This is going to be an overview of the terms and concepts you’ll need to be aware of before you commit to a fat loss journey, a muscle building endeavor, or even just a slow but steady pursuit of looking a little bit better naked.
If you’re like me, you like specifics, which means you’ll want to know that all of the following goals would fit into this category of “things you should probably know before getting started on your journey” - just to make sure you’re not wasting your time before you even begin..
Who do these terms and concepts apply to?
The normal guy who just wants to look a little bit better through hitting the gym sensibly a few times a week and getting more active overall.
The guy in his mid-twenties or thirties who wants to get super jacked and look like Brad Pitt from Troy (or Brad Pitt from Fight Club)
The mom who wants to lose 10-20 pounds and build some muscle along the way.
The college chick who wants to develop her legs and glutes.
The 30 year-old female who wants to compete in the bikini division someday.
The skinny 15 year-old kid who wants to put on some muscle - either for sports or just to catch the attention of the cute girl in his class.
The person who is 100 pounds or more overweight and wants to lose it all for the sake of being a healthier and more active person.
And, if you’re wondering how these terms and concepts could possibly apply to all of these goals at the same time, it’s simply because the fundamentals of body recomposition from an evidence-based perspective are the fundamentals for a reason.
Any deviation from the basics is just a more specific application and manipulation of those fundamentals in order to achieve your desired goal.
So, let’s get into it. What do you need to know before you get started?
Must-Know Terms and Concepts for Body Recomposition
1: You Need to Define Your Goal.
I’ve already written in-depth about this, so if you need a detailed outline of my preferred way of setting a proper goal, I encourage you to check out this blog I wrote entitled Five Really Important Questions to Ask Yourself Before Embarking on a “Fitness Journey.”
In short, just pick a specific yet realistic goal and write it down on a napkin.
Why a napkin? Because that’s what J.K Rowling did when she started writing the Harry Potter series, and it turned out well for her.
As an example, you could say something like, “My goal is to lose 10 pounds while maximizing muscle retention by September 1.”
It’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and totally awesome.
Plus, there’s just something gritty about a napkin.
2: Calories
Thois may seem overly elementary, but there are actually plenty of people out there who don’t realize that calories are what dictate the majority of your “overweight-ness” or your “underweight-ness.”
That means if you’re overweight, it’s primarily because you’ve eaten too many calories for too long. If you’re thinner than you’d like to be, it’s primarily because you’re not eating enough calories to gain the weight that would make you look “less thin.”
Calories are simply the unit we use to measure the energy that foods hold, so why all the fuss and confusion?
The nuance tends to present itself in which foods you get those calories from.
Can you really eat Pixy Sticks and protein shakes all day or is it “better” to get your calories from brown rice, mung beans, and tofu?
Is a calorie just a calorie? Well, it’s tricky.
For now, just make sure you’re fully on team “Calories Matter Most” before you get started, and you’ll be fine.
Otherwise you’ll be back to ripping Dr. Oz magazines off the tabloid shelves in desperation before you know it.
Sorry, Doc. But that headline about dropping 16 pounds every week is silliness unless we’re talking about 16-pound dumbbells.
3: Energy Balance
Literally every goal I mentioned in that list at the top of this write-up is going to require you to manipulate your energy balance in favor of your long-term goal in a periodized fashion.
When people say energy balance in the body recomposition space, they’re talking about the idea of calories in versus calories out, which is often abbreviated CICO.
In other words, we’re talking about how many calories you consume from food (calories in) and how many calories you expend through exercise (calories out).
What this means for you is that there are going to be times when you need to be eating fewer calories than your body needs (if your goal is to lose overall body fat), and there are going to be times when you need to be eating more calories than your body needs, which would be the case if your primary goal is to build muscle as an already-lean individual.
If you’re still confused about why we call it energy balance, remember that calories are a measured unit of energy.
As Andy Dwyer once said on the television series Parks and Recreation, pizza and nachos - in some sense - are full of energy. And it’s true! But too much energy (calorically-speaking) leads to unwanted fat gain.
Negative and Positive Energy Balance
If someone is in a negative energy balance, it means they are eating fewer calories than they need, which leads to fat loss.
If someone is in a positive energy balance, they are eating more calories than they need, which can lead to muscle gain and fat gain depending on this person’s training habits..
One final thing to remember here is that everyone’s caloric needs are different depending on genetics, muscle mass, fat mass, training style, and overall activity level.
They can even change within the same person depending on your current dieting phase.
For example, 2,700 calories might be a deficit for me when 190 pounds but a slight surplus when 175 pounds.
4: Protein
Getting that lean, hard look might require you to eat a bit more protein than you are used to unless you are a naturally lean and muscular person.
For details on that, I’ve written extensively about how you can calculate your own protein needs here.
But, in broad strokes, know that an extremely easy way of making sure you’re getting enough protein to support your body recomposition goal is to simply take your goal weight in pounds and multiply that by 0.7-1 to find your daily protein intake in grams.
So, if you’re 150 pounds and you know you’d be a lean version of yourself at 120 pounds, it might be a good idea to start eating between 84-120g of protein per day.
