Goal: To “recomp” which is shorthand for “body recomposition” meaning to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Equipment: Traditional Gym Equipment: Bench, Dumbbells, Barbell, a Cable Stack, Pull-up Bar, Bands, Ab Cart, Physioball, Running Shoes

Workouts per week: 4 in total (All strength based – Push, Pull, Lower, Arms & Abs)

Gym Membership Required? Yes. Or a well stocked home gym with the equipment listed above.

Length: Each phase is 6 weeks and there are 4 phases in total, so the entire program is 96 workouts over the course of 24 weeks.

Recomping is this idea that we can develop lean mass while simultaneously losing body fat.

I appreciate recomping as a concept because there aren’t dramatic fluctuations in our weight or calorie intake. The goal is to lose body fat at the same rate we gain muscle which makes recomping the Goldilocks of our training cycles – neither a dramatic cut or bulk. This also makes it a nice antidote to yo-yo dieting which isn’t helpful or healthful for anyone.

If you’re relatively new to consistent and intense training, recomping will happen naturally which is a phenomenon known as “newbie gains”. The closer you get to your genetical potential, the stronger stimulus you’ll need to continue to gain muscle or lose fat and the more difficult it becomes to do both at the same time. 

But not matter how much training experience you have, recomping is still valuable. By chasing lean mass, our metabolism is forced to work exceptionally hard, which keeps our body composition leaner than it would be otherwise. If aesthetics is one of your training goals, recomping is an ideal long term strategy: best case scenario, you’ll lose fat and gain muscle. Worst case scenario, you’ll maintain your lean mass and body composition until you decide to either bulk or cut.

Here’s my general recommendation: if you’re new to this type of training, do the entire Project Recomp program and enjoy those newbie gainz. If you’re an experienced lifter, do the phase of Project Recomp. If you get stronger, bigger, or leaner then stay the course and move onto Project Recomp 2.0. If you don’t make substantial progress, then consider tweaking your nutrition towards either a bulk or a cut, depending on your aesthetic priorities. 

Either way, I’d like to gently remind you that adding lean mass does not happen quickly which means that recomping is a gradual process. Understanding that we’re not in a rush and are planning to train for the rest of our lives, the intention of this training program is to commit to long term progress. In order to optimize results, make sure you’re calorie neutral (neither gaining nor losing weight) and eating 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, spread evenly throughout your daily meals. If you’re looking for elite-level nutrition coaching, feel free to check out nutritionbymel.com.

Phase 1

Here’s our weekly training calendar for Phase 1:

As for our training split: