What is lean muscle mass?
Lean muscle mass is an important concept in fitness, health, and body composition. In simple terms, lean muscle refers to the amount of muscle tissue on your body without accompanying fat.
Some key things to know:
- Lean muscle helps determine your metabolism and calorie-burning potential. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.
- It also plays a key role in strength, mobility, and physical performance. People with more lean muscle can generally lift more, move better, and perform physical tasks more easily.
- Men naturally tend to have more lean muscle than women due to differences in hormones like testosterone. But any person can build lean muscle through proper exercise and nutrition.
- As we age, we naturally tend to lose lean muscle mass. Staying physically active and getting enough protein helps counteract this.
How to Build and Maintain Lean Muscle
- Exercise, especially strength training, is vital for building and preserving lean muscle. Working with weights, resistance bands, or your own bodyweight stresses your muscles so they grow back stronger.
- Getting enough protein - generally 0.5-1 gram per pound of body weight daily - also supports lean muscle growth. Good protein sources include meat, eggs, dairy, protein powder, etc.
- Getting adequate sleep and managing stress are also key as these influence hormone production and recovery from exercise.
By incorporating strength training, sufficient protein intake, hormonal health, rest, and stress management, you can build, maintain, and maximize your lean muscle mass at any age!