Fitness Experts Reveal How They Help Clients Lose Fat While Gaining Muscle
There you are in the gym with your headphones in, listening to your perfectly curated playlist as you tackle steps on the treadmill and reps at the weight rack. You’re on your way to achieving your annual fitness goals (atta girl!), but you may be curious if you're experiencing weight loss and muscle gain at the same time—otherwise referred to as body recomposition. Let's get into it.
Body recomposition is “probably the thing I work on most with clients," says Phil Catudal, a NASM-certified personal trainer. At baseline, your muscles are important to help you do everyday normal activities and keeping them strong and in good working order is never a bad thing. What's more, though is that "muscles also have a higher metabolic rate than fat," says Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. “The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at a resting state.” So, body recomposition is a huge help when it comes to weight management.
Benefits Of Body Recomposition
Improved cardiovascular health
Decreased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events
Improved blood pressure, lipids, and blood sugar control
Improved mood
Decreased musculoskeletal ailments such as arthritis and falls
Meaning, that adding more muscle to the mix can help you to burn more calories—and ultimately lose more fat—when you're not exercising than you did before you built up your muscle strength. Now, for how to make body recomposition happen..
4 Important Tweaks To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle Simultaneously
1. Eat more protein than you think you need.
Protein is the G.O.A.T. when it comes to build muscle and lose fat because two of its main roles in the body are repairing and building muscle. So, it should be a component of every single meal, Catudal says.
In fact, around 30 percent or more of your calories should come from protein, Catudal goes on. “If you're not getting enough protein while doing heavy weight training, you will not recover from your workouts enough to perform well, which means that you will not put on as much muscle or burn as much fat," he explains.
Let's take a 1,800-calorie diet for example. If you want to consume 30 percent of that in protein, you'll multiply that number by 0.30 to get 540 calories and then divide it by four (4 calories equals 1 gram of protein), which will put you at 135 grams. Most people aiming for 30 percent of their calories from protein will have a protein intake of 100 to 150 grams a day, Catudal says.
Meet the experts: Phil Catudal is a NASM-certified personal trainer and nutrition expert. Erin Oprea is a celebrity trainer and founder of the Pretty Muscles workout app. Dina Khader, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian and integrative nutrition consultant. Bryant Walrod, MD, is a sports medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and head team physician for The Ohio State Buckeyes football team. Mir Ali, MD, is the medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, is an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
While there are plenty of proteins to choose from, Dina Khader, RD, CDN, prefers plant-based proteins (think: pea or sprouted rice protein powder). But if you're a meat and fish kind of person, Khader recommends lean meats like chicken and turkey. Other great protein sources from the experts include wild fish and beans. If you're a fan of red meat like beef, have it occasionally (once or twice a week), considering the fat consistency.
Celebrity trainer Erin Oprea also loves to add in some eggs and for clients worried about boredom, she recommends focusing on seasonings. Her literal secret sauce? Coconut aminos. “It has a similar taste to teriyaki sauce.”
If you need a little help planning your protein-packed meals, Women’s Health has crafted the perfect protein guide just for you.
2. Stay on top of your sleep schedule.
"If people are poor sleepers they will not burn fat as efficiently, and it's much harder to build muscle," says Khader. The nutritionist also pointed out that people who don't get enough sleep are always hungry, which means they are at risk for consuming above and beyond the amount of calories they really need.
3. Stay hydrated.
Your emotional support water bottle is a vital sidekick to keep handy throughout the day as hydration is also super important in body recomposition and in everyday life.
“Being hydrated and sleeping are so critical to basic human function. If you do all these things and you're not drinking water or you're sleeping four hours a night, it's either not going to work at all or work so much slower than if your body is in a good state,” Catudal says.
4. Consider tracking your calories.
Remember, calories give your body the energy it needs to function, but can also be stored as fat. To keep that from happening, you have two options: Reduce your calorie intake or increase your physical activity.
If you're looking to lose weight (rather than stay at the same weight but increase muscle while decreasing fat), consider creating a calorie deficit. You'll first want to determine the baseline number of calories per day your body needs. If you want a more specific analysis, Khader recommends having a dietitian perform a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), a highly accurate test for body fat and muscle mass done through electrodes to determine how many calories your body needs. "You don't want go below 1,200 calories a day, because then you also start to break down muscle," says Khader.
You can also try calorie cycling (sometimes referred to as metabolic confusion), which involves changing up how many calories you aim to eat every day. There are a number of ways to implement the strategy—you may opt for a high-calorie day followed by a low-calorie day, or have an entire week of high-calorie days before having another week of low-calorie days (or somewhere in between). The thinking is that, by changing up your caloric intake, you confuse your body (and metabolism), encouraging it to burn more energy than if you just stayed at the same calorie intake each day.
In order to lose weight, “the whole idea is to be in a calorie deficit overall,” Dr. Ali notes. “You can do that intermittently, but different schedules and techniques work differently for different people.” For some, it’s better to be in a calorie deficit every day; For others, calorie cycling feels more approachable, he says.
If you don't want to focus too heavily on calories, that's definitely an option too, according to Oprea. "I never want my clients to be obsessing over their calorie intake," she says. “I personally don’t count calories and numbers, but I focus on correct serving size and to make sure every time you eat, you get a complex carb and a protein."
The Best Workouts For Fat Loss And Muscle Building
Weightlifting and HIIT training are key for muscle gains and shedding fat. It may sound daunting to get into lifting, but “don’t be scared of weight training,” Oprea says. It's actually a major part in accomplishing fat loss and muscle gains at the same time because “weights help you to put on more muscle mass and burn more calories” and fat more efficiently says Khader.
There are a few different workout schedules that the experts recommend for body recomposition. Catudal recommends three to four days a week of 45-minute strength and weight-training workouts with 60-second rest periods in between exercises.
Oprea's go-to is a Tabata workout where each round lasts four minutes. You'll do 20 seconds of all-out intensity, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times.
Aerobic exercise can be helpful, too, Dr. Ali adds: “It’s a good idea to have a combination of aerobic and resistance-type exercises—aerobic can help you burn calories and is good for cardiovascular health, while resistance training helps to build muscle.” Whether you enjoy going for 30-minute walks with your dog, swimming laps at the gym, or hopping on your Peloton for a ride, these aerobic exercises are all worthwhile for your muscle-gaining journey.
How To Measure Fat Loss And Muscle Gain
Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, suggests getting a simple tape measure and checking your waist circumference. (The CDC has detailed information on exactly where to measure yourself.)
A waist circumference of greater than 35 inches could mean that you have a higher risk of developing obesity-related conditions, the CDC says.
There are body composition scales that can break this down for you, but Dr. Ali points out that it can be tough to know how reliable they are. Similarly, a formal body composition test, such as a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) can help, says Bryant Walrod, MD, a sports medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and head team physician for The Ohio State Buckeyes football team. Just know that these tests can be expensive.
Luckily, you may be able to find a body composition test at a gym near you. Various Planet Fitness, YMCA, Edge Fitness, etc. locations offer InBody scan, a non-invasive test that assesses body muscle, fat, and water. Your gym may offer this for free or at a discounted rate. Plus, you can find an InBody scan location near you with their handy map feature.
Overall, you may want some personalized guidance to help get your muscle gain journey started and see you through. Your primary care doctor can make sure you’re healthy enough to go on a new exercise and diet plan, while a fitness trainer can help you find specific exercises that feel right for you, Dr. Ali says. (Most local gyms will offer an introductory session for free to get you started.) A nutritionist can also help you to come up with an eating plan that meets your nutritional needs while feeling doable for you, he says.
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