It's commonly accepted that you can’t lose fat and build muscle at the same time. The theory is that building muscle requires a calorie surplus and fat loss requires a calorie deficit, so the two cannot occur simultaneously. In practice however, fat loss and muscle gain is absolutely achievable when measured on a weekly basis.
Where people go wrong is thinking that they need to go to the extremes to build muscle or lose fat. Overeating to build muscle or under-eating to get leaner is counterproductive in both cases. You can't force feed yourself into building muscle faster, and under-eating results in a slowing of your metabolism, limiting your ability to burn fat. In fact when you undereat, you are likely to lose muscle mass first, because it is metabolically “expensive” for the body to maintain.
The old school bodybuilding approach of bulking and cutting does work to a degree, but it is inefficient and wasteful (in regard to eating excessively), and works much better for people who are taking anabolic steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. Natural trainees will struggle to improve their physique with this approach and will find it especially difficult to maintain the results. The extreme bulking/cutting approach is not exactly practical or enjoyable to sustain long-term.
It honestly doesn't take a superhuman effort to build muscle mass and lose body fat at the same time. Sure, you want to challenge yourself during training sessions, but you don't need to train like an Olympian or follow a crazy restrictive diet. You need regular moderate- to high-intensity exercise, a diet based on quality whole foods that meet your nutritional and caloric needs, and a healthy sleep routine. When your nutrition, training, and recovery are aligned, your body naturally wants to be lean and maintain muscle mass that is proportionate to your activity level.
Let's examine a simple program that will get you started on the right track.
A sample physique recomposition plan
I've written up a simple two-day circuit routine along with some nutrition guidelines that will help you to build strength and muscle mass throughout the body, while reducing body fat. Keep in mind that the quality of the diet has a bigger impact on fat loss than does the training. In regards to gaining muscle mass, training and diet are equally important.
Super-simple nutrition guidelines for physique recomposition
I like to keep nutritional guidelines as simple as possible so you'll never need to second-guess your food choices. Below are some simple recommendations that you can't go wrong with:
- The diet should be based on whole foods. Eliminate highly processed foods, refined grains like white flour, and high-sugar beverages.
- Ideally, your diet should include high quality meat from grass-fed/pasture-raised animals (including organ meats, skin, connective tissue), seasonal fruits and vegetables, eggs, and dairy products from pasture-raised animals (if you can digest dairy without issue). I understand that access to higher quality foods is not something everyone is fortunate enough to have, so just do your best and eat what is available to you and within your budget.
- Consume low to moderate amounts of grains (rice, corn, oats, etc) only to meet your caloric needs during times of higher activity. Grains are not particularly nutrient-dense or satiating, and most people consume far too many. Forget the old food pyramid recommendations!
- Eliminate gluten containing grains. Fermented grains, like sourdough bread, are a much better option, but your best bet is to eliminate them if you after rapid results, and then to experiment later once maintenance is your concern.
- Have a protein target 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight as a starting point. This may need to be higher at times, up to 1.5-2g/lb of lean bodyweight, if you are needing to increase muscle mass.
The Training Program Overview
These full-body workouts target all of the major muscle groups. Because they are performed in a circuit fashion, we are able to keep the workouts quick and efficient, maximizing the return on your effort. I recommend using a stopwatch to time your rest intervals, as this can make a huge difference difference in the effect of the workout and it tends to keep one from getting distracted.
Every training program gets stale after a while, so I recommend switching up the routine after a month. If the format works well for you, you could simply change the exercise variations and shift the target reps down by 1-2 reps for each movement so that you are working at a slightly higher intensity.
