This is how 5 pounds of muscle compares to 5 pounds of fat.

Last week at our annual owners conference, Koko Jam,  I had a captive audience for a brief lesson on the importance of body composition and how Smartraining gets you fit from the inside out. True fitness is not about being skinny and watching the numbers on your bathroom scale drop. Stepping on a scale does not tell you the whole story. Today I want to share this information with the rest of Koko Nation.

When you work out at Koko FitClub each week,  your goal is to complete 3 strength training sessions and 3-4 cardio sessions,  totaling the approximately 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise recommended by the  CDC. What I want to teach you more about is the incredible changes happening to your body physiologically when you are consistent with your Koko Smartraining over  the course of each 8 week program: You build more of the most important tissue in your body - MUSCLE - your metabolic engine.

Each and every strength and cardio session at Koko FitClub is helping you to build that internal engine (muscle) which increases  your metabolic rate (calorie burn.) And remember, your heart is a muscle and with Koko Cardio you’re making that stronger, too. With consistent Smartraining, you can expect to add 1-2 pounds of muscle every 8-20 weeks according to the research that has been published to date.

This is critically important, because adults lose muscle at a rate of a half a pound per year or more when you’re NOT strength training. That is 5-8 pounds of metabolically active tissue lost each decade. Now, add to the equation  the 1-2 pounds of fat the average baby boomer layers on each year. The result? Every year,  the average person is essentially replacing muscle with fat – and then some. Think of your friends and family who are not Smartraining – their softening appearance, chronic health conditions, low energy level,  aches and pains,  poor posture – this is what a steady decline of lean muscle looks like – and it’s not pretty.

Koko Nation, you want to gain muscle weight! Lean muscle tissue requires 3.5 times more calories per pound to maintain each day compared to fat.  When that engine is running optimally, you will feel better, look better, have more energy, be healthier and you will find yourself able to do things you never thought possible. Building muscle  is especially important as you age. If you want to maintain your functionality and healthy quality of life as you enter the 6th, 7th and 8th decades of life and beyond, keep Smartraining!

The nice side effect of having a fit body composed of a high percentage of muscle is that muscle takes up less space pound for pound than fat.  A lot less space. (Take a look at that photo again- 5 pounds of fat takes up 3 times more space than 5 pounds of muscle.) So, if you work consistently to increase the amount of lean muscle tissue in your body through strength training, it’s possible to  jump on the scale and weight the same- or more-  but look svelter , feel better and be fitter.  Remember: stepping on a scale does not tell you the whole story.

So, don’t give so much credence to the bathroom scale. Each and every Koko session, I want you to remember that your goal, with all the hard work you’re putting in at Koko FitClub, is building your metabolic engine. Smartraining is about getting fit from the inside out and changing your body’s composition so it has more muscle and less fat. Don’t ever be afraid to put on muscle weight. You’ll look and feel great, and more importantly, it will pay back great dividends later in life when you need it most.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub