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Weight Training to Avoid Looking Skinny Fat

Just because you're thin doesn't mean you're not fat. But how can you be skinny and fat at the same time? Well, to answer this question you must understand how body composition differs from weight. Your body is made up of muscle, fat, water, blood, bones and all of your internal organs. But when we discuss body composition, we are referring to the amount of visible fat versus visible muscle you have.

If you want to find out how much body fat you have, click here.

Am I Skinny Fat?

Regardless of your weight, your body composition can either be primarily fat or primarily muscular.
When you are thin, but have no (or very little) muscle definition, you are skinny fat. Despite your small size and low weight, you have more fat than muscle. You can identify whether you are skinny fat if you are small for your height but may be able to see jiggly or saggy body parts, dents, dimples, cottage cheese, or a general lack of muscle definition. But not to worry, skinny fat can be easily cured...with strength training.

How to Change Body Composition

The best way to not be skinny fat is to build muscle. By building muscle, you reduce the amount of body fat you have and increase your lean muscle mass. Your body will look more toned, and all of those dents and dimples you thought were reserved for the overweight will smooth out. Also, by building muscle you speed up your metabolism. This occurs because muscle takes more fuel to maintain than fat, so your body burns more calories, even at rest, to feed all of that muscles. With a faster metabolism, you will be burning more fat and further decreasing the skinny fat look,.

How to Build More Muscle

So how do you build more muscle? Engage in strength training 2-3 times per week, for at least 20 minutes per session. You don't have to be a body builder to tone your muscles and add some lean muscle mass to replace body fat. You can lift weights by doing exercises like curls, presses and leg extensions, or you can do body-weight exercises like push ups, sit ups and squats.

Learn more about the benefits of squatting here.

Protein and Muscle Building

You also have to eat for muscle building. Protein is the key element in building muscle, so eating the right amount of protein will help you build, and keep, muscle. Using a protein calculator can help you determine how many grams of protein you should be eating every day based on your size and activity level to accomplish this goal.

By building muscle and eating the right amount of protein, you can effectively transform your body composition from fat to muscle and eliminate the appearance of being skinny fat.

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