There are many different ways you may schedule the workouts, all of which have their pros and cons. My preference would be to perform the workouts every other day, adding an additional day of rest every four workouts. So if you are starting on a Sunday, the schedule would go:
Week 1
Sunday: Workout A
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Workout B
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Workout A
Friday: Off
Saturday: Workout B
Week 2
Sunday: Off
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Workout A
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Workout B
Friday: Off
Saturday: Workout A
Week 3
Sunday: Off
Monday: Workout B
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Workout A
Friday: Off
Saturday: Workout B
***Below the training program, I've added a quick reference guide that explains how to read the program and warm-up for the routine.
Full-body circuit program for muscle building and fat loss
Click on the tabs to switch between Workout A and Workout B.
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Workout B
A1) Parallel Bar Dips
Sets x Reps: 12,10,8,6
Tempo: 30X0
Rest period: 60s
A2) Split squat (can use barbell or dumbbells)
Sets x Reps: 4x8-10
Tempo: 20X0
Rest period: 60s
A3) Chin Up*
Sets x Reps: 4x8-10
Tempo: 20X0
Rest period: 60s
*If you cannot perform chin ups with additional weight, do four sets of as many reps as possible
A4) Leg Curl
Sets x Reps: 8,6,5,5
Tempo: 31X0
Rest period: 60s
B1) Overhead triceps extension (cable or dumbbells)
Sets x Reps: 3x10-12
Tempo: 21X0
Rest period: 60s
B2) Incline supinating DB curl
Sets x Reps: 3x10-12
Tempo: 40X0
Rest period: 60s
A1) Parallel Bar Dips
Sets x Reps: 12,10,8,6
Tempo: 30X0
Rest period: 60s
A2) Split squat (can use barbell or dumbbells)
Sets x Reps: 4x8-10
Tempo: 20X0
Rest period: 60s
A3) Chin Up
Sets x Reps: 12,10,8,6
Tempo: 21X0
Rest period: 60s
A4) Leg Curl
Sets x Reps: 8,6,5,5
Tempo: 31X0
Rest period: 60s
B1) Overhead triceps extension (cable or dumbbells)
Sets x Reps: 3x10-12
Tempo: 21X0
Rest period: 60s
B2) Incline supinating DB curl
Sets x Reps: 3x10-12
Tempo: 40X0
Rest period: 60s
How to read the training program
Below are some general guidelines on how to read and execute the training program. Click on each heading to expand the tab:
Each set is a group of repetitions that are performed according to the prescribed tempo, with the indicated rest period in between each set.
Straight Sets
If an exercise is labeled with only a letter (i.e. "A"), this means that all the sets of the exercise are performed before moving on to the "B" series exercise(s).
Supersets and Circuits
If an exercise is labeled with a letter and a number (i.e. "A1"), this indicates that the exercise is to be performed in a superset or circuit manner with the other exercises in the same "series". For example:
A1) Barbell back squat, 5x5, 60s
A2) DB shoulder press, 5x5, 60s
A3) DB biceps curl, 5x5, 60s
The first set of each exercise is to be performed with a 60s rest period after the completion of every set. The pattern repeats until all five sets are completed for each exercise.
Other patterns
If the prescribed reps are separated by commas (i.e. 5,4,3,2,1), this indicates that only one set is to be performed for each rep target. For example, 5,4,3,2,1 would equate to the following:
Set 1: 5 reps
Set 2: 4 reps,
Set 3: 3 reps
Set 4: 2 reps
Set 5: 1 reps
Rep Ranges
When a rep range is given (i. e. 8-10), This means that on the first set, you should be able to complete all 10 reps, and that if on subsequent sets you can no longer complete at least 8 reps, you should reduce the weight 10% or so. If you still can't complete the reps after reducing the weight, stop the set and move on to the next exercise. The reason for this is that we want to maintain a high quality of work throughout the training session.
Rep Targets
For some sets there will be a singular rep target and not a rep range. Do your best to hit the rep target, even if it means using a lighter weight.
Max Reps
If you see "Max" (i.e. 3 x Max), this indicates that you should perform as many reps as possible for the prescribed number of sets.
