Who is body recomposition suitable for?

It works best for beginners, returners from a layoff, those with higher body-fat reserves, and lifters making technique or sleep improvements. Lean, well-trained athletes usually need to choose between bulking or cutting rather than recomping.

Why cycle calories instead of using one daily number?

Higher calories on training days improve recovery, performance, and the anabolic environment, while lower-calorie rest days create the small overall deficit needed for fat loss. The weekly average is what drives net body-composition change.

Why 2.2 g/kg of lean mass for protein?

Higher protein during a recomp protects lean tissue while in a small deficit. 2.2 g/kg LBM is at the upper end of evidence-based recommendations and is well tolerated by healthy adults.

How fast is 0.5% body-fat per week realistic?

It is a planning rate, not a guarantee. Beginners and those with more fat to lose may go faster; lean lifters may go slower or plateau. Re-measure every 4–6 weeks and adjust the plan if progress stalls.

Does this tool save my data?

No. Body-fat %, weight, and TDEE stay in your browser and are cleared when you close the tab.

Is the body recomposition calculator free?

Yes — completely free, no signup or limits.

Body Recomposition Calculator

Calculate calorie-cycled training and rest day targets for a recomp.

Written by Golam Rabbani, Founder & Lead Engineer — Last updated 2026-05-01

This interactive tool requires JavaScript. Read the formula and worked example below; you can compute the result by hand.

How to use this body recomposition calculator

Enter your TDEE (use a TDEE calculator first if needed).
Toggle kg/lbs and enter your current bodyweight.
Enter your current body-fat % and your goal body-fat %.
Enter how many days a week you train (0–7).
Press Calculate to see training-day calories, rest-day calories, weekly average, protein target, and estimated weeks to the goal BF%.

About this body recomposition calculator

The body recomposition calculator plans a calorie-cycling approach where training-day calories sit at TDEE × 1.10 to fuel performance and growth, and rest-day calories drop to TDEE × 0.85 to create a small overall deficit. The weekly average is calculated across the chosen number of training and rest days. Protein is set at 2.2 g/kg of lean body mass (computed from your current weight and BF%) to maximise muscle retention. Time-to-goal assumes a recomp loses roughly 0.5 percentage points of body-fat per week.

The premise that trained or moderately trained individuals can simultaneously add muscle and lose fat is reviewed in Barakat C, Pearson J, Escalante G, Campbell B, De Souza EO. "Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?" Strength Cond J. 2020;42(5):7-21. This is an estimate for informational purposes and is not a substitute for advice from a registered dietitian or qualified clinician.

For example, an 80 kg lifter at 22% body-fat with a TDEE of 2,500 kcal/day, training 4 days a week, aiming for 15% BF: lean body mass = 80 × (1 − 0.22) = 62.4 kg; protein = 62.4 × 2.2 ≈ 137 g/day; training-day kcal = 2,750; rest-day kcal = 2,125; weekly average = (2,750 × 4 + 2,125 × 3) / 7 ≈ 2,482 kcal/day; weeks to goal = (22 − 15) / 0.5 = 14 weeks. The tool is useful for setting up a cycle where you keep training quality high while still trending body-fat down.

FAQ

Who is body recomposition suitable for?: It works best for beginners, returners from a layoff, those with higher body-fat reserves, and lifters making technique or sleep improvements. Lean, well-trained athletes usually need to choose between bulking or cutting rather than recomping.
Why cycle calories instead of using one daily number?: Higher calories on training days improve recovery, performance, and the anabolic environment, while lower-calorie rest days create the small overall deficit needed for fat loss. The weekly average is what drives net body-composition change.
Why 2.2 g/kg of lean mass for protein?: Higher protein during a recomp protects lean tissue while in a small deficit. 2.2 g/kg LBM is at the upper end of evidence-based recommendations and is well tolerated by healthy adults.
How fast is 0.5% body-fat per week realistic?: It is a planning rate, not a guarantee. Beginners and those with more fat to lose may go faster; lean lifters may go slower or plateau. Re-measure every 4–6 weeks and adjust the plan if progress stalls.
Does this tool save my data?: No. Body-fat %, weight, and TDEE stay in your browser and are cleared when you close the tab.
Is the body recomposition calculator free?: Yes — completely free, no signup or limits.