When someone tells us they want to lose weight, we usually ask a few more questions. Often, they describe wanting less fat around their waist, more muscle, better-fitting clothes, and enough strength and stamina to enjoy their life.
Those goals don’t all require the same change on the scale. Someone might benefit from losing weight, while another person could make meaningful progress near their current weight by changing how much muscle and fat they carry.
With the BodySpec DEXA van coming to Resilient Body this Thursday, November 5, we have an opportunity to make those conversations more specific. Our previous article explained what a DEXA scan can tell you. This week, let’s talk about what comes next, including a goal many people already have without knowing its name: body recomposition.
What Is Body Recomposition?
Body recomposition means gaining muscle while losing body fat over the same period. Your weight might decrease, stay relatively stable, or even increase slightly, depending on how much of each changes.
Imagine losing four pounds of fat while gaining two pounds of muscle over several months. Your scale would show a two-pound loss, even though considerably more had changed. Those numbers are simply an example, rather than a prediction.
That’s why we pay attention to how your clothes fit, waist measurements, strength, and other signs of progress. Body weight is useful information, but it leaves out some details.
Do You Have to Eat More to Build Muscle?
A recent podcast I listened to Barbell Medicine discussion with researcher and coach Dr. Eric Helms explored the familiar advice that building muscle requires a calorie surplus. People are often told they must choose between gaining muscle and losing fat before they can begin.
A surplus means eating more energy than your body uses over time, while a deficit means eating less. These influence your weight, but they don’t tell us exactly how much muscle or fat will change.
Building muscle takes challenging strength training, protein, energy, and recovery. Some of that energy can come from stored body fat, which helps explain how muscle gain and fat loss can happen together.
Eating more can still be useful, especially for someone who is already lean, experienced, and focused on muscle growth. But more food doesn’t automatically produce more muscle. In a small eight-week study led by Helms, faster weight gain mainly went along with greater increases in skinfold thickness, a measure of fat under the skin, rather than consistently greater muscle or strength gains.
Eating much less has limits, too. Larger, ongoing deficits generally make muscle gain harder, even when strength can improve. Recomp is possible, but you still need enough food to train well and recover.
Your Training History Matters
Someone beginning structured strength training often has plenty of room to improve. A person returning after time away may also regain muscle while losing fat, without needing a deliberate weight-gain phase.
Recomp has been observed in experienced lifters, too, although changes are generally less predictable. Research also uses “trained” to describe people with very different backgrounds, so having lifted before doesn’t put everyone in the same category.
We see this at the gym. Someone might have years of running, cycling, or exercise classes behind them while being fairly new to lifting progressively heavier weights. Another person may have lifted for years without much consistency or progression.
Both may have room to build muscle by improving the training itself. Sometimes the best next step is showing up more regularly, making the sets appropriately challenging, or recovering better between sessions.
An already lean, experienced lifter who is doing those things well may benefit from more food and patience. Someone whose priority is substantial fat loss may do better with a manageable deficit while lifting to preserve muscle. Keeping muscle while losing fat is an excellent result, even when additional muscle gain doesn’t happen.
The Health Side Matters, Too
This week’s scan gives us information beyond the muscle and fat we notice in the mirror. It also estimates visceral fat, the fat stored deeper in your abdomen around your organs, and provides measurements related to bone health.
Higher amounts of visceral fat are associated with greater risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The estimate adds useful context alongside blood pressure, bloodwork, medical history, and other health information.
This is one reason conditioning stays in the picture. Aerobic exercise can reduce visceral fat, and studies have found improvements even without substantial weight loss. Your walks, bike rides, rowing, and conditioning sessions can be doing useful work while the scale remains fairly quiet.
Bone health matters as well. Appropriately selected strength training and impact exercise can help support bone density, with supervised research showing benefits in people with low bone mass. We choose the starting point and progression around the person, including any existing diagnosis or fracture history.
