Overweight women with very high LBM?

ithina

I have more LBM than normal. It's genetic for me. My mom was more muscular than normal. She didn't really work out or anything, it was just her. I've never lifted weights and things before until recently, and I've been surprised at how quickly I've gained muscle. The personal trainer I hired to help me figure out how to lift properly was also impressed with how strong I was. Obviously my legs are rather muscly for having to support all the weight I carry around. My calves have some sick definition ^_^. hehe. That isn't a good explanation for my upper body strength though, which is more than expected.

When I started at a new gym a couple weeks ago I weighed 273 and had a body fat or 40%. That leaves 162 for lbm on my 5'2" frame. BMI for my weight is supposed to be 110. When I was in high school I weighed 160 to 180 and I had a little fat, but not tons. I was mostly all muscle and trained in martial arts 4+ hours a day.

Diet wise I've been aiming for more protein. My goal is 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. I've been getting about 35% carbs, 25% protein, and 40% fat in practice. I mostly eat eggs, junk food, fast food, yogurt, and protein powder. I haven't been eating very many vegetables lately.. unless pizza with peppers and onions counts as a veggie? lol. I'll eat cleaner later. Sometimes I go through junk food fazes. I figure I'll be fine as long as I get enough protein and watch my calories.

hesterprynnedidascandaloussin

I'm 18, I'm a wrestler from my high school and I'm 5`8 and 170 pounds currently. I have around 24% body fat, because I got "fat" during the off-season, but I'm now starting my cutting process to be 160 lbs. My coaches estimate that me being 160 lbs of pure fat will lead me to 15% body fat. I work out with free weights mostly (~25-30 lb weights) and for me that's pretty light. I can also bench around 150 lbs, maybe 170 lbs on a good day. People tell me all the time that I don't look 170 lbs at all, that I look around 145 so yeah. I try to stay as lean as possible- extra fat on me does NOT look feminine! lol

lithezebra

I have about 7 pounds more than the average LBM for a 5'4" woman, which isn't extremely high, but it's pretty good for having a small frame and fairly low BMI. I've seen how quickly muscle mass can be lost, while I was sick. On the plus side, after losing muscle mass, I regained it quickly as soon as I was able to eat normally. I haven't always done weight training, but I've always done some kind of strength training.

lithezebra

I'm 18, I'm a wrestler from my high school and I'm 5`8 and 170 pounds currently. I have around 24% body fat, because I got "fat" during the off-season, but I'm now starting my cutting process to be 160 lbs. My coaches estimate that me being 160 lbs of pure fat will lead me to 15% body fat. I work out with free weights mostly (~25-30 lb weights) and for me that's pretty light. I can also bench around 150 lbs, maybe 170 lbs on a good day. People tell me all the time that I don't look 170 lbs at all, that I look around 145 so yeah. I try to stay as lean as possible- extra fat on me does NOT look feminine! lol

24% body fat is NOT fat, and is not even overweight. I bet that you look great. Good luck with your wrestling competitions!

MrsFowler1069

Also, there was a gorgeous member who posted the other day in Success Stories (jinjin8) and she is at goal at 176, having lost 101 pounds. She looks great!

I don't know if any of this answers your question at all! lol

Have her on my friends list. She doesn't post much anymore, probably b/c she met her goal.

btw, thanks for the post. From what I've learned (PM me if you're interested) there's a good chance you have even more LBM now than back then. Hopefully you can preserve most of it by lifting. 199 is probably a reasonable goal weight considering all that.

Also, I'm sorry to hear you had to go through that (I interpreted what you said in your post a certain way, and maybe I'm wrong).

lol No, it was all good. I was in youth conservation work group - doing lots of backcountry projects, etc. Did it sound like prison or something?

Fithealthyforlife

Also, there was a gorgeous member who posted the other day in Success Stories (jinjin8) and she is at goal at 176, having lost 101 pounds. She looks great!

I don't know if any of this answers your question at all! lol

Have her on my friends list. She doesn't post much anymore, probably b/c she met her goal.

btw, thanks for the post. From what I've learned (PM me if you're interested) there's a good chance you have even more LBM now than back then. Hopefully you can preserve most of it by lifting. 199 is probably a reasonable goal weight considering all that.

