the participants were seasoned trained physique competitors. This meant that not only were they experienced lifters, they also had lower body fat percentages. This completely disproves the belief that only newcomers and overweight individuals are able to run a successful body recomposition.

Another factor that’s going to affect your success is your sleep, so you need to get your rest. Now let’s be clear: your sleep is always an important factor when you’re training. Heck, sleep is an important factor if you train or not, which you’ll soon see. However, the importance of sleep is multiplied when running a body recomposition. To see how much of a role sleep plays in your body composition, pay attention to this eye-opening study from 2018.

In it, 41 overweight individuals were put on an 8-week calorie-restricted diet, which equaled about a 30% reduction in their base calories. Everything was similar except one variable: you guessed it, their sleep. One group had a normal amount of sleep while the other’s sleep was cut short, but not by that much. They probably didn’t want the study to be too cruel, so the sleep restriction group simply missed out on one hour of sleep from their baseline, which equated to about 6.5 hours of sleep.

However, what’s interesting is that this was only for 5 days a week. The other two days, they were allowed to sleep as much as they wanted, which equated to about one hour longer than their baseline or 8.5 hours. This was to mimic real life and the idea of catching up on the weekend. What they found was that both groups lost the same amount of body weight—3.2 kg. However, what is crazy is where the weight came from. Since they didn’t lose weight in the same ways, the median proportion of fat loss was 83% for normal sleep and 58% for sleep deprivation.

That means that the normal sleep group showed a significantly greater ability to burn fat while they slept. On the flip side, the median proportions of lean mass loss was 17.7% for the normal sleep group and 39% for the sleep deprivation group. That means you could expect to burn twice as much muscle if you’re sleep deprived. When put together, this means that getting normal sleep primes the body to preserve muscle and burn fat.

Similar results were seen in another study where 5.5 hours of sleep opposed to 8.5 hours resulted in 55% less fat burned and 60% more muscle burned. We should note that these groups weren’t involved in resistance training; however, this shows just how beneficial sleep can be, considering that just about every other study shows sleep deprivation is associated with poor performance and composition outcomes. You should definitely be getting to bed early if you’re trying to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously.

After looking at the science, it seems that running a recomposition isn’t terribly different from general muscle gain. The primary difference is the high amount of protein you eat and the overemphasis on progressive overload. The thing is, when we say high protein, we mean higher than normal protein intake for bodybuilders, which is already considered high. But we have some specific tips that’ll benefit anyone, not just professionals and competitors.

Remember that when people ate protein in the amount of 2.3 g per kilogram of body weight, they would still have a successful recomposition. However, eating more upwards of 3.3 g per kilogram produced significantly better results. Therefore, you should try to maintain as high a protein intake as possible, but try to make 2.2 to 2.5 g per kilogram your minimum. This is the amount used in the study with the physique competitors. Doing so is going to take more intention on your part. Getting in this much protein can be tough, so make sure to use a high-quality protein powder to aid in your protein intake.

In addition, also consider taking advantage of a pre-sleep protein shake. Not only will this increase your overall protein intake, studies show that consumption of 20 to 40 g of casein approximately 30 minutes before sleep will improve recovery and possibly aid in greater muscle growth. The reason casein is mentioned specifically is its slow digesting nature. This results in a longer, steady, heightened rate of muscle protein synthesis as opposed to whey. This protein should then be divided into four to six feedings across the day. This will ensure your body has a steady flow of amino acids to aid in muscle recovery and prevent any breakdown of muscle.

Second, get your calories right. For normal weight loss, the guideline is to eat a 300 to 500 calorie deficit. However, this is when losing weight is your primary goal. When it comes to a body recomposition, prescribing calories gets a bit more nuanced. If you’re able to maintain very high levels of protein, you can theoretically get away with eating more calories. Remember Dr. Antonio’s study: the higher protein group ate an extra 6.3 calories per kilogram yet still lost more weight.

However, we can also anecdotally look at what happens when new trainees and overweight people do a recomposition. These groups are generally in a caloric deficit, but their bodies are able to still build muscle. Therefore, when you start, stay in a deficit but toward the lower end, like 300 max. Like always, you will then need to assess your weight and composition as you move forward to see if you need to make adjustments.

A quick note on tracking your progress: it’s going to be tough as you’ll need access to some sort of body composition testing, but this is the only way to actually tell if weight fluctuation is coming from muscle gain, fat loss, fat gain, etc. And if you do have access, be sure to use the same machine every time you test.

Third, utilize a proper resistance training program. This primarily means using a program that emphasizes progressive overload by increasing your weekly training volume. In addition, the two studies we talked about focused on using bigger compound movements—bench press, chin-ups, squats, overhead press, etc. Make this the majority of your training.

Also, don’t forget that we looked at two successful studies that both utilized periodization. Unfortunately, as of today, there are no studies that have compared different training methods in recomposition, for example, periodized versus non-periodized, so we can’t say for sure that a periodized plan will definitely work better. However, we can say a periodized plan was successful in multiple studies.

But keep in mind that running a recomposition will take time. It’s a slower process, but it cuts out the need to bulk and cut. It makes it very useful for anyone who hates the yo-yoing of bulking and cutting or if there’s anyone who just really doesn’t want to gain weight in bulk. Regardless of your reason, the successful body recomposition cuts out all the extra steps. It may take some time to see how your body responds and how much control you have over your protein intake. However, once you do, it’s goodbye to the endless cycle of bul