Body Recomposition For Muay Thai Fighters
Can You Gain Muscle Without Moving Up A Weight Class?
There are four sections to this article:
What Is Body Recomposition
Is Body Recomposition A Realistic Goal?
What I Recommend For Fighters.
Nutrition, Training, And Lifestyle Set Up For Body Recomposition.
What Is Body Recomposition?
How can I get a lower body fat % without losing weight?
How can I increase muscle without gaining weight?
How can I lose fat AND gain muscle at the same time?
These are just a selection of common questions I get that fall under the umbrella term of ‘body recomposition’. If you have similar questions, just know that you’re not alone.
These questions are misguided. Typically stemming from a misunderstanding of how the body works, and what the number on the scale represents.
People ask these questions because of their preconceptions of fat loss and muscle gain and the perceived negative side effects of pursuing these goals.
In reality, they often want to lose fat without getting skinny from muscle loss. Or, they want to gain muscle without gaining too much fat alongside this. Both are perfectly reasonable and achievable goals if done the right way.
Before we dive fully in, I want to make something clear:
Your weight doesn’t ‘mean’ anything.
It shouldn’t have any moral implications or judgement attached to it. To fully grasp this concept, I want you to imagine the human body as a series of buckets. Each bucket contains a separate component, for example:
Muscle
Fat
Bones
Organs
Water
Etc.
The number on the scale represents the total weight of all of these buckets.
Source: https://img.freepik.com/premium-vector/human-body-composition-infographic-diagram-silhouette-percentage-proportions_206049-2243.jpg?w=2000
Therefore, if you gain muscle…you will weigh more, all else being equal.
If you lose fat, you will weigh less.
To reduce fat or increase muscle without a change in scale weight, you would have to lose the exact same amount of fat as muscle gained. This is commonly referred to as body recomposition.
So, what exactly is body recomposition?
There isn’t a clear standardised definition, but when people refer to body recomposition they’re generally referring to the process of:
Simultaneously losing fat and gaining muscle. Sometimes, but not always, without a change in body weight.
This is the opposite of the more common bulking and cutting cycles we see often in physique sports where you will aim to either reduce fat or gain muscle in separate phases, often alternating between the two, with the end results being more muscle and less fat.
Is Body Recomposition A Realistic Goal?
Many individuals will say it’s completely impossible, especially if you’re a resistance-trained individual (i.e. you’ve lifted weights for a consistent period of time).
But, this is at odds with the research. Body recomposition has been shown many times in studies, even in those with resistance training experience. The participants complete the study, typically they will follow a resistance training programme, sometimes with dietary changes also, and it’s not split into cut and bulk phases. At the end of the study, they have more fat-free mass (everything that’s not fat) and less body fat. So, we know it’s possible.
It’s also possible to drive your car with a flat tyre. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. The true answer is nuanced (as with most topics in nutrition), and is what I will cover for the remainder of this article.
The extent to which you’re able to successfully achieve body recomposition is dependent on a few key factors.
Body recomposition is most likely to occur when:
You don’t have weight training experience.
You’re returning from injury or a period of non-training.
You’re taking anabolic steroids.
You have high levels of body fat.
If you fit into one or more of the above categories, you’re more likely to achieve some degree of fat loss and muscle gain at the same time. On the flip side…
Body recomposition is least likely to occur when:
You have weight training experience.
You have lower levels of body fat.
Essentially, the closer you are to your genetic limits, the less likely is it to happen. Is it impossible? No. Is it inefficient? Probably.
A key caveat here is that strength and muscle mass, while related, are not the same thing. You can certainly gain strength while losing fat. You can certainly gain strength without gaining muscle mass. Don’t confuse the two.
In this study, the energy (calorie) deficit group gained equal strength as the energy balance group. However, only the energy balance group gained muscle mass.
Source: https://www.mysportscience.com/post/can-i-gain-muscle-and-lose-weight-at-the-same-time
What I Recommend For Fighters.
This topic is often discussed through the lens of physique, commonly to an audience of recreational lifters or to the bodybuilding community. Basically, people who want to look good for the ‘gram #influencer.
If you’ve previously Googled the topic, you probably got articles from the likes of bodybuilding.com
If you’re reading this, you’re probably not a bodybuilder. We’re combat sports athletes, so the practical application of this topic is different than if we were solely focused on our physique.
Key things I want you to understand:
No one ever got insanely jacked from ‘body recomposition’. As fighters, we don’t want that anyway.
We want functional muscle and strength gain, not vanity muscle. We want a high amount of muscle for a given weight class (muscle = potential to generate force).
If you’re looking to maximise muscle gain and fat loss at the same time, you won’t. It’s like chasing two rabbits: if you try to catch both, you won’t catch either.
My advice to you:
Don’t make recomposition your primary goal. Focus primarily on something else, recomposition can be a secondary consideration.
Recomposition effects should be seen as a bonus. It’s easy to get demotivated if you prioritise a goal that’s likely to have a small effect. The effects may not even be noticeable, especially if you’re not objectively tracking things.