A whole-body composition scan does not replace the dedicated hip and spine scan used to assess osteoporosis. If your results raise questions, your healthcare provider can help determine whether further testing is appropriate. Bone changes also take time, so the return visit in the new year won’t capture the full benefits of a bone-building program.
What Are You Actually Working Toward?
Your results should help start a conversation about what matters to you. Two members can scan on the same day and reasonably choose different next steps.
If fat loss is your main goal, we might emphasize a manageable deficit, regular strength training, and conditioning. Preserving muscle, improving fitness, and having enough energy to keep going all matter along the way.
If muscle gain is the priority, we’ll look at how your lifting is progressing, whether you’re eating enough, and how you’re recovering. A modest increase in food may help, depending on your starting point and response.
If you want to improve your composition near your current weight, more consistent or effective strength training may be a useful place to start. We can follow changes in your measurements, performance, and how you feel alongside the scale.
And if your priorities are health, energy, and staying capable, strength and conditioning deserve attention regardless of how quickly your body composition changes. Being able to hike farther, carry things more easily, or get through the afternoon with more energy are worthwhile goals themselves.
Make a Plan That Fits the Holidays
We have several weeks before the new year to practice a routine that works around travel, social meals, family plans, and busy workdays. The best direction depends on your goals and what you can realistically maintain.
Some members can continue a manageable fat-loss phase. Others may choose to maintain weight while getting stronger and more consistent. Someone trying to build muscle may need to make sure rushed days aren’t repeatedly leaving them underfed.
Give your strength sessions a reliable place in the week, with a shorter version available when time gets tight. Keep progressing familiar exercises, and include conditioning and everyday movement.
A few dependable meals can make the rest easier. Our recent breakfast article has simple options that include protein, fiber, carbohydrates, and some fat. Having food ready on busy days can support your training while leaving plenty of room to enjoy holiday meals.
Choose one sign of progress beyond the scan, too. That could be attending two sessions each week, getting stronger at a lift, or walking a familiar hill with less effort.
Use the Next Scan to Check Your Direction
We plan to bring the same BodySpec van back in the new year so we can revisit your progress. Following the preparation instructions and using similar testing conditions will make the comparison more useful.
DEXA’s lean-tissue measurement includes water and other nonfat tissues, so a small increase doesn’t automatically mean new muscle. Hydration and stored carbohydrate can affect the result, which is why we’ll look at the report alongside your training, measurements, and experience.
After your scan this week, talk with your coach about what you would most like to improve. We can help you choose a direction and a few actions to practice through the holidays. Your next scan will add information, while the strength, fitness, energy, and habits you build along the way will help tell the rest of the story.
📣 Quick Announcements:
DEXA Scan Day is THIS WEEK 1/5
BodySpec is coming to Resilient Body Thursday, November 5, from 11:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. All 24 slots available have sold out. Please make sure you have filled out your waiver!
November’s Bracket Challenge Starts This Week! 😎 We’re mixing things up with a new challenge each week for four weeks, built into Friday classes and personal training sessions. Winners advance through the bracket each week as we work toward the final showdown. Your coach will explain the weekly challenge and help you get your attempt in!
Save the Date: Resilient Body Holiday Party — December 5! Join us to celebrate another year with the people who make this community what it is. Invitations and more details will follow soon, so mark your calendar!
Assisted Stretch sessions with Julie are underway! Many of you may not realize that Julie has been an assisted stretch practitioner for quite some time and knows exactly what to look for. These individualized sessions give you dedicated time to work on range of motion, explore positions that may be harder to access on your own, and simply spend some focused time addressing areas that feel stiff or restricted. You can book Julie here.
Massage & Manual Therapy with Evan on Saturdays and Sundays: Evan is now available Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. If you need a little TLC from life or training, you can book Evan here.
New Personal Training Slots Available: Book a consultation if you're ready for more individualized coaching. – Book a consult if you’re ready to level up
💬 Got questions? Reply here or ask your coach next time you're in