
Though this may result in weight loss, it will most likely trim both fat and muscle mass. With traditional weight loss methods, people may drastically cut calories and increase cardiovascular exercise in order to expend more energy.

Rather than tracking weight on a scale, you should evaluate results by taking body circumference measurements and measuring body fat through methods such as skinfold calipers. Instead, those wanting to gain muscle while burning fat must commit to changing their diet and exercise regimens in ways that facilitate body recomposition. Since body recomposition is more a lifestyle than a diet, there is no set protocol. Rather than simply aiming for weight loss, body recomposition focuses on decreasing body fat while simultaneously increasing muscle mass. Plus, increasing muscle mass boosts your resting metabolic rate (RMR), meaning that you will burn more calories while at rest ( 5, 6). However, contrary to popular belief, your ratio of muscle to fat is the best indicator of overall health and fitness, not body weight. Interestingly, favoring body recomposition techniques over other methods of weight loss may result in much slower weight loss, or no weight loss at all, due to the simultaneous gain in muscle. If done correctly, body recomposition changes the makeup of your body so that you have less fat and more muscle. In contrast, having a healthy ratio of muscle mass to body fat can improve your health while decreasing your risk of the above diseases ( 2, 3, 4). Having too much body fat has been linked to a slew of health issues and may increase your risk of chronic conditions, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease ( 1). However, the problem with using a scale as the only method to track your progress is that most scales don’t differentiate between fat loss and muscle loss, which is an important factor in measuring health. If the number on the scale goes down, most dieters infer success. Typically, people use a scale to gauge their progress when trying to lose weight. Body Recomposition Is More Than Just Weight Loss Though body recomposition has been used by athletes and weightlifters for quite some time, it has only recently gained traction with those simply trying to get fit and lose fat. Recomposition means “to form something again or in a different way,” hence the term “body recomposition.” Unlike a standard diet, body recomposition is a lifestyle in which fitness and nutrition techniques lead to healthy changes in your body’s ratio of fat to muscle.

Therefore, body recomposition focuses on body composition rather than weight. That’s because your body fat percentage in relation to your muscle mass better reflects your overall wellbeing than just weight or BMI. Body composition refers to the amount of fat and fat-free mass (muscle, bone and water) your body contains.Īnalyzing body composition gives a better understanding of health than other screening methods that only factor in weight and height, such as body mass index (BMI).
