Becoming leaner and more muscular is a staggeringly simple process (hence why the World’s best bodybuilders are famously unintelligent). All you really need to do is lift heavy weights and eat nutritious food, regularly and consistently. Unfortunately there are a near infinite number of combinations of diet and training methods, all promising to be the best. So what do you do? The popular approach is to choose methods based on your feelings toward the celebrities and/or fancy jargon used in the marketing. You then engage in irrational self abuse for a few years, hoping that you wake up one morning and miraculously look exactly like you always dreamt. This approach fails about 99% of the time; but you get lots of positive affirmations from your fellow cult members while you fail. If you like the sound of this approach, head to bodybuilding.com right now.
The unpopular alternative approach is to measure your body composition, set a goal, plan a diet and strength training program based on basic fundamentals and logic, then make informed changes based on measured outcomes. This approach works unfailingly, if applied properly, and is profoundly personally satisfying; but you will upset virtually everybody with your success. If you are one of the rare few who have functioning mental faculties for such an approach, read on…
Recomp Process
Intelligent body recomposition starts with 1. measuring your body composition (ie weight x bodyfat %), 2. setting a specific goal (weight x bodyfat %) and 3. calculating the changes to be caused by your diet and training (ie bodyweight change from diet; strength & lean mass change from training). It is 2 minutes of work and 1 ounce of critical thinking that will transform the way you approach diet & training.
Following your diet and training plan seems obvious, but few people do it seriously. While strictly following your plan does not guarantee superior results, it does guarantee you learn what works, and what does not. You must also execute your plan with conviction. You must train and eat like an athlete who is passionate to be better at every workout. Executing without conviction is like planning without measurement: doomed to failure and ignorance.
Armed with an intelligent plan that you followed with accuracy and conviction, it is possible to assess precisely the effects of your diet and training, and the effectiveness of your plan. Whatever your measured results, you always gain new knowledge. If your plan works, keep following it. If it is not what you expected, make logical changes. Keep making logical changes, from relevant measurements of serious execution, and you will achieve both success and wisdom.
I created Recomposer to make body recomposition simple and logical. It is online software for Coaches to measure, plan, create, deliver, record, track and assess client’s diet, training and body composition.