For body recomposition, set your macros in this order: eat at least 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight (about 0.7 g per lb), keep fat at roughly 15 to 30% of your calories, and give the rest to carbs, all at maintenance calories or a small deficit. That usually works out to something like 25 to 30% protein, 20 to 30% fat and 45 to 55% carbs, but the grams matter more than the percentages. Below you will find two worked examples, how to shift carbs between training and rest days, and how to tell whether it is working.
Body Recomposition Macros: The Targets
Body recomposition means losing fat and gaining or keeping muscle at the same time, so the scale may barely move while your waist shrinks and your lifts go up. Calories decide whether you lose or gain weight overall. Macros decide how much of that change comes from fat versus muscle.
Protein: at least 1.6 g per kg
Protein is the macro that matters most. A 2018 meta-analysis by Morton and colleagues of 49 trials with 1,863 people found that protein added to resistance training increased gains in fat-free mass, but intakes above about 1.6 g per kg per day added no further gains on average. Treat 1.6 g/kg (0.7 g per lb) as your floor, not your ceiling.
Go higher when you are in a deficit. In a 4-week trial by Longland and colleagues, 40 young men ate about 40% below their energy needs while doing hard resistance and interval training six days a week. The group eating 2.4 g/kg of protein gained 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) of lean mass and lost 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) of fat, while the 1.2 g/kg group gained only 0.1 kg of lean mass and lost 3.5 kg of fat. That was a short, aggressive setup, but it shows protein doing the heavy lifting for recomposition. A range of 1.6 to 2.4 g/kg (0.7 to 1.1 g per lb) covers most people.
Fat: 15 to 30% of calories
Fat supports hormones and makes meals satisfying, but you do not need much of it to cover those needs. A 2014 review of natural bodybuilding nutrition by Helms, Aragon and Fitschen recommends 15 to 30% of calories from fat during a diet, with 2.3 to 3.1 g of protein per kg of lean body mass and the remaining calories from carbohydrate. Start around 25% and adjust to taste.
Carbs: the rest of your calories
Once protein and fat are set, carbs fill whatever calories are left. They fuel your training, so they are the macro to move up or down when you change calories or shift intake toward training days.
Worked Examples: Two Readers, Real Numbers
These use plain arithmetic: protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9. The maintenance numbers are examples; find your own by tracking intake and weight for two weeks.
Reader 1: 160 lb (73 kg) beginner at maintenance
- Calories: maintenance of about 2,400 kcal. New lifters can recomp without a deficit.
- Protein: 1.6 g x 73 kg = 117 g, rounded to 120 g (480 kcal).
- Fat: 25% of 2,400 = 600 kcal, or about 67 g.
- Carbs: 2,400 minus 480 minus 600 = 1,320 kcal, or 330 g.
- Split: 20% protein, 25% fat, 55% carbs.
Reader 2: 190 lb (86 kg) experienced lifter in a small deficit
- Calories: maintenance of about 2,900 kcal, minus about 10% = 2,600 kcal.
- Protein: 2.2 g x 86 kg = 189 g, rounded to 190 g (760 kcal).
- Fat: 25% of 2,600 = 650 kcal, or about 72 g.
- Carbs: 2,600 minus 760 minus 650 = 1,190 kcal, or about 300 g.
- Split: 29% protein, 25% fat, 46% carbs.
Notice that the two splits are different even though both follow the same rules. That is the point of the next section. If counting is new to you, our guide to calorie counting walks through the basics of tracking.
Macro Percentages vs Grams per Body Weight
Searches for the best macro split, macro ratio or macro percentages for body recomp all assume there is one ratio that works for everyone. There is not, because a percentage moves with your calories. At 2,000 kcal, 30% protein is 150 g. At 3,200 kcal, the same 30% is 240 g. One of those is a little low for a 200 lb (91 kg) lifter and the other is more than most people need.
Grams per kg or lb of body weight stay tied to your body, which is what your muscles care about. Set protein in grams first, set fat as a share of calories, give the rest to carbs, and then look at the percentages as a result, not a rule. For most people recomposing, the result lands near 25 to 30% protein, 20 to 30% fat and 45 to 55% carbs.
Protein spread matters a little too: three to five meals with 25 to 40 g each makes the daily target easier to hit. If you want the detail on per-meal amounts, read our piece on the leucine threshold.
Training-Day vs Rest-Day Carbs
You can keep things simple and eat the same every day. If you want a little more fuel for training, keep protein and fat the same and move carbs toward training days, keeping the weekly average the same.
For Reader 2, training four days a week:
- Training days (4): 190 g protein, 72 g fat, 340 g carbs, about 2,760 kcal.
- Rest days (3): 190 g protein, 72 g fat, 240 g carbs, about 2,360 kcal.
- Weekly average: (4 x 340 + 3 x 240) / 7 = about 297 g carbs, the same as the flat 300 g plan.
Put most of the training-day carbs in the meals before and after your session. This is a convenience, not a requirement: if a flat plan is easier to follow, use it.
Who Can Expect to Recomp
Recomposition works best when your body has an easy reason to build muscle:
- Beginners in their first year of consistent lifting.
- People returning after a long break, who regain lost muscle quickly.
- People with higher body fat, who have plenty of stored energy to draw on.
Lean, experienced lifters can still recomp slowly, but they usually make faster progress with separate phases: a small surplus to build, then a cut. Our guides to building muscle in a surplus with minimal fat gain and cutting without losing muscle cover both sides.
How to Measure Recomp Progress
The scale alone will mislead you, because fat loss and muscle gain can cancel each other out. Track a few signals together:
- Weekly average weight: weigh daily, then compare 7-day averages instead of single days.
- Waist measurement: once a week, at the navel, same time of day.
- Photos: every 2 to 4 weeks, same lighting and poses.
- Strength: rising reps or load on your main lifts at the same body weight is a good sign you are adding muscle.
- DEXA scan (optional): every 3 to 4 months if you want a number for fat and lean mass. More often than that, normal day-to-day swings in water and food can drown out the real change.
If your waist is shrinking and your lifts are climbing while weight holds steady, the plan is working. If nothing moves for 4 weeks, trim about 100 to 200 kcal, mostly from carbs, and keep protein where it is. Protein targets and food ideas are covered in The Key Role of Protein.
Body Recomposition Macros FAQ
How many macros do I need for body recomposition?
Start with at least 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight (0.7 g per lb), and go up to about 2.2 to 2.4 g/kg (1 to 1.1 g per lb) if you are in a deficit. Set fat at 15 to 30% of calories and give the rest to carbs. For a 190 lb (86 kg) lifter at 2,600 kcal, that is roughly 190 g protein, 72 g fat and 300 g carbs.
How many calories do I need to eat for body recomposition?
Eat at maintenance or slightly below it, about 5 to 10% under. Beginners and people with more body fat can recomp at maintenance. If you want to lose fat faster while keeping muscle, aim to lose no more than about 0.5 to 1% of body weight per week, the rate recommended in the Helms review.
What does the 40/40/20 macro rule mean?
It means 40% of calories from carbs, 40% from protein and 20% from fat. At 2,600 kcal that is 260 g of protein, which is about 3 g per kg for an 86 kg (190 lb) person, more than most people need. It can work, but setting protein in grams per body weight first and filling the rest with carbs is usually easier to stick to.
Is a 50/30/20 macro split good?
Usually, yes. Read as 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat, it lands close to the ranges in this guide. At 2,600 kcal it gives 325 g carbs, 195 g protein and 58 g fat, which is almost exactly Reader 2's plan. Check that the protein grams reach at least 1.6 g/kg at your calories.