How to gain weight? Muscle is the key.

How to gain weight?

I hope this title will catch you off guard. I bet you're thinking: I don't need to gain weight, there's no need to read this section. But hold on! If your body is just a few thin muscles under your fat, won't you look frail after losing fat? Many women are still dissatisfied with their appearance after successfully losing weight because their muscles are too loose and thin.

We often have this impression of people who lose weight through dieting: they do look slimmer, but they lack energy and confidence, unlike those who combine dieting and exercise to achieve a radiant appearance. Similarly, those who gain weight simply by eating more don't look as glowing as those who eat and exercise. Therefore, thin people shouldn't just focus on gaining weight, but should find ways to build muscle to appear fuller. If muscle mass increases, weight will naturally increase as well; in other words, if you focus on building muscle rather than gaining weight, it will be easier to gain weight. Increased muscle mass makes the human body more aesthetically pleasing; it makes men look more robust and women's figures more shapely. Conversely, if only weight is gained, those feelings of proportion and fitness remain just an illusion.

Whether you're naturally thin due to illness or anorexia, or you haven't exercised properly for years, you should seriously consider rebuilding your muscle mass. If this section were titled "How to Build Muscle," many people probably wouldn't continue reading, believing that muscle building is only for men, and that the sweating and panting are irrelevant to them. But the truth is, women do need more muscle! Just as it's not only obese people who need to control their fat, building muscle isn't just for men or thin people.

Next, let's take Dorothy as an example. Her physical condition is as follows:

Fat weight: 16.2 kg

Weight without adipose tissue: 37.8 kg

16.2 kg of lean tissue primarily refers to bones and muscles. The next question is, what does 16.2 kg mean for her? Is it too heavy or too light? As the chart shows: for a woman who is 1.60 meters tall, 16.2 kg is in the middle of the normal range; for a woman who is 1.70 meters tall, 16.2 kg is considered light; and for a woman who is 1.78 meters tall, it is too light. Similarly, if the woman in the example is 1.60 meters tall, her figure will certainly look very well-proportioned; if she is 1.70 meters tall, she might appear too tall or thin, mainly because her bones or muscles are too small.

The values ​​in this chart are based on records from 20,000 clinical cases. Since no other research was referenced, corrections from other parties are welcome. Individuals with exceptionally high or low body fat percentages are not included in the chart because our measurement method uses the percentage of fat-free tissue in individuals of average build as the standard.

In our tests, about half of the participants, given their height, had a lean body mass percentage that was more or less below the standard range. We can usually discern differences in a person's appearance; taller people generally have larger frames and muscles, while shorter people typically have smaller frames and muscles. However, this isn't always accurate. Some people of average build may show a lean body mass percentage that is too high or too low after testing. Furthermore, because fat often masks the lean body mass percentage, it's very difficult to guess the percentage in very obese individuals.

The once-popular "body type classification" method divided people into three main categories: thin people were called "slender"; obese people were called "obese"; and muscular people were called "athletic". However, this classification often creates problems. For example, an obese person may have a small frame, while a thin person may have a large frame. To avoid such situations, we might as well use "fat-free ratio" to describe a person's appearance.

Many people ask, "My physique is average, but the test results show that my lean body mass percentage is too high (or too low). Is this good or bad?" In most cases, I would say the higher the percentage, the better, but there are exceptions. Let's go back to our original example! If Dorothy is 1.75 meters tall, as the chart shows, her lean body mass percentage is below the normal range. However, this weight actually includes both bone and muscle. If she is naturally small-framed, it will be difficult for her to gain muscle. If her frame is similar to that of an average person, then the problem lies in her low muscle mass or density. Such people are likely to undergo a dramatic change in appearance after dedicated fitness training, because people with larger frames tend to gain muscle more easily.

Having a higher percentage of lean body tissue offers numerous benefits, so you should strive to achieve a healthy range or even exceed it. If you have a high muscle mass, consider yourself lucky, as you won't have to worry about calories, since muscle is the body's primary calorie burner. A high percentage of lean body tissue also means you'll enjoy exercise more. However, some women don't appreciate this because they believe men will view them as bulky, unattractive, and lacking in femininity, so they don't see athleticism as an advantage. But the proliferation of women's gyms signifies that being a "healthy and well-proportioned" woman has become a new trend. Women with fit and muscular physiques should be proud of their strength and fully enjoy the feeling of health and beauty. In any case, I believe that having more muscle is important for both men and women-perhaps this is just my "bias"!

Whenever I conduct body fat tests on a group of people, I always encounter one or two exceptionally thin individuals. Many might guess their body fat percentage is only 10%, but the testers and I always just laugh it off, because we know the more likely figure is around 20%, or even 25%. If our guess is correct, it doesn't mean they have excessive fat; on the contrary, their thinness might be due to an extremely low percentage of lean tissue. Most people would perceive them as frail, but I disagree, because they actually have virtually no muscle. If you're truly lucky, there might be a muscular person in the same test who sinks to the bottom of the tub like a rock upon entering. Typically, this type of woman has a body fat percentage of 15% to 16%. This is someone with a truly high percentage of lean tissue, because they have a higher proportion of muscle.

Berry Back Load Conversion Formula

Summer vacation is here, and your friend wants to work again, maybe even as a porter! But you just can't muster the energy because you're remembering last year's painful and exhausting experience! He tells you to stop complaining. He's read an article that said women's backs can carry 20% less weight than men's, so last year he generously let you carry 25% less weight. However, please recalculate it carefully using Berry's back-carrying formula:

First, please have you and your partner take a body fat percentage test to determine the ratio of fat to lean tissue in your body. The calculation method is: the weight you carry should not exceed half the weight of your lean tissue. But why are you both still groaning in pain? His lean tissue is about 64 kg, so he should be carrying 32 kg, while your lean tissue is about 40 kg, so you should be carrying 20 kg. Wrong, this method is incorrect. In fact, you are carrying a certain weight day and night-yes, it's fat. Therefore, the weight of fat should also be included in the carrying weight considerations.

Your friend weighs 77 kg and you weigh 57 kg.

Fat percentage: 18% - 24%

Fat weight (excluding adipose tissue): 63 kg 14 kg 43 kg 14 kg

The load on the back is 17.5 kg and 7.5 kg respectively.

• Back load weight (weight without fat tissue - fat weight)

Generally, women can carry about half the weight a man can carry on his back. This is not only because men have more muscle mass, but also because they typically have higher lean tissue and body fat percentage (in the example above, both had the same body fat percentage, but your friend had more muscle and could carry a heavier load). If you feel the suggested load is too light compared to your heavy luggage for the trip, you can carry more, but let the man carry more! By the time the work is finished, you might both be exhausted or both perform admirably, if you follow the above suggestions.

If your body fat percentage is below 30%, that's great. However, if your lean body mass is below the standard for your height (according to the table on page 73), then I suggest: people under 50 should do some intermediate or heavy weight training; while people over 50 should do some light weight training.