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Muscle mass is the amount of muscle in your body, including skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscles. It is a part of your lean body mass, which also includes skin, bone, water, and organ mass. Muscle mass is important for your overall health and physical abilities, and it can help improve bone density and reduce the risk of age-related muscle loss. When building muscle, it is important to train your muscles evenly to avoid muscle imbalances and injuries. While building muscle can lead to weight gain, it also makes you appear firmer and more toned. Additionally, maintaining higher muscle mass may have psychological and cognitive benefits. To increase muscle mass, strength training and weight-bearing exercises are recommended, along with a high-protein diet.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Muscle mass definition | Part of lean body mass; specifically refers to the weight and size of smooth muscle tissue in the body, including skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles |
| Lean body mass definition | Difference between total body weight and body fat weight; includes muscle mass, skin, bone, water, and organ mass |
| Importance of muscle mass | Plays a key role in mobility, balance, and strength; maintaining muscle mass becomes more important with age |
| Calculating muscle mass | Difficult to calculate without expensive technology; imaging tests considered the "gold standard"; other methods include D-creatinine dilution and MRI |
| Increasing muscle mass | Resistance or strength training; high protein intake |
| Lean body mass calculator | Uses weight, height, age, and gender to estimate lean body mass and basal metabolic rate |
| Healthy lean body mass range | Between 68-90% of body weight; minimum healthy range for women is 68% and 75% for men |
| Body fat percentage | Useful indicator of overall body composition; can be calculated using BMI or body fat calculator |
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What You'll Learn
Muscle mass and lean body mass
Lean body mass (LBM) is a part of your body composition and is defined as the difference between total body weight and body fat weight. It includes the combined mass of bones, muscles, water, ligaments, tendons, and internal organs. While muscle mass is a component of lean body mass, they are not the same thing. For instance, an increase in lean body mass does not always indicate an increase in muscle mass, as body water makes up a significant portion of lean body mass and can fluctuate.
It is important to understand the distinction between muscle mass and body fat percentage when managing your weight and fitness. Building muscle mass does not always result in weight loss, as muscle tissue is denser than fat. This means that a pound of muscle will appear leaner and more toned than a pound of fat. Therefore, gaining muscle mass can lead to a firmer appearance, even if your weight remains the same or increases.
Additionally, maintaining higher muscle mass may provide psychological and cognitive benefits, enhance your physical abilities, and reduce your risk of injury, chronic disease, and early death. Strength training, also known as resistance or weight training, is an effective way to build muscle mass. A balanced diet, adequate protein intake, and proper nutrition are also key components of gaining and maintaining muscle mass.
To accurately measure muscle mass and lean body mass, imaging tests are considered the "gold standard." However, these methods can be expensive and may not always be accessible. There are also scales and calculators available for home use that can provide an estimate of your muscle mass and body composition.
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Calculating muscle mass
Muscle mass is difficult to measure on its own because it depends on various factors, including height, diet, ethnicity, and fitness level. There are currently no recommended guidelines on how much muscle mass a person should have.
Lean body mass (LBM) is a part of body composition that is defined as the difference between total body weight and body fat weight. This means that it counts the mass of all organs except body fat, including bones, muscles, blood, skin, and everything else. While the percentage of LBM is usually not computed, it on average ranges between 60-90% of total body weight. Generally, men have a higher proportion of LBM than women.
To calculate your muscle mass, it is recommended to speak with a healthcare professional. They could recommend different measurement tools that fit your budget. Healthcare professionals usually measure body composition to determine how much muscle mass you have. Body composition measures the proportion of muscle, fat, bone, and water in your body. Several measurement tools, formulas, scales, and calculators can be used to assess your body composition at home, in a gym, or in a clinical setting. These tools are less accurate than medical assessments, but they could give you an idea of how much skeletal mass you have compared to fat, water, and bone mass.
According to a 2020 review, imaging tests are considered the “gold standard” for measuring muscle mass. However, it’s important to note that different measuring tools can provide varying results when assessing the same person. In a 2023 study that compared the differences between D-creatinine dilution and MRI, researchers found that D-creatinine dilution results varied from 0.62 kilograms (kg) lower to 13.47 kg higher than MRI.
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Benefits of higher muscle mass
Muscle mass refers to the weight and size of the soft muscle tissue in the body, including skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles. Skeletal muscles are the muscles that people can voluntarily control, and they help control physical movement and posture. They also play a key role in mobility, balance, and strength.