Also, I'm sorry to hear you had to go through that (I interpreted what you said in your post a certain way, and maybe I'm wrong).

lol No, it was all good. I was in youth conservation work group - doing lots of backcountry projects, etc. Did it sound like prison or something?

yeah, lol. Pheww! :blushing:

hesterprynnedidascandaloussin

I'm 18, I'm a wrestler from my high school and I'm 5`8 and 170 pounds currently. I have around 24% body fat, because I got "fat" during the off-season, but I'm now starting my cutting process to be 160 lbs. My coaches estimate that me being 160 lbs of pure fat will lead me to 15% body fat. I work out with free weights mostly (~25-30 lb weights) and for me that's pretty light. I can also bench around 150 lbs, maybe 170 lbs on a good day. People tell me all the time that I don't look 170 lbs at all, that I look around 145 so yeah. I try to stay as lean as possible- extra fat on me does NOT look feminine! lol

24% body fat is NOT fat, and is not even overweight. I bet that you look great. Good luck with your wrestling competitions!

Aw thank you. But because i have a lot of muscle on me, and I'm very big boned, i look quite bulky. I'm the type of girl that looks fat with an ounce of fat that's overweight... But thank you, that is very nice of you to say, esp when people are critical about my weight

skinnyinnotime

Hmm...I don't eat a ton now (usually :laugh:), but I'm a former gymnast and calculations put me at a pretty high level of LBM
(still only 103 lbs at 5'4" though- I believe I read the average is like 95 lbs for my height) 160 lbs LBM seems like it would would be QUITE a lot for 5'4".

ETA- I'm not overweight anymore, so I guess you can maybe disregard

I suppose I'll reply then. I'm 5' 2.75" (39 yrs old), and this spring had my LBM hydrostatically measured at 113.6. The guy measured it a few times (all the same reading), and afterward asked if I'd been an athlete. I was certainly active in my 20s (mostly karate), but not an athlete.

For me, I believe it's genes. I'm built very much like my dad, and he had lean mass in the 170s at 5' 7" in his late 30s without working out at all. I have a very large frame, especially for my height, and I've always been a bit stronger than the average lady who doesn't lift. I once helped a boyfriend move, and he had more trouble with his end of his couch than I did.

I think alot of it has to do with genes. My husband was very fit in his teens and 20's training in lots of martial arts. I've been with him over 16 years in that time he hasn't worked out and he still looks very fit with alot of muscle!!!

He rarely eats junk, most of his food is clean, this no doubt helps too

neandermagnon

It's genetic.

I joke frequently about having neanderthal genes... well I'm 5'1" and have a huge rib cage and huge shoulders. This is not from fat, it's definitely bones I have very little fat around my upper body, other than my boobs (which are small, and the combination of mahoosive rib cage and small boobs makes it nigh on impossible to find bras that fat me), I store most of my fat around my waist and a little on my hips (the hip fat I'd like to keep to balance out my shoulders). My lean body mass is in the healthy BMI range for my height. the BMI range is 100-132lb.... my lean body mass is 102-107lb depending on how you measure body fat percentage (I use different methods and they're all within a few percent of each other). I currently weigh 140lb after doing a bulk. I'm planning a cut but I'm not cutting to below where accumeasure says I have 22% body fat as I don't like the changes i see in my body below this number. Plus nobody makes 40AAA bras, which is where I was heading below 22% body fat (amongst other issues).

I have short wide feet too, i.e. short and wide like the rest of my skeleton, and I can't buy formal shoes other than at one particular chain of children's shoes that do width fittings, i.e. size 3 with the widest width fitting that they do, and most of their styles don't come in this particular size/width fitting. And my lung capacity for my height is off the chart, which presumably directly correlates with having a mahoosive rib cage. And I've always been stronger than average, in particular, always been stronger than women who are quite a bit taller than me. And going back to neanderthal body proportions - they had extreme cold adapted body proportions, from living in ice age Europe. Well my whole life I've not felt the cold much compared to other people, as in me not wearing a coat and feeling fine while other people are wearing coats and shivering and telling me that I'm insane for not wearing a coat... that was happening on a regular basis long before i ever studied palaeoanthropology, I was told some bizarre explanation involving brown fat cells that never made sense... then at uni I learned about Allen's rule and cold adapted body proportions and it all made a lot more sense.

So there are quite a lot of indications that my build/lean body mass comes from my skeletal proportions and not from lifting heavy weights. I'm relatively new to lifting, as in I'm still training at 5x5. I've added maybe 5lb lean mass from lifting weights and eating at a surplus. I hope to gain more of it in the future. i'm not far off the average height/weight for a female neanderthal, i.e. 66.4kg and 154cm (I'm 63.7kg and 154cm) so maybe I can add a couple of extra kg lean mass from carrying on lifting weights lol. NOt that that's my target, my ideal weight and body fat percentage is the one that gives me the best wilks score. but it's just amusing to me because of being interested in palaeoanthropology.

