How Do I Know What Fat-to-Muscle Ratio to Aim For?

You’re closing in on your goal weight and want your healthy new physique to reflect your hard work and improved fitness. What fat-to-muscle ratio should you be aiming for? The answer depends on several factors unique to you. 

Here, our experts at Physicians WEIGHT LOSS Centers Pompano Beach shed light on what it means to reach your “ideal” fat-to-muscle ratio and explain how this health indicator fits into the bigger picture of your personal wellness and vitality.  

Understanding body mass composition 

Weight loss isn’t just about reaching a lower number on the scale or fitting into a smaller pant size. Shedding excess fat is just as important as maintaining — and in many cases, increasing — healthy muscle mass.    

The term body composition encompasses this so-called fat-to-muscle ratio, in the sense that your physical health requires you to maintain both a certain amount of fat and a certain amount of muscle. What qualifies as an “ideal” range depends on your gender, age, and fitness goals. 

What’s an “ideal” body fat percentage? 

The most straightforward way to establish your body’s ideal fat-to-muscle ratio is simply by determining a healthy body fat percentage range based on your individual attributes. 

Men naturally have a lower ideal body fat percentage range than women. 

For both genders, body fat increases naturally with age.

Let’s take a closer look at general body fat percentage guidelines:

Gender

On average, a healthy body fat percentage ranges from 18-24% for men and 25-31% for women. This range variation is linked to gender-related hormonal differences.  

Fitness level

Highly active adults or athletes typically aim for the lower end of the healthy body fat percentage range for their gender. 

An ideal body fat percentage for a male athlete is 6-13%, while an ideal range for an athletic female is 14-20%. Less active individuals typically land on the higher end of the healthy body fat percentage range.  

Age

Middle-aged and older adults have slightly higher healthy body fat percentage ranges because extra fat in older age helps sustain body temperature and protect against injury. 

What’s an ideal amount of muscle mass?

Muscle mass percentage is much like fat percentage in that there are gender, age, and activity level differences. 

For example, the average young man has 40-44% muscle mass, while the average middle-aged man has 36-40% muscle mass.  

The average young woman has 31-33% muscle mass. By middle age, it drops to about 29-31%. Athletic individuals usually have more muscle mass. 

When it comes to your strength, fitness, and long-term well-being, maintaining an average or higher muscle mass percentage for your age and gender is always better than having low muscle mass — which can sometimes be just as unhealthy as carrying excess fat.  

Determining your body fat percentage

It’s possible to determine how much fat you have with a skinfold caliper test, which simply measures skin fold thickness at specific body points to calculate your fat percentage. A healthy body fat percentage is an accurate indicator of good overall health. 

However, this basic method only assesses subcutaneous fat just below the skin. It doesn’t accurately capture the presence of deep visceral fat in your belly — the kind that can harm your organs and undermine your health. It also doesn’t measure muscle mass. 

Schedule a body mass analysis checkup 

We have a comprehensive solution. Our body mass analysis uses sophisticated, noninvasive body scanning technology to provide detailed information about bone mass, muscle mass, and body fat percentage. 

With this information, you can see your percentage — and you can tweak your weight loss and training program to reach your fitness and body goals more efficiently. 

You might decide to stick to the same wellness path you’re on, improve your nutrition, or take advantage of rapid muscle sculpting or noninvasive body contouring options. 

Ready to get specific with your body goals?

There’s no single “ideal” fat-to-muscle ratio. Instead, you should aim for a body fat percentage within the healthy range for your gender, age, and fitness goals. Also, aim to preserve or build muscle mass — especially as you age. 

To learn how body mass analysis can help you reach your body goals, schedule a visit at Physicians WEIGHT LOSS Centers Pompano Beach in Lighthouse Point, Florida, today.