Lean muscle mass, also known as skeletal muscle mass, refers to the weight of muscle in the body without fat or bone tissue. Having more lean muscle is beneficial as it plays vital roles in movement, metabolism, and overall health.
Some key aspects of lean muscle mass include:
Muscle fiber types - Skeletal muscles contain different types of fibers that affect strength and endurance. There are slow-twitch fibers for endurance and fast-twitch fibers for power.
Muscle growth - We can grow our muscles through exercise and nutrition, especially strength training and getting enough protein. This causes muscle fibers to enlarge and strengthen over time.
Metabolism - Lean muscle is metabolically active, burning calories to maintain itself. The more lean muscle we have, the higher our resting metabolism is, allowing us to stay healthy.
Hormones - Hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1 play crucial roles in building and maintaining lean muscle. As we age, declining hormone levels contribute to loss of muscle mass. This is where clinics like Harmony Hormone Clinic can help analyze your hormone levels and create customized treatment plans to support lean muscle goals.
Measurements - Common ways to estimate lean muscle mass are body fat percentage analysis, under-water weighing, DEXA scans, and taking measurements of parts of the body with tape measures. These approaches help determine the ratio of muscle to fat.
Loss of lean mass - As we get older, we tend to lose lean muscle especially without exercise or proper protein intake. Other causes can be extended bed rest or diseases impacting hormone levels or nutrient absorption. Protecting lean mass should be a lifelong goal.
In summary, having more lean muscle mass provides many health and functional benefits. Understanding the physiology of muscle growth and maintenance empowers us to achieve fitness objectives, feel energetic, keep our metabolisms humming, and maintain an independent lifestyle into our senior years. Checking in with health professionals like the caring doctors at Harmony Hormone Clinic allows us to track muscle metrics and intervene early when needed. Here's to staying strong and building lean muscle!