Measuring body muscle mass, a crucial indicator of health and fitness, involves determining the proportion of skeletal muscle in one’s total body weight. A common method is bioelectrical impedance analysis, where a device sends a low-level electrical current through the body and measures its resistance, as lean muscle tissue conducts electricity more readily than fat.
Understanding body muscle mass is essential for various reasons. It aids in assessing overall health, setting realistic fitness goals, and evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. Historically, the development of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning in the 1980s revolutionized the accuracy and accessibility of body composition measurements, including muscle mass.