Secrets of Body Recomposition: 6 Principles for Lifelong Results

Short-term example: If you want to reduce body fat, training first thing in the morning is something that creates momentum that leads to a higher metabolic rate for the rest of the day. This also improves the mood, helping you to be more productive and make better decisions for the rest of the day.

Long-term example: If you train 4-5 days per week consistently for 6 months, your body becomes conditioned to that exercise frequency and it requires less mental and physical effort to maintain this routine going forward than it took at the inception. From a diet perspective, reducing excess calories and carbs for a month helps to reset your appetite and reduce your cravings for carbs, which will improve your insulin sensitivity and make eating appropriate portion sizes more natural.

Additionally, as you begin to see results, your enthusiasm and commitment to the regimen increases, helping you to ingrain these new habits, perpetuating the cycle of positive results.

Examples:

1.  Building muscle mass creates metabolic inertia. The muscle mass raises your resting metabolic rate so that it becomes easier to maintain appropriate body fat levels.
2. Eating a balanced, diversified diet over the course of a year fortifies your immune system and 

Having a social group that meets up for active gatherings (hiking, biking, recreational sports, workouts) makes the habit of being active more “sticky” and you’ll be more likely to maintain them

Building muscle mass is a metabolically "expensive" task for your body. If you are constantly fighting off infections your body won’t the have the energy or resources to put towards building muscle mass. 

Doing the basics such as staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, eating a varied, nutrient-dense diet, and staying generally active will help keep your immune system strong.

Short-term intervention: A 30-day program designed to add 5lbs of muscle mass is a short-term intervention.

Long-term change: Getting an extra hour of sleep per night for someone who had been chronically sleep-deprived is a long-term habit change that will provide a larger benefit over the long run.

Body recomposition can result in more energy, better mood, less fatigue, improved endurance, less health concerns. What benefits are important to you?

Its natural to want to ignore your weaknesses and focus on your strengths, but the best progress is made when you improve your limiting factors.

As long as a training program involves a reasonable intensity, frequency, and volume, it will produce results. Only athletes need to be concerned with specific training regimens. Free weight training, calisthenics, recreational sports, outdoor activities, endurance sports and more can all be part of an effective training program. No need to limit yourself to the gym!

Similarly, a balanced diet can be obtained from a vast number of different foods. What matters is that the diet fills all of your nutritional needs. Eating fresh, seasonal foods whenever possible is preferred, along with foods preserved via traditional methods such as fermentation, dehydration, smoking, pickling, etc.

A simple rule of thumb is that high intensity activity demands more protein and high volume activity demands more carbohydrates. Relatively high intensity activities include moderate to heavy weight training, challenging calisthenics, sprint and power type sports, heavy manual labor (moving furniture, heavy wheel barrows). Examples of high volume activities include a long hike, a 20-mile bike ride, and high-rep circuit training.