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Fat % and LBM lost or attained

bb1fit Posts: 11,105 Joined: 2001/06/30	2006/10/13, 02:52 PM Some of the more constant members of the board have probably read posts of mine referring to P-ratio, or partitioning factor. Thought maybe a bit of an explanation may help, and my guy Lyle just happen to put this up...so for anyone curious, read on... Partitioning refers to the percentages or amounts of lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM) which are lost or gained during dieting or overfeeding respectively. If it's easier, you may want to think about partitioning in terms of where nutrients are 'sent' after they are ingested. That is, incoming nutrients can be partitioned into muscle or fat cells, depending on a host of factors. Partitioning also determines where those calories 'come from', when you're dieting. Researchers refer to the concept of partitioning as the P-ratio which is simply the ratio of LBM that is lost (or gained) relative to the total amount of weight lost (or gained). So a loss of 1 pound of LBM for every 4 pounds of total weight lost (i.e. 1 lb LBM, 3 lbs fat) would yield a P-ratio of 1:4 or 0.25. A loss of 1 pound of LBM for every 10 lbs of total weight lost (i.e. 1 lb LBM, 9 lbs fat) would yield a 1:10 or 0.10 P-ratio. Note: strictly speaking, this isn't how P-ratio is defined in research but the above makes more sense in terms of what people are actually trying to accomplish so I'm going to use my bastardized version. So, when you're dieting, you want the P-ratio as low as possible, meaning you're losing mainly fat and very little LBM. When the goal is gaining weight, you want the opposite, a high P-ratio, which means that you're gaining lots of LBM relative to the total amount of weight gained. That is, of the total weight being gained, very little of it is bodyfat. Don't worry too much about the numbers, just get the general idea set in your mind: P ratio is the amount of protein gained (or lost) relative to the total amount of weight gained (or lost). When you want to gain muscle, you want a high P-ratio (lots of protein gained relative to the total weight gained); when you want to lose fat, you want a low P-ratio (little protein lost relative to total weight lost). -------------- Maximus from Gladiator....Strength and Honor!
DGJDynasty Posts: 1 Joined: 2006/10/13	2006/10/13, 03:00 PM basically this post is stating that whether u are trying to lose or gain weight, do so in a manner that increases lbm for those trying to gain weight and minimize the amount of lbm u lose when u want to lose weight through diet
bb1fit Posts: 11,105 Joined: 2001/06/30	2006/10/13, 03:07 PM Well, yes, in its most basic form you are correct, but there are optimal periods of BM when your P-factor is more optimal than others. Hormones go whacky at different points of leaness and bodyfat that greatly affect this ratio. -------------- Maximus from Gladiator....Strength and Honor!