Body composition is something that we come to hear about a lot, but do we really understand what it means or how it impacts us in our daily lives? In order for us to be considered fit, there are five areas where minimum standards have to be met, and these are known as the Components of Fitness. Our body composition is one of these, and the other four are flexibility, muscular endurance, muscular strength and aerobic fitness. The concept of body composition deals with four different areas of the body, which are fat distribution, lean mass, weight and fat mass.
Lean Mass
Lean mass involves absolutely everything else that makes up your weight besides your fat. Lean mass, in other words, includes your muscle and your bones, your organs, your water and all other tissues that are non-fatty. There is a gender difference that needs to be considered when it comes to the body's lean mass levels.
As a result of the much higher level of testosterone in the body, men also have a much larger amount of muscle mass in comparison to women. Muscle also weighs more by volume than fat does, despite taking up much less space. For example, a single pound of muscle is significantly smaller than a single pound of fat. As you begin to exercise consistently and you work in order to build up your strength, you may find that the total weight of your body increases rather than decreases as you replace light-weight fat with heavier weight muscle.
It can be a little confusing, and even a bit scary to see that your weight is going up rather than down, but it means that you are gaining muscle while either maintaining your fat, or losing fat in the process.
Looking for Gains
Your lean mass is something that is capable of being calculated simply by taking your total fat and subtracting it either as a percentage or in the form of actual pounds from the figure of your total weight. This number is one that will most likely remain relatively stable in nature, though it may also see increases over time as long as you are continuing to work out.
Gains in your muscle mass are also going to be able to have a positive impact on your metabolism, which is going to make it possible for you to burn even more calories during all of the activities in your day, including sleeping or sitting. So while you are definitely supposed to be interested in losing fat, one of the best ways to achieve that is actually going to be to create a goal that has to do with increasing your lean muscle mass in order to help you get there.
The body benefit for this one is obvious - Increasing your muscle is going to boost your metabolism while improving your level of fitness and boosting your overall health and well being as well.
Photo Credits: graphistolage.com (.fr en cours...)
Originally posted 2009-09-23 03:26:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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