Chasing Clarity: Health & Fitness Podcast

Body recomposition is one of the most contested concepts in physique development — and one of the most misunderstood.

The traditional dogma says you have to pick a lane. You’re either bulking or you’re cutting. You can’t gain muscle in a deficit. And once you’re past the beginner stage, recomp isn’t on the table.

But the research over the past several years has made it increasingly clear that this framing is an oversimplification of how energy balance actually translates to body composition. And there are specific levers that, when pulled correctly together, can drive recomp outcomes in trained individuals who’ve spent years thinking it wasn’t possible for them.

On this week’s episode of the CHASING CLARITY HEALTH & FITNESS PODCAST, I’m following up on my recent conversation with Dr. Eric Helms with a solo deep-dive into the two topics we didn’t get to cover — the most recent body recomp research published this year, and the three primary levers I pull with my clients to actually drive recomp outcomes in the real world.

This episode is for:
Trained lifters who’ve been told recomp is no longer on the table
Coaches who want a clear framework for programming recomp phases
Anyone stuck between cutting and bulking and ready to try a different approach
Listeners who heard the Helms episode and want the practical playbook

HERE’S WHAT WE COVER:
A FOUNDATIONAL RECAP OF WHAT BODY RECOMP IS & THE 3 FORMS IT CAN TAKE
A DEEP DIVE INTO THE LATEST RECOMP STUDY BY VARGAS-MOLINA ET AL. 2025
LEVER 1: DEFICIT SIZE & WHY SMALLER DEFICITS BEAT AGGRESSIVE ONES FOR RECOMP
LEVER 2: PROTEIN INTAKE & THE TIERED APPROACH I USE BASED ON BODY FAT LEVEL
LEVER 3: TRAINING DOSE & THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKING OUT VS. TRAINING
WHY MOST LIFTERS HAVE NEVER TRULY TRAINED CLOSE ENOUGH TO FAILURE TO DRIVE RECOMP
HOW TO PULL ALL THREE LEVERS IN ALIGNMENT TO MAKE RECOMP HAPPEN

This is the practical follow-up to the Helms conversation — the actionable playbook for anyone who wants to take their recomp efforts seriously.

If you’ve been spinning your wheels between cutting and bulking without making the progress you want, this episode will give you the clarity you’ve been missing.

Body recomposition — the process of building muscle and losing fat simultaneously — is one of the most contested concepts in the entire fitness industry.

The traditional dogma says you have to pick a lane. You’re either bulking or you’re cutting. You can’t gain muscle in a deficit. And once you’re past the beginner stage, recomp isn’t on the table.

But that framing is built on an oversimplification of how energy balance actually translates to body composition. And the research over the last several years has made that increasingly clear.

On this week’s episode of the CHASING CLARITY HEALTH & FITNESS PODCAST, I sat down with Dr. Eric Helms — competitive natural pro bodybuilder, founder of the MASS Research Review, co-author of the Muscle and Strength Pyramids, and one of the most respected researchers in the evidence-based community — to break down the science, the physiology, and the real-world coaching application of body recomposition.

This episode is for:
Trained lifters who’ve been told recomp is no longer on the table
Female clients who’ve been spinning their wheels with cardio and over-restriction
Coaches who want to understand the research backing the recomp conversation
Anyone tired of toggling between bulking and cutting without making real progress

HERE’S WHAT WE COVER:
THE THREE FORMS OF BODY RECOMPOSITION & WHY MOST PEOPLE DEFINE IT TOO NARROWLY
WHY THE “YOU MUST BE IN A SURPLUS TO GROW MUSCLE” DOGMA IS AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION
FAT LOSS AS AN ENERGY-DEPENDENT PROCESS VS. MUSCLE GAIN AS A SIGNALING-DEPENDENT PROCESS
WHY TRAINED LIFTERS CAN STILL RECOMP 
️ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRAINING AGE AND TRAINING ADVANCEMENT
HOW PRE-SHOW BODYBUILDERS EATING UP INTO A SHOW CAN PRODUCE DRAMATIC RECOMP OUTCOMES
WHY WOMEN MAY ACTUALLY HAVE A PHYSIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE OVER MEN WHEN IT COMES TO RECOMPOSITION
WHAT ENHANCED ATHLETES TELL US ABOUT THE NATURAL LIFTER’S PHYSIOLOGICAL CEILING
THE MINDSET PIECE THAT DETERMINES WHETHER EVERY OTHER VARIABLE ACTUALLY WORKS

This is one of the most thorough conversations on body recomposition we’ve done on the show  bridging cutting-edge research with real-world coaching application.

