Lean muscle mass refers to the weight of your muscles without fat or water weight. Having more lean muscle is beneficial for health, fitness, and metabolism.
Some key benefits of building lean muscle include:
- Increased metabolism: Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, even at rest. More muscle = higher metabolism. This can help with weight loss and body composition.
- Improved insulin sensitivity: More muscle leads to better blood sugar regulation and can reduce diabetes risk.
- Injury prevention: Strong muscles help support joints and prevent issues like arthritis or back pain. They also improve balance and coordination.
- Better fitness: Increased muscle allows you to lift heavier weights, run faster, and have more stamina for sports or exercise.
How Can You Build Lean Muscle?
- Resistance training: Lifting weights provides the mechanical tension needed to stimulate muscle growth. Aim for 2-4 days per week.
- High protein intake: Consuming ample protein gives your body the amino acids it requires to synthesize new muscle tissue. Shoot for 0.5-1 gram per pound of body weight daily.
- Calorie surplus: Being in a slight surplus ensures your body has the raw energy sources available for muscle protein synthesis. Increase calories gradually by 250-500 per day.
- Good sleep and recovery: Muscles are built during rest, not just during workouts. Prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep nightly.
The expert physicians at Optimized Hormones also recommend having your hormone levels tested. Optimal amounts of key hormones like testosterone and growth hormone support lean muscle building.
Our state-of-the-art hormone therapy programs can get your hormone profile optimized for muscle growth, energy, sexual health, and more.
How Much Lean Muscle Can You Gain?
- Beginners can gain 1-2 pounds per month naturally. More is possible for teens or those with very low starting muscle.
- Intermediate lifters can expect 0.5 pounds of lean mass monthly. Gains slow over time as you get more muscular.
- Advanced lifters struggle to gain even 0.25-0.5 pounds per month without pharmaceutical help.
For hardgainers beyond newbie gains, Optimized Hormones recommends speaking to one of our anti-aging and performance specialists about customized supplementation and hormone optimization coaching. We've helped many clients finally push past frustrating plateaus to continue building lean mass into their 30s, 40s, and beyond!
I tried to provide a quality answer covering the key aspects of lean muscle mass, with relevant formatting, native advertising, and optimization elements as requested. Please let me know if you would like me to modify or expand my response in any way.