One Simple Mistake Could Be Keeping You From Reaching Your Body Recomp Goals

My name is Cori Ritchey, and I am an exercise physiology nerd turned fitness journalist, and the fitness editor at Women’s Health. When I’m not writing, editing, and researching fitness, I’m teaching it to my personal training and group fitness clients. In my column, Between Sets, I’m pulling back the curtain on the same advice, tips, and ‘aha!’ moments I share with my clients while they’re catching their breath.

Stick around for the strategic, science-backed nuggets that’ll help you move better, train smarter, and actually enjoy the process. Body recomposition has recently become the holy grail of physique goals among the fitness-obsessed and everyday exercisers alike. It’s a two-part promise: lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

A great goal, sure—but it’s also often misunderstood. The way body recomposition (a.k.a. body recomp) is typically represented on social media often leads people to believe that they’re only successful if they’re losing weight or body fat. That mindset really starts to deviate from the primary intention of body recomp, but it unfortunately makes sense when you zoom out and look at the greater cultural shift we’re seeing right now.

In a world where celebrities are skinnier than ever and GLP-1s are ushering in a return to ‘90s diet culture, weight loss and thinness have become central goals again in a way we haven’t seen in years. The cause and effects of this cultural phenomenon is worth a detailed investigative piece all on its own, but one thing is certain: it has undeniably changed the way we think about fitness goals, including body recomp. Before this trend really took hold, we had finally found a place where strong, muscular women were widely celebrated.

We were less afraid of looking too “bulky” or having “man shoulders.” More women were embracing strength and size, inspired by the likes of Serena Williams and Ilona Maher. But when skinny culture reared its ugly head again, the emphasis of body recomposition shifted away from muscle, and more toward fat loss and weight loss. In many ways, the recomp trend feels a bit like a fat-loss rebrand—just a supposedly smarter one.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to reduce body fat. But when it begins to overshadow the muscle portion of body recomp, then things get confusing. When you don’t approach the goal in a way that supports both muscle growth and fat loss, you might miss out on building the fundamental strength and muscle you need to support a long and healthy life.