4 ms·

What is "lean muscle" regardless of fat?

• justinator 5y ago
  Take a look at a sub elite/elite power lifter. They may be have a body composition of 20%+ fat, but they are also packing a lot of lean muscle. For the most part, I would call that a healthy individual, even though they're BMI (which is... problematic) would say that this person is overweight and in need of a diet. That doesn't even pass the sniff test for me. Thinness is not the goal you want to achieve. It's a very easy goal to achieve when compared to being a fit individual. Starve yourself and you're done. You can not starve yourself into being a fit individual.
  • jacobmischka 5y ago
    As someone who follows too many fitness influencers, it sounds like you follow too many fitness influencers. Muscle is lean by definition. This guy isn't fit, but I don't think he claims to be. He's a software developer who seems to be uninterested in fitness as a concept, he just doesn't want to be obese, which he isn't. Yes, being fit, strong, and lean is harder than not being extremely overweight. But not everyone cares about that.
    • justinator 5y ago
      We're actually not assessing him very differently. But I'm saying being "thin" and "weak" is just as big of a problem as, "fat" and "weak". The problem isn't being fat, it's being "weak". If I'm assessing someone and they have 30% bodyfat, but are as strong as an ox, I'm not worried about their long term health. I use the example of a advanced power lifter in a post, upstream - you know a someone that looks like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ywwZlESOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ywwZlESOU Chiseled abs and a penchant for energy drinks isn't needed. If I was to be critical, I'd say that low of a body fat % for long periods of time is counter productive to overall fitness and ugh: the shit you find in some energy drinks.