So anyway, it's genetics.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Ok, science nerd coming out. This isn't my specific field of study, but last time I was working in this area the general consensus was that for most features, both physical and behavioral, the general break down is 70% nature 30 % nurture. So basically, yes it is genetic, but 30% actually leaves a surprising amount of room for making changes in features that are semi malleable. So then the question becomes, is the feature you are trying to adapt or change actually malleable, or is it one of those features that's basically genetically predetermined. In general, muscle mass falls in to the semi malleable category, so you can adapt it over time.

Also, I would be willing to bet that some features demonstrate increased maleability during certain stages in life. For instance, I do think the OP has a good thought in surmising that young people who were very active during their early 20's might have had a better shot at unintentionally increasing LBM during this stage in their life as that is a time period when many people are still growing, usually broader not taller, and in general adding to their overall muscle density. There's a reason late teenagers aren't a match for true adults in the strength department even when they're roughly the same size. Most people add at least some muscle weight during this time, even when not trying. The freshman 15 happens for many reasons.

Fithealthyforlife

Also, I would be willing to bet that some features demonstrate increased maleability during certain stages in life. For instance, I do think the OP has a good thought in surmising that young people who were very active during their early 20's might have had a better shot at unintentionally increasing LBM during this stage in their life as that is a time period when many people are still growing, usually broader not taller, and in general adding to their overall muscle density. There's a reason late teenagers aren't a match for true adults in the strength department even when they're roughly the same size. Most people add at least some muscle weight during this time, even when not trying. The freshman 15 happens for many reasons.

Very true. I think men tend to build muscle through their 20s, even without *working out*, assuming they're active and actually eating enough (unlike me, who was eating a deficit and wasted a few years). And with working out, men can still build crazy muscle until about 45. (But I've read that without working out, muscle mass starts to decline in the early 30s for men.) It's likely similar for women in terms of what happens at which ages. (And clearly, according to what you all have written, women, too, can indeed build muscle without weight lifting...provided one is eating enough.)

I have to say, since I've been working out with light weights for a year and heavy ones for a couple of months now, I feel like I've added actual bone mass...by the subjective feeling when I touch my wrists and elbows...it seems like there's more bone. My jaw definitely got more defined in the past 10 years too. But then again, I also drink a lot milk, eat cheese and yogurt, ice cream, etc...all calcium-rich foods.

If you don't have the raw materials (micro nutrients and even just sheer calories) you can't build muscle or bone. I was such a skinny, weak little thing when I was on a deficit diet (and am still below average in weight even after 2 months or so of eating right and gaining half a pound a week). No one else in my family is like this, so genetics can't be it. It's got to be the deficit that caused it. I'm still almost 15 lbs below my high school weight (and I was approx the same 8% body fat back then as I am now.) It's much "harder" to build muscle now in terms of nutrients needed...I have to eat more than I did when I was still growing in height. That said, I have more energy now. Hopefully no permanent damage was done! I don't want to be small and weak forever, and then become prone to diabetes or osteoporosis later in life as a result of having low LBM! That's why I changed my habits. That and the fact that skinny men aren't attractive to most women. I didn't know I was undereating by 1,000 calories before...had no idea...until I joined MFP. I thought I just couldn't build muscle due to genetics.

neandermagnon

regarding 30% room for non-genetic factors.... In my experience, genetics still plays the main part. I did judo in my teens and ice hockey in my late teens and early 20s. I did attempt to do weights workouts, but I was using much too light weights out of total ignorance and not having a clue what i was doing. Due to having a complete moron of a judo coach, I was regularly starving myself to make too-light weight categories (this is one reason why I'm so vocal about this topic!!!) so I was probably losing lean body mass more than gaining it.... anyway this one time in the gym these guys cornered me and tried to convince me to train with much heavier weights, they got me to bench press (on a machine) heavier and heavier to find out how much I really could lift... anyway I benched 35kg (77lb) for a couple of reps, so they told me I should use much heavier weights... trouble is I was getting a bunch of really crappy advice from the BMI chart obsessed judo coach, so didn't listen to them out of ignorance and even confusion due to conflicting information ....anyway the judo coach basically ended my judo career because in the end I quit due to being sick of starving myself to make the under 56kg (123lb) weight category then being too weak to fight, and when I tried to start fighting in the under 61kg (134lb) weight category, instead of being advised to get in the gym to get strong enough to handle that weight category, he basically told me to lose 10kg (22lb) and that I should be fighting in the under 52 (114lb) or under 48kg (105lb) categories... based solely on BMI. I had visible upper abs at this time, and very little fat anywhere other than a small amount hiding my lower abs. So I would have been right at the low end of the healthy range for body fat percentage, where could I have lost 10kg from?

