Skinny fatness is a difficult trap to escape. With the wrong technique, you’ll struggle to gain mass while also failing to cut the fat.

That’s why scientists are trying to warn us about the dangers of being skinny fat. It’s a stealthy condition and difficult to battle. So, how can body recomposition help?

Below, we’re telling you everything you need to know about body recomp.

What is Body Recomposition?

There’s no magic involved in the idea of body recomp.

At its core, body recomposition is the art of increasing muscle mass and reducing fat at the same time. These two elements combine to create a huge difference in your physique and muscle composition. Done right, body recomp turns a skinny fat build into a defined and athletic one.

Body recomp stands in contrast to the more traditional view of bulking and cutting. Bulking and cutting demands that you make significant gains before sculpting those gains into muscle definition.

With body recomp, you can work on both simultaneously. That makes it a more workable alternative for the people who struggle to make big gains – which is most skinny fat people.

Who’s It For?

Body recomposition can work for anyone, even in-shape athletes. The basic principles aren’t complicated, and neither are the demands it places on you.

But body recomp is the ideal solution for people who struggle to change their physique with other methods. Many other methods demand high-intensity changes to your lifestyle, which can backfire by provoking burnout.

With body recomposition, the changes to your lifestyle are minimal and easy to manage. It’s low-impact with high returns. That makes it suitable for people who are only looking to make a few tweaks to an already healthy lifestyle.

Body recomp is fantastic for skinny fat individuals. These body types struggle more with muscle definition and fat deposits more than their weight. Recomp allows them to reduce that fat while building muscle. In a skinny fat physique, that quickly results in visible changes.

How Does It Work?

You can think of body recomposition as balancing a set of scales. You’re making small tweaks until you find the right balance between calorie intake, protein input, and calorie burn.

Taking on too many calories is the downfall of many a skinny fat person. It’s easy to lose track of what you’re consuming when you don’t see the effects and feel the guilt. But it’s also what stops you developing a defined physique.

Cutting back on those calories and tweaking the balance toward protein can leave your body primed to express the muscle mass you gain through workouts. Instead of hiding under a layer of fatty deposits, your newfound muscle will stand out.

The Three Steps of Body Recomp

So, you know the basics. But how do you put it into practice? There are three simple steps you need to take to begin body recomposition.

Step 1: Establish a Calorie Deficit

No good diet involves severe calorie restriction. We’re only talking about a small calorie deficit here.

The science is simple. Your body will come for the fat reserves when it’s expending more energy than it’s bringing on board. Fat is always the first to go. But you don’t want your body to go too far and eat into your muscle.

That’s why a small deficit is key. You need to bring in enough energy to gain muscle while reducing fat.

Your exact calorie deficit will depend on your build. But 20-25% is a decent rule of thumb. You can also safely ignore your weight during this time. Muscle is more dense than fat, so gaining the former while losing the latter may cause it to remain roughly level.

You might even gain weight while you’re undergoing body recomp. That’s unlikely to be a bad thing, because you’re aiming for more definition with less fat. In this scenario, any weight you gain should be “good weight” if you’re sticking to the calorie deficit and working out.

Step 2: Up Your Protein

You don’t want to disrupt your muscle gains while cutting calories. That’s why you need to up your protein intake to rebalance your diet.

Protein is one of the key building blocks for new muscle. Increasing the proportion of protein in your diet gives your body more to work with, particularly if you’re cutting back on other calories.

Studies show that consuming around a gram of protein for each pound of your total weight show the best results for building muscle mass.

Step 3: Stepping Up the Gym Game

All the dietary changes in the world can’t produce muscle from nothing. Your calorie intake provides the raw material for muscle growth, but it’s the act of working out that turns potential muscle into true muscle.

There are two principle factors to keep in mind, here. Those are constant progression and focus on muscle gain.

By constant progression, we mean you should always be aiming higher. Muscles need resistance to grow. Maintaining a set, comfortable level of weight training won’t help you develop new muscle.

As you’re not trying to lose weight per se, you don’t need to worry too much about cardio. While cardio should form part of your general workout regime, recomp should focus more on working the muscle groups to promote the maximum change in definition.

Cardio is useful for burning fat, but with body recomposition, your fat should be falling away thanks to the calorie deficit.

The most important element here is to make your workout consistent and progressive. Your body needs a constant incentive to develop muscle definition.

Getting Started with Body Recomposition

Now you know the basics, it’s time to get started with your body recomposition program. It’s a simple theory, so these tips should be enough to launch your recomp and pave the way to a more defined you.

Want to learn more about transforming a skinny fat body? Take a look at our diet and nutrition articles.