Lean Body Mass Calculator

Your total weight less your weight from body fat is your lean body mass. In essence, your lean body mass may be calculated by deducting the weight that comes from fat (your body fat percentage) from your overall weight.

Those who want to reduce weight can sustain their fat-only weight reduction by being aware of this. If you can reduce your total weight while maintaining your lean body mass, you'll know that you're simply shedding fat and not, as is frequently the case, muscle or bone density.

As an alternative, those who desire to gain muscle mass should increase their lean mass at the same rate as their overall weight. This will demonstrate to them that despite their overall weight rise, they are not adding any additional body fat.

It's common to need to know your body fat % in order to calculate your lean body mass, but we'll go through various techniques below where this isn't necessary. Although we will go through them all in a moment, certain techniques of calculating lean body mass are more precise than others, while some are more user-friendly.

what model of lean body mass is used?

Lean body mass can be determined in one of two methods. Accessibility and accuracy are frequently trade-offs, with the most precise techniques being out of the reach of the majority of individuals.

1. Using your weight and height

This is conceivably the easiest and most basic method of calculating your lean body mass. You may use a straightforward calculation that only requires your height and weight. Use the following equations with all weights in kilograms and all heights in centimeters.

Lean body mass for males is equal to (0.33929 + 0.32810) W + 29.5336 H.

Lean body mass for women is equal to (0.29569 W) + (0.41813 H) 43.2933.

It should be emphasized that while this will be highly wrong, it could serve as a good starting point for a rule of thumb or best guess. You may always use an online lean body mass calculator like the one below for a simplified version of this.

2. Using your body fat percentage

As previously discussed, you may calculate your lean body mass using your body fat %. To convert your percentage of body fat to a decimal, divide it by 100. After that, increase this figure by your overall weight.

For instance, multiply 80 by 0.15 if you are 80 kg and you know your body fat percentage is 15%. This is the weight of your fat (800 x 0.15 = 12kg). To get your lean body mass, just deduct this from your overall weight. Lean body mass is 80 - 12 = 68kg in this case.

Identifying your body fat percentage is the most challenging aspect of this. All of the methods listed below will help you achieve this, but they all include the trade-off noted earlier: typically, the more precise an approach is, the less accessible it is to most individuals. The following are some ways to calculate your body fat percentage:

Skinfold evaluation

Apply skin-fold calipers to various parts of your body. You will pinch the skin to gauge its thickness, then enter these figures into a calculator or conversion table to get the lean body mass. Your neighborhood gym's personal trainers are likely well-versed in this method. Although it is not the most precise approach, it is simple, largely consistent, and trustworthy.

Scale of bioelectrical impedance

Once more, your neighborhood gym could have this feature. A set of weighs with electrodes that you step on or hold in your hands to deliver a mild electrical current through your body is known as a bioelectrical scale. They will tell you all you need to know since muscle and fat conduct electricity in distinct ways. Although they are not always correct, they are secure (other factors, like hydration, can sometimes skew readings).

High-rate weighing

Here, things start to get highly precise and quite difficult to reach. In hydrostatic weighing, the difference between your weight on land and underwater is compared. The proportion of your body fat can then be determined by a professional. It's still very dependable, but it can be expensive, requires a lot of specialized equipment, and isn't something you can do at your neighborhood gym.

Lean body mass reference standards

Leanness guidelines have been developed as a result of research on certain demographics. The reference man's minimum lean mass (61.7 kg) contains 3% of necessary body fat. Marathon runners are capable of achieving 1% body fat. The lower limit for the reference lady is around 12% necessary fat for females. Rarely do even the leanest women have body fat levels below 10-12%.

The most practical reference values in practise employ the lean mass index as a measure of lean body mass scaled for height. The tables below offer a collection of these values. Remember that a body is slimmer if the LMI is higher. Larger lean body mass naturally corresponds to both a lower body fat percentage and greater muscle per unit of body weight. Additionally, utilising a more accurate version of these statistics, our lean mass calculator automatically calculates and produces the reference percentile.

Lean body mass index reference values for Caucasian men :

Lean body mass index reference values for Caucasian women :

The values in the tables, which exclusively apply to Caucasians, were taken from Table 3 of "Reference standards for lean mass measurements using GE dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in Caucasian adults". Additionally, it should be noted that DXA estimations are more precise than estimates made using body measurements, therefore the chart should only be used as a general reference.