so anyway............. benching 35kg the first time I tried to do bench presses with a proper amount of weight - genetics. I had a high lean body mass for my height in spite of starving myself to make a weight category I shouldn't have been fighing in - genetics, ....and idiots with BMI charts can do a huge amount of physical and psychological damage to teenagers. I nearly developed an eating disorder as a result of the above. Thankfully i got into ice hockey before I had done any damage to myself (yes unfortunately I carried on with periodically starving myself even after i quit judo), so basically gave a big f*** you to having to weight a particular number of kilos, and played in defence where having a lot of lean body mass and strength is an asset, and no more trying to lose weight, totally emotional freedom from that mentality :drinker:

I'm sure I have more lean body mass than I would have if I'd never done any sport or anything else that required strength (like fighting with the boys lol) I would have had less lean body mass than I do now, but on the other hand I've done stuff (including weight watchers about 7 years ago, losing 3lb a week while doing next to no exercise) that will have resulted in losses of lean body mass. I can bench more now than I could at 16 but really not that much more. So there's a mixture of factors that would result in me having more lean mass and others that would result in me having less lean mass. In terms of now, i'm going to mainly be bulking, with cuts in between as I tend to gain fat around my waist and that's not healthy, so got to keep that under control, but I don't really know whether I'm at my genetic potential for LBM or not. Or if I could have had more lean body mass by now if I hadn't done stupid dieting or self-starvation things in the past, or if I've regained all that from playing ice hockey in my late teens/20s and from doing powerlifting now. So who knows really.... it's extremely hard to separate genetics from the environment, but I really think that my build comes from genetics a lot more than sport.

3laine75

i don't fit into this category but my eldest daughter definitely does. she is only, imo, slightly overweight with a bf% of around 28 (5' 6)- however, weight wise, she's sitting at 12.5 stone and by the standard NHS BMI checks would be classed as obese :S

i am carrying more bodyfat but i fall into the normal range (just)! for her, this is a mixture of genetics and being an ex-boxer. as myself and my younger daughter do not have much LBM, i'd say she is blessed with good genetics from her father - and could easily enter competitions just by cutting.

i think her next thing is going to be powerlifting - we've just set up a home gym and she started off squatting and powercleaning 40kg straight off the bat whereas i had to start off with a broomhandle and 2.5kg weights to get up to that

Koldnomore

I'm still at 28-32% body fat and 160 pounds. But when I was younger and this weight I was much bigger around and vastly less fit. I have this funny chubby girl six pack, you can see my abs even though there is still some jiggle over them.

This is me, though my body fat might be a tad higher - I really have no idea. I carry it all in the tummy - like a guy. My shoulders are huge. I have higher testosterone levels than a lot of women thus when I do lift weights It is VERY obvious. I am not a fan of the muscular look but unfortunately I have not much choice - which is also why I have resisted going back to weight lifting. I did do some formal weight training about 3 years ago but even then I don't think I was doing anything too heavy as my back was really bad due to being very large chested. I quit because my calves stopped looking shapely and instead took on a very square look from the muscle. This squareness in my calves is back since I have lost weight

I have been doing physical jobs for most of my life and can out lift / push / pull most 'normal' guys my age/size. As a kid I was very active for the first few years of school. I played volleyball, rugby, field hockey and just about every other sport until I hit high school. At my heaviest I was 235 - now down to 160 ish. There is no fat on my legs save a teeny handful on my inner upper thighs. My arms have crazy definition with the exception of the typical 'bat wing' due to my age LOL (this has been reducing also with the weight loss).

I have always been told that I look like I 'work out' even when I haven't been doing anything at all. I'm actually very curious how it will play out as I lose more weight because I am fully convinced that I do actually have a decent six-pack under the chub without doing much of anything but I guess we'll find out in another few pounds.

DrMAvDPhD

A lot of women played sports and whatnot in high school. I have massive thigh muscles from ballet dancing from ages 3-16 that would take years of squats to build now.

Fabfitgirl5

Sorry I never finished reading what you wrote so I as I read it I edit my post LOL. I dated a body builder and had to cook for him for awhile, Eggs like 3 a day, rice and beans and chicken, I also ate brownies, cake and anything chocolate I could get my hands on. Once I ate 1lb in one day that was when I knew I had a problem and had to do something. My heaviest I was only 185lbs- my lightest was 150lbs but I was so hungry and mad I would have beat up a handicapped child for a burger.

bwaaaahahahahah..now that was funny!

elisabeisme

I had my body fat measured by a doctor about ten years ago. At the time I was doing practically zero exercise except for a tiny bit of walking. The doc was worried because my weight had been creeping up over the years from being such a sloth. My stats were:

Age 33
5'4"
weight 179
LBM 121.8
BF 62.8 (35.1%)

I used to swim in high school and rather broad shoulders and hips. Also, the doctor thought I had very dense strong bones. I use to (and still do) eat lots and lots of dairy and I have never broken a bone.

