1- You need it to fight infections: Many people think that muscle gain is only necessary if you’re an athlete.  Why would you need to be stronger if you’re not a competitive athlete? because everyone needs to be able to fight off infection.

What does muscle have to do with infection?

Protein is a important macronutrient that your body needs in order to function properly. Muscle is made up of primarily water and protein content.  When your body enters a stressed state (becomes sick), your body’s protein demands suddenly skyrocket,  up to four times the amount it normally requires in the event of serious trauma.

If your body does not get the necessary protein it needs from your diet, it will look to your muscles – which your body can treat as large protein reserves – and begin breaking them down.  If your muscles aren’t sufficiently developed or underdeveloped, you will have a reduced ability and strength to fight off current infections and may be more susceptible to future ones, especially in serious cases.

2- Subcutaneous Fat vs Visceral fat: Most people know that being overweight can lead to health problems over the long term, but not many people know why.  Current research is now revealing that your fat mass isn’t just empty weight like a bag of sand, but is in fact metabolically active tissue that acts like an organ inside your body.

But unlike the other organs inside your body that are designed to help keep your body in proper condition, excess visceral fat works to sabotage it.

According to Harvard University, fat mass, and particularly visceral (belly) fat, can have significant negative effects on your health.  Visceral fat spreads certain types of chemical called cytokines into the body, and although cytokines aren’t by their nature harmful, the types of cytokines emitted by fat can have serious repercussions on insulin resistance, cholesterol level, and blood pressure.  

Over time, visceral fat can lead to developing serious diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. For skinny fat individuals, they may not be aware their high visceral fat level puts them at risk for these disease because visually they look “healthy” in comparison to obese individuals. In actuality, they share similar health risks. Fortunately, working to reduce fat mass in your body can help reduce some of these harmful effects visceral fat can have.  

3 Lean Mass VS Muscle:

Lean Mass. Lean Body Mass. Muscle Mass. Skeletal Muscle Mass.  It can be really easy to get lost in all these same-sounding terms.  Are they all the same?

The most common mistake is when people use the term “lean mass” and when talking about increasing it – “lean gains.”  Many people equate muscle mass with lean mass, which is only partially correct.

While it is true that if you develop your muscles you are developing lean mass, that doesn’t mean that your muscle gains are lean gains. Lean body mass is different than skeletal muscle in that Lean Body Mass includes the weight attributed to muscle, body water, bone, and everything else that isn’t fat. 

While it isn’t likely that the weight of your organs or bones will change significantly, your muscles and water can change in volume and mass depending on a variety of circumstances.  Because Lean Body Mass includes body water, increasing your weight by hydrating your cells with sufficient intracellular water is also technically a “lean gain.”

Another way of thinking about it: All muscle gains are lean mass gains, but not all lean mass gains are muscle gains