Body recomposition, or ‘recomping’ for short, means building muscle and losing fat at the same time: the ideal of every bodybuilder. Many coaches claim that this is only possible with beginners; advanced users can bulk and cut much better. But what does science say about this?

WHAT IS BODY RECOMPOSITION?

Body recomposition means that you establish muscle growth in case of an energy deficit, so that you lose weight (fat) at the same time. Which means you can go to your goal in one go, namely getting more muscle definition.

Recomping is possible because your body can extract energy for muscle growth from existing fat reserves. In addition, the growth stimulus from training can be so great that less ‘back-up’ from food is needed. Beginners and returners in particular benefit from this.

WHEN IS BODY RECOMPOSITION POSSIBLE?

We distinguish six situations in which body recomposition is relatively easy to achieve, which means that you can achieve a significant amount of muscle growth despite being in an energy deficit. These are the following:

as a beginner* (you benefit from newbie gains);
after a long break from your training (you benefit from muscle memory, among other things);
when you first start training properly;
when you start eating decent food for the first time;
if you have a lot of body fat;
if you use steroids.

Or possibly a combination of several factors.

* By beginner we mean someone in their first year of serious training. Between 1-2 years is intermediate, more than 2 years is advanced.

RESEARCH

What does the scientific literature say about body recomposition? We look at three recent studies.

META-ANALYSIS BARAKAT ET AL. (2020)

A scientific review of twelve studies by Barakat et al. suggests that trained individuals can also achieve body recomposition. To what extent depends on the exact training status and basic body composition.

ELOQUENCE EA (2023)

In a study on the effect of dropsets, all participants, exclusively trained men, lost body fat, while also achieving muscle growth.

OXFELDT ET AL (2023)

In a study into the optimal energy deficit for trained female strength athletes, they were found to build muscle mass and lose fat at the same time. Moreover, it concerned women who were not overweight.

INTERPRETATION

Research shows that body recomposition is also possible in trained individuals. Still, recomping is not automatically the best choice.

The point is that as you get more advanced, it becomes increasingly difficult to build muscle mass. From a certain moment it is more efficient to bulk and cut. At the same time, it also becomes increasingly difficult as you are leaner, so you have less fat mass.

So yes, as a beginner and intermediate you can recomp, but as you get more advanced, bulking and cutting becomes the more efficient choice. The renowned coaches Menno Henselmans, Mike Israetel and Eric Trexler confirm this in this article.

Even then it is a matter of preference. Some advanced users are fine with making some gains very slowly, without having to train in cycles of bulking and cutting.

RECOMP AS ADVANCED

Are you advanced and do you think you could recomp successfully? Then ensure the optimal recomp conditions:

a diet with a small energy deficit. Coach Jermey Ethier recommends a deficit of 5-20% of maintenance level, which equates to 100-500 kcal below maintenance for most individuals;
a well-thought-out training program according to the principle of progressive overload, with a minimum of three training sessions per week;
tracking and adequately anticipating progression and recovery;
a high protein intake, possibly with the aid of protein supplements, in which timing and distribution of intake is also important;
possibly apply calorie cycling (use a greater energy deficit on rest days than on training days);
optimizing your sleep.

CONCLUSION

You don’t necessarily have to bulk and cut to get muscle definition. After all, you are able to build muscle and lose fat at the same time: body recomposition. This is because your body can extract energy for muscle growth from existing fat reserves. In addition, the growth stimulus from training can be so great that less ‘back-up’ from food is needed. Beginners and returners benefit from this.

Several studies show that recomping is also possible in trained strength athletes. Advantage: you go straight to your goal, instead of first bulking and then cutting. Disadvantage: you can achieve muscle growth less quickly.

Whether you should bulk/cut or recomp depends on a number of factors:

As a beginner (first year of training) and as an intermediate (second year of training) you can recomp very well, especially if you also have a high fat percentage;
For advanced (third year of training) recomping is probably still possible, but muscle building is quite slow. Bulking/cutting is probably more efficient, but it’s also a matter of preference;
For advanced users (>3 years of training experience), recompensing is no longer an option, because even bulking produces very little muscle growth.

In general, the following applies to recomping: the more training experience and the lower the fat percentage, the more difficult it is.

Recomping also for advanced athletes?