You can see the math here:
120 pounds x 0.7 = 84g of protein per day
120 pounds x 1.0 = 120g of protein per day
5: Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS)
Muscle protein synthesis in easy-to-understand terms is the body’s process of building new muscle tissue.
In my opinion, all you need to know is that most researchers agree that MPS can be stimulated every 3-5 hours with a dose of 20-40g of protein at a time.
So, if you have a goal to get optimally jacked, the current science would suggest you’re probably best to eat 20-40g of protein 3-5 times per day every 3-5 hours within your overall daily protein target.
Practically speaking, that means if your protein target for the day is 120g, you could eat the following amounts of protein per meal in order to optimize the muscle protein synthetic response (as the experts I respect currently understand it):
25g of protein for breakfast at 7 a.m.
25g of protein for lunch around 11 a.m.
20g of protein as a mid-afternoon snack at 3 p.m.
30g of protein for dinner and after your workout at 6:30 p.m.
20g of protein as a bedtime snack at 10 p.m.
If you’re curious about what I do personally, most days look like this when I’m eating 140-150g of protein per day:
50g of protein for breakfast around 8 a.m. (my pre-workout meal)
30g of protein for my second meal around 1:30 p.m. (my post-workout meal)
30g of protein for my third meal around 4:30 p.m.
30g of protein for my fourth meal around 7:30 p.m.
For more examples, Josh posted on this very topic as well in more detail.
6: Carbohydrates and Fats
The war between carbs and fats is real, folks.
But, I’m here to simplify it as much as possible so you can walk away feeling confident about your diet choices.
All you really need to know is that your overall calorie intake and your daily protein intake matter much more than how you consume the rest of your calories from carbs and fats.
Seriously, there is absolutely nothing to be gained from overcomplicating this unless you're a highly competitive bodybuilder.
The only caveat here is to make sure your fat consumption never represents much less than 15-20% of your total calories since having some healthy fat in your diet is essential for proper hormone function.
Practically speaking, I can fully admit that I’m biased toward higher-carb, lower-fat diets simply because they’ve proven to work extremely well for me personally over the years - especially when dieting for fat loss. Preferentially, I also love carbohydrates, which makes diet adherence much easier when I allow for a higher-carb bias.
On the other hand, I am very aware of the fact that there are plenty of people who prefer higher-fat or even ketogenic diets. In my eyes, there isn’t a “right way” and a “wrong way” insofar as the diet quality is supporting your individual health.
My advice is to find what works best for your health, preference, long-term adherence, and perception of desired outcomes. If you like a certain way of eating, you can adhere to it sustainably, and you’re getting the results you want, you’re probably setting yourself up for success.
7: Macronutrients or “Macros”
Macronutrients are simply the three categories of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. And, some people call alcohol the “fourth macro.”
Proteins and carbohydrates each have 4 calories per gram while fats have 9 calories per gram. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, and the sum of all of your macronutrients results in your total caloric intake.
If you hear someone say they “track their macros,” that just means they structure their diet in a way that allows them to eat a specific number (or range) of each macronutrient.
For example, my macros at the moment are roughly 150g of protein, 430g of carbohydrates, and 55g of fat per day. That would be 600 calories from protein, 1,720 calories from carbs, and 495 calories from fats for a total of 2,815 calories per day.
It’s also important to remember that your macros will change depending on which phase of dieting you are in.
If you are eating to lose weight, your macros will be lower. If you are in a phase designed to add body weight on purpose, your macros will be higher.
For a deeper look into macronutrients and our experience tracking them, check out this post we made on Instagram.
8: Flexible Dieting (IIFYM)
Speaking of counting your macros, what’s up with flexible dieting?
Basically, flexible dieting is a dieting strategy that allows you to eat pretty much whatever you want as long as it fits within your given macronutrient allotment.
That means if you have 150g of protein to eat in a day, it doesn’t matter if you get it from 5 servings of high-protein soy milk, a diverse mix of 5 different protein sources, or 5 plant-based protein shakes with PB2. Just “hit your macros,” and you’re “good to go” when it comes to body recomposition.
The prized perk of the IIFYM movement (which stands for “if it fits your macros”) is that you can technically eat ice cream and pizza in moderation while losing body fat if you want to.
And you really can! If this is breaking news to you, remember that calories really do matter most for fat loss.
Although I will say that most responsible advocates of flexible dieting still recommend you eat about 80-90% of your calories from whole food sources while enjoying that remaining 10-20% of calories from “unhealthy” foods you enjoy.
My biggest warning against flexible dieting is that it doesn’t account for your health. It only considers your immediate fat loss outcomes, which can lead to unhealthy, longer-term dietary habits that may prove difficult to break if dieting for health and longevity should ever become the primary focus.
9: “Clean” Eating
“Clean” eating could be considered the opposite of flexible dieting, which means you eat all of your calories from “clean” sources.
Now, the term “clean” is certainly up for debate, but what people are saying is that you should stick to the foods your mother told you were healthy and resist the temptation to have a KitKat before bed each night - even if it fits your macros.