I haven't had my bf% professionally measured in the last couple years.

Helenavee42

I have always had a high LBM. Not genetic. I've always eaten pretty healthy and been pretty active for the most part. In high school I did guard for all 4 years and both seasons so I was always moving, dancing, running, should have lifted but didn't think of it at the time. I have a massive bone structure too (been told by many people i could do olympic lifting because of it.) My legs have awesome amount of muscle. I grew up in a house where you had your protein veggies and fruit at dinner no exceptions. We never had a lot of junk in the house and snacking was a no-no but somehow I've always been overweight.

Stats:
Age-23
Height- 5'5
Weight-317 lbs
BF- 30%(95.1 lbs)
LBM-221.9

bokodasu

Don't forget that LBM is not "muscle", it's "everything that isn't fat". If you're a 250-lb woman with 150 lbs of LBM, and not nutritionally deficient, a lot of that is going to be water, bone, skin... stuff you're not going to preserve by lifting heavy. (Well, bones yes, but not the water and skin and not even all your organ weight. Your liver will slim down, true fact!) But yeah, try walking around with a 100-lb sandbag strapped to your back all the time, eating plenty, and see if you don't build up some muscle. It's the same thing as carrying around 100 extra lbs of body weight.

At almost 200 lbs, I had ~115 lbs of LBM, and at 135 I have around 107ish, just for comparison. But I do have more muscle (yes! Really! Because I work very hard at it, not because I accidentally picked up a dumbbell while starving myself and got Arnold-arms!) and less other stuff.

Fun fact: want to cheat one of those handheld bf monitors? Eat salty, drink lots of water. Poof! Magically your LBM will be 5 or more percentage points higher. (Because water is not fat, so you're heavier, but your fat pounds didn't change, so they're a smaller percentage of the weight.)

Fithealthyforlife

Don't forget that LBM is not "muscle", it's "everything that isn't fat". If you're a 250-lb woman with 150 lbs of LBM, and not nutritionally deficient, a lot of that is going to be water, bone, skin... stuff you're not going to preserve by lifting heavy. (Well, bones yes, but not the water and skin and not even all your organ weight. Your liver will slim down, true fact!) But yeah, try walking around with a 100-lb sandbag strapped to your back all the time, eating plenty, and see if you don't build up some muscle. It's the same thing as carrying around 100 extra lbs of body weight.

At almost 200 lbs, I had ~115 lbs of LBM, and at 135 I have around 107ish, just for comparison. But I do have more muscle (yes! Really! Because I work very hard at it, not because I accidentally picked up a dumbbell while starving myself and got Arnold-arms!) and less other stuff.

Fun fact: want to cheat one of those handheld bf monitors? Eat salty, drink lots of water. Poof! Magically your LBM will be 5 or more percentage points higher. (Because water is not fat, so you're heavier, but your fat pounds didn't change, so they're a smaller percentage of the weight.)

Organs, too are part of LBM!

Not only that, but I was reading an article that said that in certain people, skinfold methods are extremely inaccurate because of large amounts of visceral fat. People don't even know they have it, and the heavier you are, the more you have.

djzeeko

I know this thread is dead but just in case someone is googling like I am, I'd like to share my input.

I'm 5'5", and my weight has varied from 230 - 170 lb. During the time I lost those 60 lb, I maintained 124 lb LBM. Life happened, I slacked, and currently my LBM is 120 lb out of 188 lb total. Doctors and gym employees tend to give me a surprised look when calculating my stats.

I grew up a fat kid, but I was fairly active. I went from playing softball to riding my bike to swimming like a fish. I remember being really small and picking up my dad's loaded 60 lb barbell like it was nothing (followed by a panicked and stern scolding from dad). I never shy away from lifting heavy things; in fact, I look for it. Friend has a lot of groceries? I can handle that. Friend needs to move heavy furniture? Sign me up. I tend to be the strongest of my friends who don't strength train.

As for food, I was never afraid to eat my fair share of protein. I like veggies and always have, but I also liked junk food . I think this + the unintentional exercise has a lot to do with how my body is built today.

As for this thread, it's really motivated me to start lifting again. I've never really thought about my weight situation as an advantage until reading the posts here. Thanks for the support as always, everyone