“Lean muscle” is a term used when talking about body composition. Both aesthetically and for general health reasons, it’s good to have a lot of lean muscle compared to fat. To learn more about exercise tips you can visit our site Home Gymion.
When you strength train to build muscle, you can build gains in lean muscle mass. And for this we also need a good low-fat diet!
What is lean muscle?
Lean body mass (LCM), sometimes combined with fat-free mass, is a component of body composition.
For its part, the fat-free mass (FFM) is calculated by subtracting the weight of body fat from the total body weight: total body weight is lean plus fat.
To know how much lean muscle we have, there are different calculations or formulas. One of the simplest is known as the James Formula and we explain it below:
- Lean body mass (male) = [1.10 x weight (kg)] – 128 x {weight (Kg)2 (squared) / Height (cm)2 (squared)}.
- Lean body mass (female) = [1.07 x weight (kg)] – 148 x {weight (Kg)2 (squared) / Height (cm)]2 (squared)}.
How to gain lean muscle mass?
Once we have the calculation of lean muscle mass and we know that we want to get more of it, the next step is to make different changes in our habits and exercise. Always guided by specialists in both health and training. The best tips to gain lean muscle mass are:
1. Eat enough protein
Protein is a building block of muscle. Not only does it help you build new muscle, but it is important in hormone production and recovery. It is recommended to eat 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight.
2. Prioritize carbohydrates in your diet
Just as protein is important in the muscle-building process, so are carbohydrates .
Without carbohydrates in the diet, your muscles will not be able to function optimally during workouts , and you often won’t be able to train as hard and as often as you could if you were fueling the body with them.
3. Don’t eat everything in sight
Try to gain weight slowly, to gain as much lean muscle as possible while minimizing unnecessary fat gain.
4. Perform heavy compound exercises
Exercises like squats , deadlifts, pull-ups, bench presses , and overhead presses are some of the staples for most bodybuilding and strength programs.
When you train compound exercises, you can lift heavier loads. This increases muscle growth, hormone production and muscles in a more efficient way.
5. Use machines and isolation exercises
In addition to performing compound exercises, machines and more isolated style training exercises are a great way to add more training volume and safely bring a muscle to failure.
Machines and isolation exercises also allow muscles to be trained more directly , which may not happen during heavier compound exercises.
6. Do not rush with the repetitions
Time under tension is a key factor in determining muscle growth from exercise. Performing slower reps can increase muscle damage and produce the same muscle growth as faster, heavy reps.
7. You don’t need to add more weight every week
Instead, it’s a good idea to increase the repetitions, sets, ranges of motion, and time under tension faced by the muscle(s).
8. Choose isometric exercises
To gain lean muscle mass, choose this type of exercise, among them the plates ( Planck ), the Wall sit , the gluteal bridge, the warrior pose or the boat pose for abs .
9. Don’t forget about compound exercises
When we refer to compounds we are talking about exercises that work several muscles at the same time. We can name a few such as the deadlift, bent-over row, back squat , clean and press , and weighted barbell walking lunges.
Lastly, to build more lean muscle it is recommended to do some cardio, in moderation, in order to improve stamina and fitness.