A sample day of “clean” eating could look like this:
Breakfast: sprouted whole-grain toast, avocado, and a plant-based protein shake
Lunch: leafy green salad with crispy tofu and a drizzle of tahini
Snack: an apple
Dinner: chickpea pasta with steamed broccoli
Dessert: berry-based protein smoothie with soy milk and powdered peanut butter powder
You get the point.
For thoughts on a few potential risks of “clean” eating, give this Instagram post a look.
10: Periodization
Periodization simply means that you don’t do the exact same style of training or dieting at all times during your journey.
If you’re looking to lose a considerable amount of body fat, you’ll probably need to eat below your needs for a while and then transition into a period of eating slightly more to give your body a break from the energy deficit.
It’s generally not thought of as a good idea to just lose 100 pounds in one go - especially if you’re interested in keeping the weight off once you get there.
Building muscle is the same way. Although a majority of your time should be spent in a caloric surplus, there will be times when you need to eat at maintenance or even in a deficit in order to support the bigger picture goal of putting on as much muscle as possible.
Think of periodization as the phases of your body recomposition approach.
As a side note, I think this is probably the most under-considered concept on the list, which is why most people go on their starvation diets, lose 50 pounds, and then gain back 60 once they realize that their starvation diet of chicken, broccoli, and lemon water wasn’t super sustainable after all.
11: Hypertrophy vs. Strength
Hypertrophy is the style of training that is pretty much exclusively targeted at getting you “more jacked.” So, if you’re just out here trying to be the biggest dude at the nightclub, you want to be training for hypertrophy. That’s a good term to know.
On the other hand, some people will want to train for strength.
Here’s the thing though: Training for strength and training for size are not the exact same thing.
This isn’t the place to discuss the nuances of those differences, but I highly recommend this video featuring Dr. Mike Israetel, Chief Sport Scientist at Renaissance Periodization, if you are looking for further explanation.
12: Supplements
Supplement conversations can get hairy, but most evidence-based folks in the industry agree that the only ones worth your time and money are the following:
Protein POWDERS or a Protein BARS
Hitting your daily protein needs is important for optimizing your body recomposition results, so if utilizing shakes and bars is a way to make your journey more sustainable, it’s probably a good idea.
I personally utilize both protein shakes and protein bars (plant-based) on a daily basis as a part of my diet, and you can read more about that here.
If you plan on opting for a plant-based blend, soy and pea/rice blends have been shown to offer the most competitive amino acid profile to its whey protein frontrunner.
If you’re looking for a specific brand, I’ve had great success with MyProtein’s Vegan Blend in the past.
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine exists naturally in the body, but adding a dose of 3-5g each day is a common practice for people who really want to increase their performance capacity - specifically in terms of weight training. A lot of people even consider creatine monohydrate a “no-brainer” in terms of its effectiveness and cost availability - and it probably is.
Even though I do not personally take creatine, I certainly used it in my early twenties and - for those who are wondering - I would personally buy this particular kind if I were to hop back on the train in the future.
Caffeine
Although caffeine isn’t going to make you any more lean or jacked all by itself, plenty of people enjoy its stimulative benefits before a hard workout. I only use caffeine occasionally, but not as a boost for my workouts. Frankly, I just enjoy a cup of coffee a few times per week because I like the taste.
If you’re curious about pre-workout products for their caffeine benefits, I personally think they’re mostly a waste of money.
And, if you’re not careful with your servings sizes and the rest of the caffeine you consume throughout the day, you risk flirting with unhealthy doses. Make your own choices, but that’s not something I’m interested in toying around with.
That being said, I do enjoy pump products from time to time when training purely for hypertrophy.
Multivitamins and Omega-3 Fish/ALGAE Oils
If you’re not sure you’re getting all your vitamins from your diet, a multivitamin can be a good idea for some people. The same can be said of fish oils or algae oils if you’re unable to incorporate fatty fish into your diet or choose not to for personal reasons.
That being said, I am not a registered dietician, and I highly encourage you to do your own research on the matter before making an educated decision about what is appropriate for you.
13: Cardio
Cardio just refers to cardiovascular training, which normally means walking on a treadmill or using some other kind of walking or cycling device to elevate your heart rate.
In practice though, cardio simply becomes one of the two modalities we tweak to ignite further fat loss.
So, if someone tells you, “Ugh. I have to go do my 60 minutes of cardio,” they’re saying their coach has identified that doing an hour of treadmill walking is what is necessary for this person to continue to drop body fat at the appropriate rate to achieve the goal.
Or, maybe they’re coaching themselves and think that cardio is a good way for them to achieve their goal. They may or may not be right (given that cardio seems to be one of the most misapplied tools in the body recomposition toolbox), but at least you’ll know what they mean now.
Conversely, if your goal is purely to gain muscle, doing cardio probably isn’t necessary for the goal at hand, although plenty of people choose to implement a small amount of cardio for health reasons as a trade-off for more food in their diet.
Thanks for reading, everyone! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the content and learned something.
If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member!
And, if you're interested in working with me one-on-one, visit The Vegan Gym and apply for coaching. I’ve had nothing but success in guiding people toward their fat loss goals.
Cheers, everyone!
-Andrew