If you’ve been stuck spinning your wheels, this episode will bring the clarity you’ve been missing.

WHERE TO CONNECT WITH ME:

Follow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/

For Info on Brandon’s Coaching Services: https://form.jotform.com/bdacruzfitness/coachinginquiry

Email: Bdacruzfitness@gmail.com

My Reading Recommendations:

THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMIDS
https://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/25469?referrer=1l54og96lf1ccw

Most dieters think more cardio equals more fat loss.

And most of them have spent years stacking HIIT classes, bootcamps and spin sessions on top of their training, assuming the intensity of those workouts is what drives the result. 

But the data tells a different story. The variable doing the most work for your daily energy expenditure isn’t your formal cardio sessions. It’s your non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT — the daily movement you do outside of structured training.

In parts one and two of this Fat Loss Series, I broke down the nutrition strategy that creates the deficit and the training strategy that preserves your muscle. In this episode, we shift into the third lever of the fat loss process, your energy output. 

We cover where cardio actually fits into a fat loss phase, why HIIT isn’t the superior fat loss tool most people think it is, why NEAT and daily movement are the most powerful and most sustainable energy expenditure levers you have, and why your step count is one of the most important numbers you should be paying attention to if you want to lose fat and keep it off.
Because the dieters who actually succeed long-term aren’t the ones doing the most cardio. They’re the ones who built daily movement into their lifestyles and used cardio strategically rather than as their primary tool.

HERE’S WHAT WE COVER:

WHY ENERGY BALANCE HAS TWO SIDES AND WHY MOST DIETERS ONLY FOCUS ON ONE
THE HIGH ENERGY FLUX MODEL AND WHY MOVING MORE LETS YOU EAT MORE DURING A CUT
WHAT METABOLIC ADAPTATION ACTUALLY IS AND WHERE THE 500 CALORIE DROP COMES FROM
WHY 85-90% OF METABOLIC ADAPTATION DURING A DIET COMES FROM REDUCTIONS IN NEAT
THE 2,000 CALORIE NEAT VARIABILITY BETWEEN PEOPLE OF THE SAME BODY WEIGHT
WHY BMR ONLY VARIES BY 5-9% BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS BUT NEAT VARIES BY 2,000 CALORIES
THE ROLE OF CARDIO IN A FAT LOSS PHASE AND WHY MOST DIETERS GET IT WRONG
WHY YOUR TRAINING COMES FIRST, STEPS AND NEAT COME SECOND, AND CARDIO COMES THIRD
THE RESEARCH ON HIIT VS STEADY STATE CARDIO FOR FAT LOSS OUTCOMES
WHY HIIT BURNS FEWER TOTAL CALORIES THAN STEADY STATE DESPITE FEELING HARDER
WHY STEADY STATE AND LISS ARE THE SMARTER MODALITIES FOR MOST DIETERS
THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF METABOLISM AND WHY NEAT IS THE LARGEST LEVER YOU CAN CONTROL
WHY STEP TRACKING IS NON-NEGOTIABLE DURING A FAT LOSS PHASE
THE RESEARCH ON STEP COUNT THRESHOLDS FOR EXERCISE TO ACTUALLY BE METABOLICALLY BENEFICIAL
THE STEP COUNT DATA ON SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS MAINTAINERS
HABIT STACKING TACTICS FOR BUILDING MOVEMENT INTO YOUR EXISTING ROUTINE
WHY POST-MEAL WALKS REDUCE POST-MEAL BLOOD GLUCOSE BY OVER 50%

WHERE TO CONNECT WITH ME:

Follow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/

For Info on Brandon’s Coaching Services: https://form.jotform.com/bdacruzfitness/coachinginquiry

Email: Bdacruzfitness@gmail.com

My Reading Recommendations:

THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMIDS
https://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/25469?referrer=1l54og96lf1ccw

Body recomposition — the process of building muscle and losing fat at the same time — is one of the most contested and most misunderstood concepts in physique development.

The conventional view is that recomp is reserved for two specific groups — beginners and individuals with excess body fat. And while those populations do see the most dramatic outcomes, that framing leaves out several other groups who can absolutely still recomp under the right conditions.

