How Do You Put On Lean Muscle Mass?

Lean muscle mass refers to the composition of your body that is made up of muscle and is related to your bodyweight without fat.

Most people never know their exact lean muscle mass because determining it takes complicated tests that need to be performed in a hospital.

The basic idea is that more lean muscle mass – more muscle and less fat – is a good thing.

How Does Lean Muscle Affect Metabolism?

There are a lot of reasons that lean muscle mass is healthy, but one of the biggest reasons has to do with the links between lean muscle mass and metabolism. Lean muscle is metabolically active, meaning that it passively burns energy.

Burning energy in the form of calories or carbs is the goal of most dieters, as burning more energy than the body takes in through food is the only natural way to lose weight.

Does Lean Muscle Really Make a Difference in Metabolism?

According to a page maintained by the University of New Mexico, one pound of muscle is expected to burn four times the amount of energy that the same volume of fat requires. The writers of the page do point out that a pound of muscle only burns about 7 calories per day – that’s about the calorie content of 2 large grapes.

They do allow that that can add up deceptively quickly, especially considering the fact that the average person’s bodyweight is around 40% muscle, but they also emphasize that many popular health sources may be giving muscles a little too much credit when it comes to exactly how metabolically active they are.

Some people even began to question whether muscles were this metabolically active because the numbers used by publications like that above come from a theoretical equation published in the early ’90s.

A much more recent study published in the journal Adipocyte did find that muscle is highly metabolically active, though the study was conducted on rats. This may leave some skeptical, but most scientists agree that lean muscle is metabolically active and that having enough of it can significantly aid in maintaining a healthy weight.

Building Muscle to Burn Energy

Taking advantage of this system is more complex than it sounds, however. The National Council on Strength and Fitness points out that the body needs increased energy intake to build muscle in the first place. That means that to build muscle to burn additional energy, you need to take in additional energy which puts you right back where you started.

If you have a workout routine that focuses both on muscle building and on cardio, you can build muscle and burn calories at the same time, though you should still make sure that you’re getting enough calories to fuel your exercising body.

To solve this problem, the NCSF recommends alternating periods of muscle-building exercise and increased calorie consumption with periods of rest and reduced calorie consumption. This way the muscle gets the energy that it needs to grow during exercise and it can contribute to burning extra energy while you’re not working.

How To Get the Most Out of Your Lean Muscle

High-Intensity Interval Training (HITT) involves brief periods of intense physical activity, followed by long periods of rest and recovery. While this exercise method is being promoted by groups like The American College of Sports Medicine for its ability to increase muscle mass and cardiovascular health.

It also seems to fit the criteria set out by the NCSF for an exercise program that would both allow muscle growth and allow for muscles to consume excess calories, thus potentially solving one of the greatest issues in the debate on lean muscle and metabolism.

9 Strength Training Myths For Women

A strength training regimen will help balance your hormones, which also helps you build lean muscle mass. Lifting weights also increases the number of calories you burn every hour of every day. Women don’t truly get bulky from lifting weights. That’s a myth. It will not happen. To get the real truth, download my free report 9 Strength Training Myths For Women.