It’s January, which means several Americans are currently trying to lose those few extra holiday pounds they packed on, trying to stick with their New Years Resolutions of overall weight loss and incorporating an exercise routine. The attendance at Saratoga Health and Wellness always improves a bit come January 1st. One of the topics we talk about frequently with our members is the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. Or does it??
Many people believe this to be true. Or, at least they WANT it to be true, as its a good excuse of why your weight may not be budging on the scale as quickly as you’d like! I always like to compare this to the notion that a pound of feathers weighs less than a pound of bricks. A pound is a pound, people. So, common sense tells us that a pound of fat = a pound of muscle. But, just like the feathers and bricks, what varies is the density of each. If we were to look at a pound of fat and a pound of muscle (or lean mass) side-by-side, we would notice that the fat takes up much more space (or volume) than the muscle. This is important to understand as our weight loss goal is to look trimmer (more muscle), not flabbier (more fat).
The key to success when it comes to weight loss and changing your body composition (lean mass vs. fat mass) is a combination of cardiovascular exercise and strength training exercises. Cardiovascular exercise (which includes walking, jogging, swimming, biking) is important to burn calories, therefore decreasing your percentage of fat mass. Strength training exercises (yes, this means lifting weights!) is important because it increases your metabolism which therefore increases your lean mass. For this reason, lean (or muscle) mass should not be feared. A boost in metabolism means that a pound of lean mass will burn more calories than a pound of fat mass. In other words, the more lean mass your body has, the more calories your body will burn – even when you’re sitting on the couch watching TV!
With this being said, it is possible to decrease your fat mass and increase your lean mass without changing your weight on the scale. It is important to focus on how you FEEL and how your clothes fit, remembering how your body has changed. This can be very difficult, but its important not to focus too much on the number on the scale. Just because that number is lower, doesn’t necessarily mean you are healthier because we want to take into consideration your body composition.
Body composition is the percentage of lean body mass vs. fat mass. There are several ways of measuring body composition and it can be done fairly easily by a fitness professional.
The most common method of measuring body composition is called Skinfold Measurements. This is done whereby a pinch of skin is measured with calipers at several standardized points on the body to determine the subcutaneous fat layer thickness. These measurements are converted to an estimated body fat percentage by an equation. This method is inexpensive and easy to do, but does vary upon who is administering the test.
The “gold standard” of determining body composition is Underwater Weighing. Body composition can be determined with great accuracy by completely submerging a person in water and calculating the volume of the displaced water from the weight of the displaced water. Unfortunately, this is a fairly expensive and unpleasant method!
At Saratoga Health and Wellness, we use a method called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) to measure body composition. Four conductors (or electrodes) are attached to a person’s body and a small electric current is sent through the body. The resistance between the conductors provide a measure of body fat between electrodes, since the resistance to electricity varies between fat, muscular and skeletal tissue. Fat-free mass (muscle) is a good conductor as it contains a large amount of water (approximately 73%) and electrolytes, while fat is a poor conductor of electric current. This method is quick, painless and easy to administer.
Body composition is a great number to know, as it tells us what you are made up of. It’s also an excellent way to track your weight-loss progress, rather than focusing strictly on the number on the scale. If you are interested in having your body composition measured, please contact us.