Skinny Girl's Quest for Muscle

Skinny Girl's Quest for Muscle
Build Muscle by Doing Absolutely Nothing

My workout partner (who is less motivated than myself) and I didn't make it to the gym for our weekend "leg day" workout. My trainer is out of town this week, and the weather is hot hot hot. All of this equals a giant lack of motivation to get myself to the gym or outside (running, bicycling, mountain biking, hiking, swimming, or even walking). My exercise this week to date consists of about 3 walks outside during lunch hours or breaks from work--and those performed in less than ideal shoes (today's are a pair of 4" heels). Plus, a few minutes per day doing routine cleaning, gardening, playing with the dogs, etc. Although, over the weekend, I did sport my RYN rocker-sole shoes, which are claimed to build leg muscle (RYN and MBT shoes review to come soon).

After some stomach issues last week, I cut back on supplements as well and have only been taking HMB (about 1/3 the recommended dose), smaller amounts of creatine, and a couple other miscellaneous supplements. (No worries for those who are interested, I'm planning a supplement write-up soon.) My diet has remained somewhat the same if possibly a few less calories per day. My sleep is okay--not great.

So, what's the result of all of this non-muscle building activity? What do I get for being a total couch potato?

More Muscle!

Oddly enough, my Lean Mass is up and my Body Fat is down. I've calculated the difference using averages (averages over last week and averages over this week). All other factors equal. Here are the differences:

......................This Week ...... Last Week
Avg Weight (lbs)........ 124 ............ 125
Avg % Body Fat.......... 25% ............ 26%
Avg Lean Mass (lbs)..... 88 ............. 87

Unfortunately, I did not start using the "Athletic" setting on my body composition scale until just recently and am missing the data to be able to compare values based on corrected body fat (and lean mass) information. However, these are my corrected scores for just this week (using the "Athletic" setting). (For an explanation of "Athletic" setting and other information regarding my body composition scale, please see my review of the Tanita body composition scale.)

..................... This Week ("Athletic" settings)
Weight................ 124.6 lbs.
Body Fat.............. 23.3%
Lean Mass............. 90.8 lbs.

In the event that it's just a fluke in the data, I've also been trending my lean mass and body fat over the last year. So far, the results fit the trend with a very small spike this week.

What does all of this mean?

I suspect that when experts mention that rest is critical to developing muscle, they're spot on. Now I wouldn't expect my body to continue to build muscle without additional strengthening activities, and the sooner probably the better as I have been out of the gym for almost a week. However, my fears of becoming a couch potato as a result of this temporary lapse have been invalidated. Here's to my week of relaxation and also to getting my rear back to the gym very soon.

Until next time, go do something Athletic!