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As a fitness professional and doctor of physical therapy, I’ve always been active. I spent most of my 20s chasing the “toned” look (which, for the record, isn’t even a real thing; it’s marketing jargon). I did all the classic workouts that promised to get me there—high reps, low weights, endless cardio—and prided myself on leaving every class drenched in sweat. I ate as little as possible because I thought that would give me the body I wanted.
Like so many women, I was lean from undereating and overexercising, but I never felt strong—and I definitely didn’t feel good. I had chronic pain, fatigue, and lived on a hamster wheel of more workouts and less food.
Everything changed when I started focusing on building muscle and body recomposition instead. It turns out, what most people mean by “getting toned” is actually body recomp, which, put simply, is losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.
There’s just one problem. How you get to body recomposition is entirely different from what we’ve been told, especially as women. It’s the ultimate anti–yo-yo goal—and it’s about consistency, not extremes.
I learned how to train for hypertrophy, eat to support recovery, and actually rest—and I got the look (and feel!) I was searching for faster than I expected. Within a year of changing my approach to fitness, I gained eight pounds of muscle and lost roughly five pounds of fat with fewer workouts, more food, no joint pain, and way less effort.
If you’re about to start this journey, here’s how long you can expect it to take.
My Experience With Body Recomposition
I’ve successfully recomposed twice and plan to do it again soon, as I’ve just had my second baby.
The first time, I gained eight pounds of muscle and lost five pounds of fat over a year. The second time, postpartum, I gained 4.2 pounds of muscle and lost fat in just a few months.
Muscle tends to come back faster the second time because when you’ve built it once, your muscle fibers retain extra myonuclei (essentially the “brains” of the muscle) which remain even if you lose muscle mass. When you train again, those nuclei help muscle growth happen faster.
That’s why building muscle now is such a valuable investment for your future self.
So, how long does body recomposition take?
Body recomposition is a slower process, but that’s exactly why I like it. It forces you to slow down and implement sustainable changes with your training, your nutrition, and your recovery.
It’s tempting to get to your ideal body composition as fast as possible, but rushing it might only make things take longer in the end. For example, overtraining can lead to injury, sidelining you from training, and undereating can prevent muscle growth—or worse, lead to losing it. While this article focuses on the strength training that goes into body recomposition, nutrition and fueling properly are essential because when you’re in too big of a calorie deficit you can lose both muscle and fat.
These are the body recomposition changes you’ll notice, month by month:
Month 1:
You might see early fat loss in the first month if you’re in a calorie deficit. Muscle growth typically takes longer, but beginner exercisers might see small developments more quickly than longer-trained individuals.
Month 2:
You’ll start to feel stronger as your nervous system adapts and you gain better coordination. You might see muscle definition toward the end of the month because growth can take anywhere from eight to 12 weeks.
Month 3:
You’ll likely begin to see visible muscle definition and continued fat loss.
Month 4+:
Progress continues, though it’s normal to have slower or plateau phases. Early in training neuromuscular strength and protein synthesis are more rapid, but as your body becomes accustomed to the stimulus, the improvements can slow. In this phase, it’s important to refine your habits, train close to failure, and find what keeps you consistent.
You can’t rush the process. Building muscle and losing fat simultaneously requires balance—not extremes. If you’re in a 200-400 calorie deficit, expect around 0.5–1 pound of fat loss per week and visible muscle growth within 8–12 weeks, having made good progress toward your goal in three months.
The Four Pillars of Body Recomposition
Of course, body recomposition is only possible if you’re focusing on the right things. These are the four most important factors.
Nutrition: Supports Fat Loss And Muscle Growth
I’m not formally trained in nutrition, but here’s what I’ve learned from registered dietitians; and, what works for me and the Evlo community:
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Eat in a slight calorie deficit (around 200–400 calories below maintenance)
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Eat 0.7–1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily
Tracking your food, especially in the beginning, can be incredibly eye-opening. I found I was eating more calories than I realized—and not nearly enough protein. Tracking isn’t for everyone, but it’s a useful tool to build awareness. You can use apps like My Fitness Pal or even list all your food into ChatGPT.