The tempo numbers in your program indicate the speed that you should aim to complete each rep with. Each digit represents a phase of the lift and the number signifies the duration in seconds of that phase. If there is an "X" in place of the digit, that means "as fast as possible".
For example, squats performed at 20X1 tempo:
- (2) seconds to lower to bottom of squat
- (0) seconds pause at bottom of squat
- (X) Lift as fast as possible
- (1) second pause at top of squat
Pullups performed at a 5110 tempo:
- (5) seconds to lower to full hang
- (1) seconds pause in hanging position
- (1) second to pull upper chest to bar
- (0) second pause at top of pullup
Each digit in the tempo number represents the following:
- 1st digit: Lowering phase
- 2nd digit: Pause between lowering and lifting
- 3rd digit: Lifting phase (an “X” indicates lifting as fast as possible)
- 4th digit: Pause between lifting and lowering
Keep in mind, the first digit of the tempo number always corresponds to the lowering phase, regardless of if the movement starts with lowering (e.g. barbell squats) or lifting (e.g. pullups).
Additional Notes:
- Isometric exercises (holds with no movement) will not have a tempo number.
- Your lifting speed will slow down as you fatigue, but try to stick to the counts for your lowering speed and any isometric holds.
- The exercise demonstration videos are NOT performed according to the tempo in the program.
The training effect you receive is largely dictated by the rest intervals. The average gym rat (me included) will tend to use arbitrary rest intervals if we don't use a stopwatch. While this can still be effective for a while, your progress will eventually stagnate because you will always be targeting the the same muscle fibers and will not be improving your work capacity or endurance.
Using a stopwatch to time your rest intervals will keep your training sessions efficient and productive. We're not training just to pass the time, we're after results!
General Warm Up
A general warm up will increase your body temperature, range of motion and strength.
The more time you spend being sedentary, the more time you need to spend warming up. If you spent eight hours working at a desk, you'll probably need a good 15 minute warm up to be ready to train. It is arguably more important to reverse the poor posture and stiffness from being sedentary than it is to complete the workout.
A general warmup may consist of light calisthenics, loosening movements (neck circles, hip circles, leg swings, etc.), jumping rope, jogging, or other similar movements. Some targeted stretches can also be helpful if they improve your mobility for the exercises for the day, but primarily target antagonistic muscle groups (i.e. stretch the hip flexors before squats and deadlifts, or stretch the pecs & lats before overhead pressing).
Over time, you may be able to shorten your general warm up time as your mobility, posture, and habits improve. In some cases, you may not need a general warmup at all and you can proceed right into the specific warm ups for your primary exercises.
Specific warm up for your "A" series exercises
Whether or not you perform a general warm up, you should perform a specific warm up for the "A" series exercise(s). To do this, you will perform three progressively heavier sets before your first "work" set (i.e. one that you will record in your training log).
For example, let's say you plan for your first set of Bench presses will be 200 x 8. Perform the following warm up:
Warm up set 1: 100lb x 10
Warm up set 2 2: 150 x 5
Warm up set 3: 185 x 3
Work set 1: 200x8
If you feel like you need more warm up sets, by all means, do more sets. Just keep the reps low (1-3 reps) so you don't fatigue yourself for the "working" sets. You may benefit from additional warm up sets for certain movements like squats, deadlifts, and shoulder presses, which use a greater range of motion and may be loaded more heavily.
If an exercise after the "A" series uses a muscle group that is still cold, perform the appropriate warm-up sequence for that movement as well.
Learning to load an exercise appropriately is a skill that you will develop over time. Initially, it is best to start a bit conservatively with the weights (or whatever form of external resistance) so that you can complete the prescribed reps with good technique. If you cannot maintain proper technique, reduce the weight until you have 100% control.
A weight should challenge you, but you should still be able to perform smooth reps without excessive strain and slow "grinding" reps.
That's it! Give the program a shot and you can expect to lose two percentage points of body fat in the first month. Comment below if you have questions and train hard!