Maintaining a healthy percentage of muscle mass has several benefits, and healthcare professionals generally recommend keeping a higher muscle mass. Here are some advantages of having a higher muscle mass:
- Enhances functional fitness: Muscles play a crucial role in performing daily activities at home, work, and leisure. Higher muscular fitness levels allow individuals to undertake tasks without undue fatigue or risk of injury.
- Facilitates weight control: Lean muscle mass helps determine an individual's resting metabolic rate, which significantly impacts the number of calories burned. Therefore, having more muscle mass makes it easier to maintain a desirable weight range.
- Promotes bone health: Strength training not only increases muscle strength but also enhances bone density, thus contributing to overall bone health.
- Reduces injury risk: A higher level of muscular fitness can prevent various injuries that may occur during physical activity. Strength training acts as a form of insurance, reducing the likelihood of sustaining both muscular and skeletal injuries.
- Slows the aging process: Strength training is particularly beneficial for older adults, as it improves their ability to perform daily tasks associated with independent living. This helps senior citizens maintain their independence and dignity. Additionally, age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia, can be delayed by focusing on muscle mass maintenance.
- Enhances appearance and self-esteem: Achieving a "fit, healthy" look is often associated with improved muscle tone, which can be developed through strength training. Additionally, strength training has been found to positively affect psychological well-being, reducing anxiety and depression while boosting self-esteem.
- Improves sports performance: Higher muscular fitness levels enhance an individual's ability to perform various skills and sustain their performance over an extended period.
- Benefits metabolic health: Higher muscle mass may be crucial in regulating glucose levels and reducing the risk of diabetes. According to research, very low muscle mass is a risk factor for insulin resistance, while higher muscle mass is associated with better insulin sensitivity.
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Building muscle mass
Muscle mass is the weight and size of the smooth muscle tissue in your body. It includes skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles. Skeletal muscle helps control physical movement and posture and is the only type of muscle that a person can voluntarily control.
There are no specific guidelines for what a healthy muscle mass percentage should be. However, it is important to maintain higher muscle mass to derive its psychological and cognitive benefits.
Strength training
Strength training, also known as resistance or weight training, is one of the most effective ways to build muscle mass. This type of exercise strengthens your muscles by forcing them to work against resistance. This resistance places strain on the muscles, forming tiny tears in the muscle fibres. The body then heals these tears and adapts to strengthen the muscles. With repetition, this process leads to an increase in muscle mass. It is important to gradually increase the amount of resistance over time to keep the muscles adapting. Free weights, like dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells, are often better for muscle building than machines. However, machines can be ideal if you have balancing issues or other limitations that make it safer to sit during weight training.
Diet
Good nutrition is another key component of building muscle mass. It may be helpful to follow a diet with a high protein intake. Eat small servings of protein foods before and after each resistance training session to help promote muscle growth.
Tempo
When lifting weights, do so at a seven-second tempo. That means three seconds to lift the weight, a one-second pause, and three seconds to lower it. You also want to use enough weight so that the last few reps are a challenge. If you can't lift the weight at least eight times, use a lighter weight. When you can comfortably perform eight reps without completely tiring the muscle, increase the weight.
Rest
Always allow at least 48 hours between sessions for muscle recovery. Some people prefer to break their workouts into two parts: upper body and lower body.
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Muscle mass and body fat percentage
Body composition is important for overall health and physical abilities. Muscle mass is "metabolically active", meaning it burns calories, even at rest. A higher level of muscle mass can protect against developing diabetes and can help to improve bone density. As people age, they naturally lose muscle mass, so building muscle through strength training is important to maintain physical health.
Body fat is also necessary for a healthy body, as it stores energy. However, a higher fat-to-muscle mass ratio is associated with an increased risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Generally, a body fat percentage of 14-24% for men and 21-31% for women is considered healthy. Women tend to have higher body fat percentages due to reproductive needs and differing physiological makeups.
There are various ways to measure body composition, including imaging tests such as MRIs, DEXA scans, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Bioelectrical impedance sends a small electrical current through the body to measure the difference in electrical conductivity between muscle and fat tissue. While BIA can be done at home with a scale or handheld device, imaging tests are considered the "gold standard" for measuring muscle mass.
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Frequently asked questions
Muscle weight refers to the weight of the body's muscle tissue, including smooth and skeletal muscles. It does not include bone, skin, or organ mass, which are part of lean body mass.
Calculating your exact muscle weight is difficult without expensive technology. However, you can calculate your lean body mass, which is your total body weight minus your body fat weight. Then, you can estimate that around 44% of this number is your pure muscle weight if you are male, and around 34% if you are female.
There are no specific guidelines for what a healthy or normal muscle mass percentage should be. However, maintaining a higher muscle mass may have psychological and cognitive benefits.
