For two or three times a week, you squat weights as much as your own weight, you lift double the weights most guys at your gym lift. In short, you work hard to achieve your dream physique. Naturally, you would want to know how much muscle you are gaining. Many people do not know how to measure muscle mass, and they are not to be blamed.
If this is your case too, then there are two reasons why. It is either because of the fact that there are no scales for measuring it or there is just too much misinformation on the subject. Luckily, you will find great company in this post.
In this article, we aim to educate you about how muscle mass and how to measure it accurately. Before we do that, though, let us first go over the reasons why you need to know your muscle mass.
The Importance of Knowing Your Muscle Mass
The reason why you would want to measure your muscle mass is to keep track of your muscle gains. Unless you are stacking on some really potent steroids, the process of gaining muscle is quite gradual. Nevertheless, it is still important to know that you are making progress. A normal scale cannot show that because in many cases, your weight remains the same.
When you work out and lift weights, you lose fat too. The fat you lost is replaced by the muscle mass you have gained and, therefore, your body weight more or less stays the same. In order to know how much muscle you actually gained, you need to find out your Lean Body Mass (LBM).
Lean body mass is everything in your body except for fat. This comprises mostly of lean muscles, bones, organs, and more. Measuring muscle mass, especially for aspiring bodybuilders, can be very helpful. It can tell you if your workout and diet plan is working and is taking you in the right direction.
How to Measure Muscle Mass the Easy Way
The good thing is you do not have to spend a lot of money to find your LBM. There are a few ways you can find this number or percentage. What you are essentially looking to find out is your body composition.
Body composition roughly divides your body weight into fat and fat-free mass. This makes it easier to find out if your muscle mass has increased or not. Here are few easy ways you can measure your muscle mass or LBM:
Body Fat Scales
These are some special scales that can calculate your body’s fat percentage. These scales use an electric current to find out how much of your body is made of fat. When you step on this scale, it will indicate the percentage of fat in your body. To find out your LBM, subtract this percentage from 100. The remaining percentage is the lean mass out of your total body weight. Confused? Here’s an example.
If your fat percentage is 20%, your lean body mass is 80%. If you weigh 170 pounds, your muscle mass is approximately 80% of 170 pounds, which is 140 pounds. Your body’s weight that is composed of fat, in this case, is 30 pounds.
This is the most common way people measure their body composition and then calculate their muscle mass. This is not exactly your muscle mass because it also factors in your organs, skin, and bones in particular. But you can still find out if you have gained muscles because this weight would most likely increase only when you have gained muscle mass.
If you are trying to lose weight and want to see your fat percentage decrease, use Lean Belly Breakthrough. This quick 2-minute ritual can make you lose one pound within three days. We all want to lose fat, don’t we? And many of us want to do it as quickly as possible. If you are one of them, then fitness programs like Lean Belly Breakthrough can really help.
After all, the first step to making muscular gains is losing all the excess fat in your body.
Calipers
Fat calipers produce the same result as the fat scale, which means that they indicate how much of your body is fat. You measure several areas of your skin using these calipers, which actually measure the thickness of your skin. The percentage of fat can help indicate how much of the weight is lean mass.
You can keep track of your fat and muscle mass every week with these calipers. They are pretty reliable in determining body fat and can, therefore, tell the percentage of fat-free mass. The more fat percentage you have, the thicker your skin is. Ideally, you should have 10% or less body fat.
High-Tech Scanners
If you are truly dedicated to finding out your body’s accurate muscle mass, there are high-tech scanners that can help do that. They use X-Rays or other technologies to weigh every component of your body. They can even tell you how much of your body weight are bones or skin. Obviously, such devices are not easily available everywhere, and they are expensive.
Manual Measurement
If you cannot rely on these machines to help you measure your muscle mass, you can also try measuring it manually. Take a measurement tape and measure your biceps. Keep measuring them every week, and you will find the size getting bigger, indicating muscle gains.
Similarly, you can also measure fat loss in your belly. If you use Lean Belly Breakthrough, your waist will reduce by several inches in a matter of weeks. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the actual measurement.
You can also compare your arms and body with pictures online and their corresponding fat and lean body mass percentages. It would not be accurate, but it will give you a rough idea as to which range you belong to.
There are also muscle gains logs online that can help you gain muscle and measure your progress at the same time. If you properly follow these exercise programs and log your workouts in a journal, you can build up muscles pretty fast and know how much you have gained. This takes a lot of determination and attention to detail, which, if we are being honest, is very difficult to achieve.
Conclusion
Knowing how to measure muscle mass can help you streamline and improve your workout routines. Those who are solely working to develop their muscles and gain weight need to find out how much muscles they have gained in terms of lean body mass. It is not so difficult to find this number thanks to special scales and other devices.
It is important to note that body composition varies between individuals. You cannot accurately find out how much of your body is bones, fat, skeletal muscles, etc. unless you actually weigh everything apart, which is impossible. Nevertheless, the above methods can estimate it to some accuracy if not entirely accurately. In turn, you can be aware of your progress and be more inspired to improve your overall health.