12 Days of Fitness

On The Fifth Day Of Fitness
My True Love Said To Me...

Spotlight On: Our Expert Advisors

Curious about your body composition and the difference between fat vs muscle (besides the obvious!)?

Body composition refers to the quality or make-up of your total body mass, which can be divided into 1) fat mass & 2) fat-free mass. Fat-free mass is composed of muscle, bones, and organs. Whereas, fat mass is composed of just that...fat (or adipose) tissue. Body composition assessment determines the relative percentages of fat-free and fat mass.

As you age, there's a strong likelihood that your bones and/or organs are not growing; therefore, the majority of physical transformations can be attributed the addition/depletion ofmuscle and fat tissue.

Increasing the amount of muscle in your body is SO VERY IMPORTANTin helping your metabolism throughout the day, as well as keepingthe fat off! For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses approximately 35-50 extra calories a day. Whereas, an extrapound of fat only uses 2-3 extra calories a day. Starting to get the picture?!

It is NOT uncommon for an exerciser to lose fat weight and gain muscle without any change in total body weight or "scale" weight. Without an assessment of body composition, this favorable change could go undetected and possibly lead to frustration on the part of the exerciser.

Bottom line, when you see a decrease in your fat mass...and yet, your scale weight remains constant...and your exercise results are improving (i.e. push ups, sit ups, squats, etc), rest assured that you're adding more lean muscle, gaining endurance and toning your body.

This is why you see the inches dropping....the clothes 'looser'.... more endurance throughout your day...and an overall better quality of life!!!

Have a GREAT day.

JM/RN