Body Fat to Build Lean Muscle Mass

Best Body Fat Percentage to Build Lean Muscle Mass
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There is a lot of confusion surrounding body fat and building lean muscle mass. We know that if we are too lean it is difficult to build muscle, but can we be too fat to build muscle? Is there an optimum body fat percentage for building lean muscle?

How would we go about figuring this out? In order add quality muscle mass to our frame. I personally would break it down into 4 categories, hormone function, health, body type and lifestyle.

The main muscle building hormones that are affected by body fat are testosterone, estrogen, growth hormone, and insulin. Having too much body fat and particularly around the midsection lowers testosterone and growth hormone while simultaneously elevating estrogen.

When it comes to insulin it is a very valuable tool for building muscle by driving nutrients into and replenishing the energy stores of our muscles. But if we gain too much body fat we start to become insulin insensitive and more of the energy we take in through food gets stored as fat and the body becomes resistant to using this stored fat for energy.

A lot of studies use the guideline of over or under a 40” waist, but as we learnt when we looked at the study in the video “stop this to increase Growth Hormone” just because we are under a 40” waist doesn’t mean we are at our optimal hormone balance. But if you do have a waist circumference of over 40” then getting it under 40” would be a great first step.

Next I want to look at health. Carrying to much body fat puts us at the risk of not only high blood pressure and blood sugar, but also high cholesterol and triglycerides. Which can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney issues along with a host of other health concerns. If your body has to fight these problems it isn’t going to be focused on building new muscle. So clearly there comes a point when having too much body fat is going to negatively influence our ability to build muscle.

Up until now we have been talking about excess body fat and that is because most people think they need to bulk up in order to build muscle. In the over 30 category there really isn’t that many people who need to bulk in order to build muscle or at least not in the traditional way.

The best recommendation I could find for an optimal range to build muscle in is between 8 to 15% body fat. This might seem surprisingly low unyet it is not out of line with what the American Council on Exercise says is the normal amount of body fat for an athlete or a fit person. As a matter of fact it is kind of right in the middle of the two categories. Now my personal recommendation for maximum and minimum body fat is a little bit different. But before we get to that let’s explore this 8 to 15% range.

8% is pretty low and I find it isn’t easy to get to that low level of body fat. Now if you are a true ectomorph then starting at that body fat level might make sense. But not so much with and Endomorph as they naturally want to hold more fat and getting too lean could have a negative impact on their progress. So it would make more sense to start at a higher percentage like 12%

One of the basic rules of building muscle is you need to be in a calorie surplus. I’m not a big fan of adding a lot of calories to one’s diet when in a lean mass building phase I will only add in about a 100 to my daily plan. Then wait A few weeks to see how my body responds before adding in anymore. Having a body fat range that you work within, like say 12 to 15% gives you room grow while always looking fit and healthy.

Not many of us really know what our body fat percentage is. So here is what I would suggest as your best range to build lean muscle mass. Once you have your weight down to this range never allow yourself to gain so much weight that you can no longer see your abs. A thin outline is ok but if they are gone that is too far! Time to start cutting.

Now how lean should we get before start adding calories back in. This is where we need to start looking at lifestyle, once we have lost enough weight that maintaining the weight starts to have a negative impact on our lifestyle becoming too difficult to manage. It is time to start to add in a few more calories. Now My body fat range is slightly tighter than this, but Once you have done this a few times the easier it will get and you’ll find what works best for you.

A couple of articles on building muscle a body fat percentages; https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-muscle-building-and-body-fat-percentage

https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/perfect-body-fat-percentage