08/31/2026
The number on the scale — or on a body comp report — doesn't tell the whole story. 📊
For athletes especially (especially female athletes due to monthly hormonal changes) , "lean mass" and "muscle mass" get used like they're interchangeable.
They're not.
Lean mass includes muscle, but also water, organs, connective tissue, and glycogen.
So when that number shifts, it doesn't always mean your muscle changed — hydration and fueling alone can move it.
I demonstrated this firsthand stepping on the Seca body composition scale at the conference this last weekend and walking through my own body comp numbers in real time to show exactly how much that reading can shift without any real change in muscle.
To be clear: none of this means body composition testing isn't valuable — it is, when it's done right.
The problem isn't the measurement, it's how it's often taken and read.
A validated, medical-grade device, a standardized protocol (same time of day, hydration status, fasted state), and someone trained to interpret trends over time — that's what turns a number into actually useful information, instead of a source of anxiety.
The takeaway: we don't need to chase the "leanest" number.
We need to look at how you're fueling, training, recovering, and performing — and build a strong, well-fueled, healthy athlete from there.
Save this for the next time a number messes with your head — and send it to a teammate who needs to see it too.
Want help making sense of your own numbers?
Send me a DM — that's exactly the kind of thing I work through with athletes.
