So, although your body fat can be broken down for energy to power hypertrophy, it can’t provide all of the necessary ingredients. They’re both made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but protein has an extra ingredient: nitrogen. On a molecular level, protein and fat have a lot in common. Here’s the bottom line: The fact that your body stores energy in the form of fat means you have some wiggle room when it comes to the amount of energy you need from your diet. Just like the proteins and fats in your diet, your muscles are about half as energy-dense as your body fat. Credit: Lumen Photos / ShutterstockĪlso, the number of calories you need to build a pound of muscle is much less than you need to build a pound of fat. That energy can come from breaking down the protein, carbs, and fats in your diet, or by breaking down (or burning) existing body fat. To put it into simpler terms, your body needs two things to build new muscle tissue: the raw materials (protein, amino acids, and so on) and the energy to fuel the muscle-building process. An energy surplus can also be used to build muscle, provided you’re hitting the gym and performing resistance training. On the other hand, when your calorie intake exceeds your expenditure, you do store that energy as fat, but that’s not the only outcome. Remember that your body stores a lot of calories (or energy) in the form of fat, which it breaks down when you burn more calories than you take in and need extra energy to fuel your activity and bodily processes. Here’s what’s going on under the hood: Understand Energy Balance You can’t eat more and less at the same time, though. How to Achieve Body Recompositionīody recomposition requires both fat loss and muscle gain, which, on paper at least, means you’ll need both a deficit and an excess of calories. ( 1) Note that body recomposition doesn’t involve converting fat into muscle or vice-versa. Body recomposition refers to simultaneously losing fat and building muscle, while maintaining a fairly stable body weight. Not all lean mass is muscle, though lean mass also includes the weight of bones, tendons, connective tissue, and body water. For example, a person might weigh 150 pounds and have 22 percent body fat, which means they have 117 pounds of lean mass and 33 pounds of fat mass. What Is Body Recomposition?įirst, let’s start by explaining body composition, which refers to the balance of lean mass and fat mass that make up a person’s body weight. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. In fact, it’s actually fairly common.Įditor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. In the past, body recomposition was believed to be impossible due to the very different energy needs – a calorie deficit for fat loss versus extra calories for muscle gain – but plenty of recent research shows that this isn’t just a possibility. It works, sure, but these processes take time and often involve “making up” for lost muscle or unwanted fat gained.īut who says you can’t accomplish both muscle gain and fat loss simultaneously? Are the laws of thermodynamics immutable and inarguable? As it turns out, there’s a bit more nuance behind so-called body recomposition than you might think. Many athletes and fitness enthusiasts aim for the singular goal of fat loss or muscle gain, alternating between the two to gradually change their body compositions and physiques over time. If you follow fitness, bulking and cutting may seem like all the rage.
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