Because these effects are a ‘bonus’, tagged onto your primary goal, it doesn’t matter if you’re new or experienced, lean or overweight; the practical application is the same, just the degree to which you might experience these effects will differ.
“Understood. So what should my primary goal be?”
I’m glad you asked. There are three main goals that I’ll cover briefly here, before explaining how to set your diet up for these goals.
Goal #1. Fat Loss
Perhaps you have a fight coming up, or you simply want to lean out a little. Focus on steady fat loss as your primary goal (~0.5% bodyweight per week). Make sure your calorie deficit is small (<500kcal daily deficit, if your maintenance is 2500kcal avoid eating less than 2000kcal as this is shown to impair lean mass gains). Make sure you keep resistance training, this is non-negotiable. You will lose fat at a slow enough rate that you may gain muscle simultaneously, as a bonus. Remember, fat loss is the primary goal.
Even if you simply maintain your previous level of muscle mass, you’ll be doing a lot better than most fighters who typically lose muscle when dieting because they lose weight too fast, don’t eat adequate protein, and don’t have a structure resistance training programme.
Source: https://www.mysportscience.com/post/can-i-gain-muscle-and-lose-weight-at-the-same-time
Goal #2. Strength and Performance
Eat around maintenance calories, i.e. at a calorie intake that allows you to maintain your weight. You will fuel your training performance and will be able to gain strength and potentially some functional muscle also, again as a bonus.
Goal #3. Functional Muscle Gain
If you want to move up a weight class or add some functional muscle before leaning out again to stay in your current weight class, eat in a small 200-300 calorie surplus daily. This will allow you to maximise rates of muscle gain from your resistance training, whilst keeping fat gain at an acceptable minimum, and not making the typically bulking mistake of overeating and having fat gain drastically outpace muscle gain.
If you follow my advice for these three goals, by the time you’re lean you will have maintained and maybe even gained some muscle mass. By the time you’ve increased muscle and strength, you won’t have added excess fat mass. This overcomes the fears I mentioned earlier of getting skinny during fat loss and getting fat during muscle gain.
Let’s dive into the specifics of how to apply the knowledge you’ve gained.
Nutrition, Training, And Lifestyle Set Up For Body Recomposition.
This information is summarised from a brilliant paper, titled “Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?”. Implementing this advice will give you maximal chances of achieving a successful body composition as a secondary bonus, whilst pursuing your primary goal outlined above.
Follow a progressive resistance training programme with at least 3 sessions per week.
Track your rate of progress (weight, measurements, training performance, recovery) and make adjustments over time.
Consume 1.6-2.5g protein per kg bodyweight daily. If you know your fat-free mass (FFM), 2.6–3.5g protein per kg of FFM is recommended, but most won’t know this [weight in kg x 1.6 to 2.5 = total daily protein intake in grams].
Protein supplements such as whey and casein may help to hit an optimal protein intake as well as maximising muscle protein synthesis (repairing and building new muscle), especially in the post-workout period.
Prioritizing sleep quality and quantity can significantly impact changes in performance, recovery, and body composition.
Align your energy (calorie) intake with my recommendations in the Goal subsections above. As a quick reminder:
Fat loss: 200-300 calorie deficit / 0.5% bodyweight loss per week.
Performance: maintenance calories.
Muscle Gain: 200-300 calorie surplus.
I don’t know about you guys, but I tick off most of these boxes with my clients anyway, regardless of the phase.
My clients will resistance train 2-3x per week (3 if muscle gain is desired).
We track progress, assess, and adjust to ensure we stay on the path to our goals.
They eat a high protein diet, often including protein supplements to help hit targets.
We prioritise 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep per night.
We avoid extreme calorie deficits and surpluses wherever possible.
To wrap things up…
You can body recomp as a fighter...but don't make this your primary goal.
Set up your diet as outlined here and you'll give yourself the best chance of recomposition whilst chasing your main goal.
“Can you gain muscle without moving up a weight class?”
If you gain muscle, and nothing else changes...you would increase weight and therefore move up a weight class depending on the magnitude of weight gain.
But, you could gain 'some' muscle during a fat loss phase...
You could gain muscle (keeping fat gain to an acceptable minimum by following my advice) then reduce body fat and still fight in the same weight class, separating these into two distinct phases would be my recommendation. Ensure you adhere to the practical advice I've given, this will keep you from excess muscle loss and excess fat gain, the most common mistakes and fears when it comes to changing body composition.
TL;DR
Are you going to stay the same weight and end up with LOADS more muscle and LOADS less fat? Probably not.
Can you gain SOME muscle during fat loss? Yes.
Can you lose SOME fat during muscle gain? Yes.
Can you stay roughly the same weight and lose SOME fat, and gain SOME muscle? Yes, but like all of these, it will be to a varying degree based on factors mentioned previously.
Enjoyed this? You’ll love my emails. Join here. Unsubscribe anytime.