Strength Training: Drives Muscle Growth
There’s no such thing as a “toning” workout. Fat loss comes primarily from nutrition, not exercise—and you can’t spot-reduce fat. Exercise builds muscle, but only if it’s done with enough mechanical tension and intensity.
Here’s what the research shows:
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Intensity: Train to failure or within 1-3 reps of failure in fewer than 30 reps.
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Frequency: Train each muscle group about twice per week on nonconsecutive days.
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Volume: Aim for at least four sets per muscle group per week (we typically program 4–8 in our Evlo Fitness classes).
Remember: the “burn” you feel during high-rep workouts isn’t what builds muscle. Muscle growth happens from mechanical tension, not just fatigue. That’s why classic “toning” workouts rarely deliver the promise; they’re too light to drive hypertrophy.
Cardio And Activity: Supports Energy Expenditure
Cardio and daily movement are still important, but probably not for the reasons you think.
Although debated in the literature, calories burned from exercise may not be fully additive, especially when in a calorie deficit for recomp. Doing more cardio doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll burn more fat. And, because we want to keep you fresh and not overworked for your strength workouts, I’d say don’t overdo it on the cardio. Stay active to keep your energy expenditure high (around 150 minutes of light-moderate intensity cardio per week is what I recommend), but don’t attempt to “burn off” food, because it likely doesn’t work like that anyway and can backfire by negatively influencing your recovery.
That doesn’t mean you should limit activity, since there are plenty of other reasons to do cardio, particularly for your heart. Just don’t rely on cardio alone for fat loss. The biggest driver of body composition change still comes from strength training and nutrition, not from piling on extra miles or minutes.
Recovery: Allows Muscle Growth And Keeps You Consistent
Muscle isn’t built during your workouts, it’s built after them. Recovery allows your muscles to heal, adapt, and grow stronger.
I recommend taking about two days off from lifting each week. Rest days prevent overuse, reduce mental burnout, and help you stay consistent. Mentally reframe your recovery days as productive days in your muscle building journey.
The Biggest Mistake I See That Slows Progress Down
Not training close enough to failure. Why? It means that you’re not adequately working your muscles—which means you’re not going to get any growth.
Not training close enough to failure happens for several reasons:
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Doing a predetermined amount of reps—like following a plan that tells you to do 3 sets of 10—but you’re still not feeling challenged by the 10th rep. In this case, you either want to increase the weight so that you feel sufficiently challenged by the 10th rep or keep cranking out more.
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Stopping because of the discomfort of the burn, which is from a buildup of ions, but not necessarily due to mechanical failure.
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Stopping because of general fatigue and/or boredom instead of true mechanical failure.
How you know you’re close to true mechanical failure, not just fatigue:
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Rep velocity significantly slows (your final rep should be significantly slower than your first).
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Your heart rate spikes in the last couple of reps.
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You do what I call the “Rest Test”: break for 5 seconds after your final rep. If you could do 3 or more reps, you weren’t close enough to failure. Next time, either add reps or increase the weight.
Failure vs. close to failure: Training to failure means that you cannot do another rep without help. Training close to failure (which is all you need to do) would look like the signs above, meaning you’re 1-3 reps away from failure.
Why Body Recomposition Matters
I recommend body recomposition as a goal for almost everyone. On the surface, it might sound aesthetic or like another weight loss strategy, but it’s much more than that. When you build muscle, you’re not just changing how you look, you’re improving your metabolic health, bone density, longevity, and even your mental health.
And, for the record: body recomposition can happen even without weight loss. When muscle increases and fat decreases, your body composition improves, even if the number on the scale doesn’t change.
Pure weight loss actually often causes muscle loss along with fat. That’s because calorie deficits drive weight loss, but when calories drop too low, you end up losing both fat and muscle.
Recomposition takes time, precision, and experimentation. You’ll need to find the right calorie level (which may take some experimenting), balance your training, and stay consistent long enough to see results. But if you commit to this process over the course of a year, you’ll not only improve your body composition, but also build skills and awareness you can use for the rest of your life.
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