How Long Does Body Recomposition Take

Body Recomposition Basics

1. Achievable Fat Loss

2. Weight Lifting to Failure

3. Get Your Step Count Up

4. Nutrition

5. Consistency is Key

1. Achievable Fat Loss

Did you know that everyone has a six pack? The only reason you can't see it is fat mass. For most men, they need to have a body fat of 7% or under to see muscular abs. For women, they need to also have less than 12% body fat to see definition. 

However, to get to that level of fat, you have to consider several key factors. Getting rid of alcohol will help in reducing fat mass. Cutting carbs and dehydrating the body will also assist in getting muscles to "pop." Reducing carbohydrates to uncomfortably low levels will also assist in fat loss. When actors in Hollywood get jacked for roles in movies, they need coaches and personal chefs to get their body fat in check while bulking up. These programs are completely unsustainable long term, not to mention entirely unaffordable for most people to achieve.

Realistically, we can all look great with 18-25% body fat and don't require rippling muscles to prove anything. That's considered a healthy range for us to strive for without having to restrict everything we love. This range helps us to be optimal shape and decrease our metabolic risk factors to avoid common lifestyle diseases (ie cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, etc).

At Rage Fitness, our weekly memberships are all a minimum of 12 weeks because we know that's about how long it takes to experience 3-5% body fat loss. But 12 weeks is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to see true sculpting, build and definition, you need to work out for 6 months to a year! This is not something that can happen overnight and due to your unique metabolism it may be faster or slower to get there. But if you want to look like your favourite influencer, these people have trained for a very long time to look a certain way. 

2. Weight Lifting to Failure

Unless you are lifting weights with enough volume and tension to fatigue muscles, you will not experience muscular growth. Lifting smaller weights and doing high reps is great for muscular endurance. However, if you really want body recomposition, lifting heavy weights is the way to go. Maybe sure you do 2-3 days of weight lifting per week for optimal muscular development and rest.

If you can lift 6-8 reps of a specific weight on an exercise where your last 3 reps feel like a struggle and you are quivering on a contraction, it means you have the right weight. When you get to 12-15 reps of a weight, it's time to increase it. 

Muscular fatigue means that there's no glycogen stores left for you to deplete. Everything you burn now will be coming from fat stores. That's why you feel so hungry after a heavy workout because your body needs calories to repair and restore the muscle fibres that were torn during exercise. Remember, when you are doing heavy workouts, ensure you build enough time for recovery so you can push hard again.

3. Get Your Step Count Up

Generally speaking, if you can get 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, you are doing really well! This is in addition to the weight lifting workouts you do each week. Ideally, if you can get 150 minutes of vigorous cardio a week, that will make it a lot easier to increase your step count to the right level.

Walking is one of the best ways to increase your cardio. You can burn some extra calories and improve your heart and lung health each time you do it. 

Since losing weight requires a caloric deficit, extra cardio will help you in terms of keeping an eye on your caloric expenditure. There are other forms of cardio if you find walking is not your jam. Check out our last article here.

4. Nutrition

Body recomposition is not something that happens with exercise alone. You need to ensure that you're fueling your body properly with protein, carbs and fat. You want to increase your protein intake to 1g/kg of body weight especially on days when you are doing intense exercise. 

Even though abs are made in the gym, they only become visible thanks to the kitchen!

Figure out how to meal prep or order food from meal prep companies that offer the service. Avoiding proccessed foods, excess alcohol, and refined sugar is very important for fat loss. If you need help, we offer nutrition coaching to teach you about the basics of eating to fuel your body.

5. Consistency is Key

No matter what you decide to do, you need to show up every day and do it! Building new habits can be tough, but it's important that we pick a program that fits into our schedule.

Doing random workouts on YouTube will not help you get results. To train and see visible results, you need a plan. That's why the professional coaches at Rage Fitness can develop a plan that fits into your schedule so that you can remain consistent. Whether you come in once a week, or 5 times a week, you need to be challenged week after week. 

Eating clean or striving to hit your macro and caloric goals is essential to that consistency. You cannot expect your exercise will be enough to see visible results if you keep eating junk food. 

Consistency and Planning Gets Results!

If you really want to go through a body recomposition, you need to get a program built for you. Recomposition doesn't happen overnight. The results come from slow and steady efforts done over a long period of time. Once a personal trainer builds you a program that you will get visible results from, you will feel motivated to stick with your program and continue to see even better results after 12 weeks.

Our coaches are experienced to know when to push you, and when to ease off. They can also provide you with helpful tips about your nutrition to help you see results faster. The extra accountability helps with motivation. Getting to the gym when you don't feel like it is super important for consistency. It can become easier to skip workouts the minute you start making them optional instead of mandatory. Learn proper form so that you can continue to build muscle at a healthy pace.

We offer nutrition coaching, small group training and 1:1 training to help the busiest individuals incorporate a love of movement into their lives.  Please call/text us at 1-825-945-7733, or fill out the online contact form today!