On this week’s episode of the CHASING CLARITY HEALTH & FITNESS PODCAST, I’m joined by Jeff Hoehn for Episode 5 of our monthly collaboration where we break down topics that bridge evidence-based research with real-world coaching application.

In this conversation, we go deep on what body recomposition actually is, the three different forms it can take, and the five populations of individuals who can realistically expect to recomp when their training and nutrition are properly structured.

HERE’S WHAT WE COVER:
WHAT BODY RECOMPOSITION REALLY MEANS & WHY THE SCALE OFTEN MISLEADS YOU 
THE 3 FORMS OF BODY RECOMP & THE PHASES WHERE EACH ONE SHOWS UP 
FAT LOSS FOCUSED RECOMP, BUILDING FOCUSED RECOMP & SIMULTANEOUS FAT LOSS WITH MUSCLE GAIN 
WHY NEWBIES & INDIVIDUALS WITH EXCESS BODY FAT SEE THE MOST DRAMATIC RECOMP OUTCOMES 
THE MUSCLE MEMORY ADVANTAGE FOR DETRAINED INDIVIDUALS RETURNING TO TRAINING
WHY TRAINED LIFTERS CAN STILL RECOMP & THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRAINING AGE & TRAINING ADVANCEMENT 
THE LATEST RESEARCH FROM VARGAS-MOLINA ET AL. ON RECOMP IN TRAINED INDIVIDUALS 
WHAT ENHANCED ATHLETES TELL US ABOUT THE NATURAL LIFTER’S PHYSIOLOGICAL CEILING

If you’ve been spinning your wheels between cutting and bulking, or if you’ve ever wondered whether recomp is even possible for you — this episode will give you the clarity you’ve been missing.

WHERE TO CONNECT WITH ME:

Follow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/

For Info on Brandon’s Coaching Services: https://form.jotform.com/bdacruzfitness/coachinginquiry

Email: Bdacruzfitness@gmail.com

My Reading Recommendations:
THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMIDS https://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/25469?referrer=1l54og96lf1ccw

How you train during a Fat Loss Phase determines whether you finish the diet leaner and more defined or just smaller and softer. But the conversation around how to actually train during a deficit has become one of the most polarized debates in the evidence-based fitness space.

One camp says you should proactively reduce training volume the moment you enter a deficit because recovery is compromised and you need to focus on the minimum stimulus required to maintain muscle. 

Another camp says you should increase training volume to offset the catabolic environment of a deficit and use training as an additional energy expenditure tool. 

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Eric Helms to break this debate down piece by piece. We interrogate the research each camp leans on, talk about where it holds up and where it falls apart when applied to intermediate to advanced trainees. 

HERE’S WHAT WE COVER:
THE TWO CAMPS DOMINATING THE TRAINING IN A DEFICIT CONVERSATION
WHY THE TRAIN LESS POSITION HAS LEGITIMATE PHYSIOLOGY BEHIND IT BUT GETS MISAPPLIED
THE BICKEL 2011 PAPER AND WHY IT GETS PULLED INTO THIS DEBATE INCORRECTLY
WHY MAINTENANCE TRAINING IN ENERGY BALANCE IS NOT THE SAME AS MAINTENANCE TRAINING IN A DEFICIT
THE TRAIN MORE CAMP’S CASE AND WHERE THE LOGIC BREAKS DOWN
THE ROTH 2022 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY SHOWS
WHY THE THRESHOLD TO MAINTAIN MUSCLE MAY GO UP AS WE BECOME MORE ADVANCED 
HOW ERIC’S 2023 AND 2025 PREPS SHAPED HIS THINKING ON TRAINING DURING CONTEST PREP
THE COACHING FRAMEWORK FOR ADJUSTING TRAINING REACTIVELY RATHER THAN PROACTIVELY DURING A CUT

If you’ve ever cut volume the moment you entered a deficit because you assumed your body couldn’t handle the load, if you’ve ever cranked up training volume in a cut to try to drive more output, or if you’ve finished a Fat Loss Phase feeling smaller but not leaner and wondered what your training should have actually looked like, this episode will give you the framework to approach your next cut with clarity rather than guesswork.

WHERE TO CONNECT WITH ME:

Follow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/

For Info on Brandon’s Coaching Services: https://form.jotform.com/bdacruzfitness/coachinginquiry

Email: Bdacruzfitness@gmail.com

My Reading Recommendations:

THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMIDS
https://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/25469?referrer=1l54og96lf1ccw