Q: Does muscle weigh more than fat?
Does muscle weigh more than fat? No, but it takes up less space… in other words, a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat, however a pound weighs a pound. Muscle can also have definition (or tone), but fat can’t.
Muscle also helps regulate blood sugar because, if worked hard, muscles both consume and store large amounts of blood sugar. Fat does not. In fact, if your body is asked to store too much fat it will put some in your liver, and that eventually dysregulates blood sugar because a liver with too much fat makes too much glucose (blood sugar), makes too much cholesterol, and more.
Q: How much muscle should I have in general (in my arms, legs, etc)?
The easiest way to give a specific answer is with an InBody scan. If you look at this example at the Segmental Lean Analysis, and at the second line under each segment (right arm, left arm, etc.) there will be a % value. These % values give the most cut and dry answers.
100% is the minimum amount of lean mass (muscle, bone, connective tissue, etc… everything other than fat) you need to be able to support your body weight. We want everything to be at 100% minimum, and we’d prefer more.
In this example the right arm is 130%, which is awesome. (Pity party tangent: I wish either of my arms were ever at 130%… where is my tiny violin when I need it…). The left arm is 125.4%, and everything is over 100%. So, these values are great!
You might be wondering about the Left to Right differences. The right arm is 4.6% above the left arm, and that’s within the normal limits. Everyone has a dominant arm and leg, so nobody is going to be perfectly symmetrical. For the upper body a difference of up to 6% is fine, and for the lower body a difference of up to 3% is fine. So your sides are good to go.
Q: How much body fat should I have?
If you look at the InBody scan, focus on the visceral fat number. The body fat level that gets your visceral fat to a 10 or less will be an excellent goal.
In this example body fat is at 24.2%, which I would expect would be great for her blood work, blood pressure, etc. Under 25% for a woman is lean, and 20% or less is very lean. (For comparison, men carry about 10% less body-fat than a comparably lean woman.) Most women start out between 45 and 52%. A reduction of 5% is usually enough to cause a meaningful drop in blood pressure, fasting glucose, etc; and a 10% reduction improves things even more.
Stay tuned for part 2!
Next week I will cover 2 more questions:
Q: Is it true that muscles appears differently on different body types?
Q: Will lifting heavy weights make my muscles too big?
Oh and you might enjoy this video, What Percent Body Fat Should I Be?
Josef Brandenburg, best selling author, is the co-owner and a coach at True 180 Personal Training, Charlotte’s most effective personal training studio for women since 2016. Gregory Clifton is True 180’s head coach since 2016. With decades of experience and multiple certifications, they both share their expertise with you. Please let us know what other questions you have in addition to Does muscle weigh more than fat?
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