Lean Body Mass: Definition & Formula

and today I'm going to answer the frequently
asked question,

which is "What is lean body mass?"
It's also known as LBM.

I talk a lot about it on my website, and I
finally wanted to

address it.

So, lean body mass is the simple definition:
Everything in your body besides fat.

So, what are we talking about?

We're talking about your blood, your bones,
your organs, your muscle, your skin.

Again, anything that is not body fat.
And just so you know how to calculate it,

essentially, you need your body fat percentage.

It's a little tricky sometimes, arriving at your
body fat percentage,

I prefer to use a skin fold caliper, you can also use
what's called Bioelectrical impedance analysis,

which is kinda, you know, holding onto those,
you know, kinda machines

Or, also you can do it by stepping on a scale
as well, but again, I strongly prefer calipers,

specially if you have under 30% body fat.

So once you have the body fat percentage calculation,
you're gonna take your total body weight,

multiply it by your body fat percentage,
and that's gonna give you

your fat in pounds.

Now, to get your LBM you're gonna take your
total body weight, subtract if from your fat pounds,

now you got your LBM.

And so, why is that so important?
Why is your LBM so important?

Well, fundamentally, how to get lean,
is losing fat without losing muscle.

So how do you know if you are not losing muscle?
If you don't have an LBM calculation,

you don't know if you're losing muscle.
So, having the LBM will allow you.

Let's just say you're about 180 pounds.

Right? You got, 30 pounds of body fat,

If you lose, you know, let's just say,
50 pounds of fat, without losing your LBM,

then, your body fat percentage will obviously
decrease,

however, if you're losing half LBM, and half fat,
your body fat percentage is not gonna change so much.

So that's one reason why I always talk about
the LBM, you wanna keep the LBM

you have, or increase it

and lose as much fat as you possibly can,
or that's reasonably healthy.

And so, I hope that's been helpful,

please do ask more questions, I'd love to
answer them, and I will see you next week.

[wopetgjsgvn]

Great video. I wonder why it doesn't have more views and comments

[kevingeorge]

This video is very clear & helpful thank you

[BuiltLeanTV]

@Bryan - LBM refers to your lean muscle, and then there's water weight and fat weight. If you were to weigh yourself every day, those fluctuations are likely attributable to water loss/retention. That's why we recommend a weekly weigh-in. Weighing yourself once per week on the same day and around the same time helps control a few conditions that could influence your scale weight, so it's a better way to track change over time. It helps to regularly eat a clean diet and drink adequate water too.

[BryanWells]

Great video. Your site is one of the few that explained it simply and correctly.

[trusafe]

Thank you, well said and so easy to understand.

[sifar]

@builtlean

Hi Marc,
I am 5'11 and weigh 194 pounds, for the past 25 days I have been doing a mix of beginners exercise and I've lost around 10 pounds. But I'm afraid about losing more muscle then fat.
Currently I do 2, 000 Jump ropes at moderate pace, 20 minutes of light aerobic exercise,
50 kettle bell swings pushups and crunches.

I want lose more weight and see myself at around 168 pounds but not with just skinnier version of myself but with a little muscle nicely distributed.

It would be great if you could help me the losing fat and how to retain muscle.

Your videos and website is amazing, learned quite a lot from you to get out of bed for workouts. Thanks Marc. :)

[BryanWells]

I'm guessing body water is part of your LBM. If I'm correct in this assumption is it possible that fluctuations in LBM from one week to the next are more likely from water loss than muscle loss (unless it's a continuing loss/gain over multiple weeks)?

[wraithbackup]

but if leanbodamass includes water then how can we tell how much muscle we are gaining

[Louisthefur]

I weigh 250lbs. The guy at the gym said my test results were 180lbs lbm. Im 5’9. Im big but people dont consider me to be a fat guy. Does 180 lbm sound possible?

[delilahparra]

how do you find your body fat percentage ?
sorry i’m not sure if i missed it

[abusiddiq]

nice video - needed the simplification.

[MsCankersore]

I weigh 140 times my bf which is 11 and I get 1, 540...so 1, 540 - 140 gives me 140????

[saifalblooshi]

If my fat percentage and Lean body mass increase what does it mean

[OverlandTT]

Somehow I've come in at 4674.85 (metric measurements)

[djbeda]

LBM or bodyweight what is better to calculate macros for cutting? Im about 13.5% body fat.

[Jaybird]

What can I do, if I have neither device?

[alihood]

Hi I'm 5.10 and my weight is 82 kg I'm fat I want to lose fat and build lean body so whr I will start losing weight first or wat

[hakimvlogs]

This vid doesn’t make sense.. multiply my body weigh which is 168lb by my body fat % which is 17% = 2856 this can’t be right lol

[carterseries]

So if your LBM goes down does that mean you’re losing muscle?

[MrBarakobummer]

so i weigh 174 pounds im gunna times that by my BFP which equals 4193.4 and thats how much body fat i have FUCKING GENIUS