What Is Lean Mass and How Will It Help Me?

Today Longevity Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Bella Vista, Randwick, Lindfield and Balmain look at what lean mass does to your metabolism.

What actually is lean mass and why is it important?

Lean mass is sometimes referred to as ‘fat free mass’ which basically means the total weight of your body, minus the body fat. Lean mass forms one part of your total body composition, and it is a vital part in helping someone’s metabolism and to lose weight. Metabolism is basically the process of which your body converts food into energy for daily functioning, which happens through chemical processes.

It makes sense to think that when you are exercising your body will need energy and be burning calories to sustain the activity. The harder and more strenuous the exercise the more calories or energy is needed to perform the task, which helps to lose weight. However it is not only during exercise that your body is burning energy, it also occurs at rest. So if we look at your resting metabolism aka what energy your body is burning while not doing any activity, it can be largely influenced by your lean mass. Lean mass or muscle mass is something that we can have an impact on through an appropriate exercise program, particularly by performing regular resistance training. This type of training such as lifting weights, using machines or doing bodyweight exercises helps to increase the amount of lean mass, which if done correctly with appropriate loading and progressions will aid metabolism and weight loss. The reasoning behind this is that the more lean mass a person has, the more energy or fuel their body requires to sustain them, as lean mass is an ‘active’ tissue. Compared to body fat which is more of a ‘passive’ tissue, lean mass needs this energy source even when at rest.

So if we look at your resting metabolism aka what energy your body is burning while not doing any activity, it can be largely influenced by your lean mass.

So what can you do to boost your lean mass?

As mentioned before it’s vitally important to have an appropriate resistance program designed for you to focus on increasing lean mass. Any exercise that helps to build muscular strength is beneficial, as well as focusing on building large muscle groups. Resistance training has many benefits as we know – one of them boosting your metabolism!

Contact Longevity Personal Training and Exercise Physiology Edgecliff, Lindfield, Marrickville, Randwick, Drummoyne, Balmain, Bella Vista on 1300 964 002 to enquire today about what type of resistance exercises are best suited to your needs.

Written by Susannah Mah-Chut