Lean body mass versus fat-free mass

Although the phrases may occasionally be used interchangeably, lean body mass (LBM) and fat-free mass (FFM) are distinct concepts. LBM is a hypothetical proportion that accounts for both non-fat tissue (bones, muscles, ligaments, etc.) and a small amount of necessary fat that is non-sex-specific and makes up to 3-4% of men's total body mass and up to 5-7% of women's.

The bone marrow, internal organs, and the brain are where much of that vital fat is found. Contrarily, FFM is the body mass that has been completely depleted of all extractable fat, including vital fats. FFM is the product of body mass and fat mass. Typically, 80–90% of total body mass is composed of fat-free tissue, with some athletes reaching 95–%.

How exactly is lean body mass determined?

Lean body mass, or more simply, the weight of everything except fat, is measured as the difference between total body weight and body fat weight. Around 70% to 90% of lean body mass is regarded as healthy, with women falling closer to the lower end of this range than men.

The easiest approach to determining your lean body mass at home is to use a body composition monitor, which can measure your body fat percentage correctly. If your body fat percentage is 27%, your lean body mass will be 73%. By measuring your bone mass, muscle mass, and overall body water content and combining these percentages together, you may further sense-check the computation.

You may, for instance, have the following ratings: 55% of one's body weight is water. Bone mass, 5.6% 15% of muscle mass You would have a lean body mass percentage of 75.6% after doing this. Our bone mass is beyond our control, but with the correct diet and activity, we can both increase our total body water and muscle mass.

How do you gauge the size of your neck, waist, and hips?

Our lean body mass calculator, also known as a fat-free body mass calculator, calculates your body's mass and percentage of fat using four body measurements: height, neck, waist, hips, age, and gender. In order to determine the lean body mass (LBM) estimation, that is then subtracted from 100%. The following tips can help you take these measurements using a soft measuring tape:

• Height: Step perpendicular to a wall, column, or door frame on a flat surface. Look directly forward. Ask a helper to position a ruler or similar straight item horizontally on top of your head, then indicate where it contacts the wall, column, etc. Measure the height from there to the floor by stepping outside.
• Measure the neck immediately behind the larynx, with a small downward slope toward the front (narrowest point).
• Measure your waist at the level of your navel, at the broadest part of your abdomen (umbilicus).
• Hips: To acquire an exact measurement, stand with your feet together and measure your hips where they are the broadest below your waist.

Our LBM calculator supports both feet and inches and centimeters, so you may enter the measurements in any format. The amount of muscle and other non-fat tissue in your body, as well as the proportion of muscle to your total body weight, may be accurately estimated by measuring to the closest half inch or 1 cm.

Why is lean body mass important?

What is lean body mass so crucial?

A healthy percentage of lean body mass boosts metabolism and makes it simpler to maintain the healthy weight you desire since your muscles and internal organs have greater metabolic rates than the comparable weight of fat. Additionally, there is proof that having a lot of lean mass decreases inflammation because tiny fat cells in lean persons support healthy function, whereas bigger fat cells in overweight or obese people support inflammation and chronic illness.

Is lean body mass percentage a better measure of health than weight or BMI?

It can be challenging to determine which metrics are most crucial while attempting to maintain or enhance your health. Your weight does not reveal how much of it is a healthy muscle and how much is fat; it merely gives you the overall. Similar to how your BMI (Body Mass Index) is computed based only on your height and weight, it ignores the composition of your weight.

You may get a far better idea of how healthy you are by examining the components of lean body mass and your total calculation of lean body mass. By monitoring this number over time, you can see how food and exercise affect maintaining or increasing your lean body mass %.

You can increase your lean body mass

By building healthy muscle (see our earlier blog entry, "6 Tips to Improve Your Skeletal Muscle"), staying hydrated, and, if required, striving to lose visceral and subcutaneous fat, you may aim to increase your lean body mass. As oxygen and nutrients are transported to your muscles to aid in their post-workout recovery and growth, obtaining a good night's rest can also help you build lean body mass! Whatever your score, knowing your body and your level of fitness will give you a much better understanding of how to maintain and improve your health, and we are here to assist you.