How to lose fat and gain muscle for beginners
How to lose fat and gain weight for beginners
Body recomposition is the idea of losing weight whilst building muscle at the same time. The aim is usually to maintain your weight but in fact, change your body composition. Many beginner level gym goers are turning their head to this process so we have put together a detailed guide on how you can get started.
- Training
A very common misconception amongst people just starting out is that you must focus on cardio until you lose weight, before you start trying to build muscle.
In fact, fat loss and muscle building go hand in hand, especially when it comes to training.
The general recommendation states that for full body workouts, you should be aiming to train at least 3 times per week, and up to 6 times if you are performing a split routine.
The best way to lose fat is to have a solid workout plan in place that includes short but intense cardio training, also known as HIIT (high intensity interval training)
Training for long periods of time run the risk of increasing your cortisol levels, which has the potential to destroy muscle mass. Try to rest around 60 seconds in between sets, increasing intensity and taking your body out of its comfort zone.
Some of the best exercises for loosing fat whilst gaining weight are the most demanding. They include squats, deadlifts, pull ups and bench presses; these involve several muscle groups working at once and will stimulate a bigger hormonal response.
- Nutrition
Having a strict nutrition plan is an essential part to building muscle mass.
A good diet plan for recomposition should be based around calorie cycling, a process that suggests you eat more on days when you exercise, and less on days that you don’t. This helps with energy utilisation and assists with your body’s recovery process too.
Calorie cycling starts with identifying your maintenance calorie. This is simply the number of calories that your body needs to go about its daily activity. It takes into consideration how much energy your body needs to carry out basic bodily functions such as pumping blood and breathing.
On days that you perform cardio exercises, you need to be consuming enough calories to meet your maintenance number. This will result in a small calorie deficit which will aid with the weight loss process.
For those seeking body recomposition, protein is definitely the most important macronutrient in your diet, and research proves that a high-protein diet is effective at reducing body fat whilst preserving muscle mass.
Try to eat every 3 hours, ensuring that you include a good protein source with each meal. Some of the best protein sources include milk, meat and eggs.
It’s also important to incorporate a good amount of healthy fats into your body recomposition diet plan.
You should aim to make fats take up a 25% to 30% of your diet, focusing on healthy fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These can be found in olive oil, avocado, and many nut sources.
- Supplements
Supplements really are the cherry on the cake.
Once you have a solid nutrition plan in place, you can think about using supplements to advance your muscle growth and optimise performance.
Many scientific based supplements are purposed to filling out gaps in your diet, and ensuring your body has the right level of nutrition in order to achieve your fitness goals.
For beginners, eating 120g or more of protein every day is not easy!
That’s why many athletes and those looking to tone up turn to protein shakes as a source of additional protein. A typical protein shake can provide up to 30g of extra protein per drink.
Similarly, another very popular supplement is BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acid).
BCAA supplements aim to increase muscle protein synthesis, which will help your muscle grow bigger and faster, whilst
How to track progress
If you are just starting out on your body recomposition journey, then it’s so important to track your progress regularly.
You can keep track of your training by making a note of how many reps and weights you have done each week. This will help you to identify areas of weakness and set realistic targets for the following week and so on.
Another great visual way of assessing your progress is simply by taking pictures.
If you photograph your progress each week, you should be able to see subtle improvements and therefore feel an increased sense of motivation.
