Today, I will show you how to lose body fat, get shredded, and build strong muscles simultaneously. I’m going to discuss the holy Grail of fitness, which is body recomposition. There are three parts which include diet, workout, and sleep. You must dial these three aspects to have a successful program and recompose your body.
Measuring your progress
Before we start, you need to ensure you’re measuring properly rather than just hopping on a scale. Many things are happening to your body, and the scale won’t change even though you may look different.
- Don’t simply use a scale. Measure body fat with calipers because you can add muscle during the process, which won’t reflect in weight loss on the scale. You need to use both a scale and calipers. Measure every week the different measurements. The three areas I suggest are your thigh, abdomen, and chest. You could also pinch love handles, upper back, and upper abs. This will paint a picture that you can recheck. Skin fold measurements are a much better way to analyze what’s going on with your body.
- A tape measurer can also be used to measure progress. Measure your body or even your clothes.
- Taking progress pictures every week is a great tool.
- I also recommend Lumen, which is a handheld metabolic tracker. It tells you in real-time what’s happening with your metabolism. It will help you know what your body uses for fuel at any given time. It’s a game-changer. It gives real time data by measuring your CO2 and your lungs at any given moment. It then can give diet recommendations and lifestyle modifications. Check out my demonstration.
To lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time
Caloric deficit. If you want to lose body fat while still having enough resources to gain muscle, you need to be at a deficit between 250 to 500 calories. Anything lower than 500 calories will be too low to build muscle. Calculate your basil metabolic rate, which is how many calories your body utilizes at rest. It also depends on how active you are. You also need to ensure you’re eating enough protein, about 1 g of protein per pound of body weight. Make sure you’re not eating at all at one time. Your body cannot assimilate all of that protein. Shoot for around 30 to 40 g of protein per meal.
Workouts. You should be working out each muscle twice a week. I work the chest, shoulders, and triceps on one day, back and biceps on the next day, and then legs and abs on the third. I skip a day to rest, and then I repeat the cycle. Work out to failure, in which you have to strain the muscles and lift progressively heavier. You have to ensure the volume is there, which is reps times sets times weight. You will gain weight if you increase the volume you lift over time. Another option is super sets. I combine strength with endurance. I’ll superset exercises like dips, dumbbell flies, cable flies, or incline hammer strength presses. You also need to limit intense cardio. One of the big mistakes that people make when losing body fat and gaining muscle is doing a lot of cardio. Cardio will utilize calories and put you below that 200 to 500 calorie deficit. If you want to do cardio, do it at a slower, moderate pace instead of running or jogging. Walk, use the stairmaster, and ride the stationary bike.
Sleep. The importance of sleep is paramount to building muscle and losing fat. You need at least 7 hours a night to give your body time to rest and your metabolism time to do what it needs. The body will take amino acids to heal your muscles and keep you metabolically straight. If you prioritize sleep, your body, and your mind, everything will improve. Make sure you sleep in a dark room, the temperature is below 65°, and don’t bring your phone near your bed.
