muscle mass

Do men lose a lot of muscle mass with bariatric surgery?

Yes, if they don't keep up their protein levels and exercise. Even with getting enough protein and good exercise, some loss of mucle mass is almost certain. Your goal should be to lose as little as possible, but it will never be zero.

Hi Burgis  

If you have not done so be sure and post this on the Men 's Forum too  

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Exactly what Ms Batt said. You will absolutely lose LBM (lean body mass), whi*****ludes bone, organ, everything except fat. Everything on the morbidly obese has gotten bigger in order for us to function. Muscles have to be bigger to move our fat a$$es around, our hearts need to be larger, heavier bones to support our weight, etc. 

You can minimize the amount of LBM lost while losing weight by making sure you get enough protein, and doing weight training. Heavy weights. If you can do more than 8 to 10 repetions of any particular exercise, the weight isn't heavy enough. (Once your surgeon says it is ok after surgery. Mine said 8 weeks). 

Again, you will lose some LBM while losing lots of weight, but if you do those things, you can minimize it, and maximize fat loss.

Also, you can gain strength, even while losing muscle mass, but you cannot gain additional muscle while on a long term caloric deficit. The only way to add muscle tissue is to eat more calories than your body needs -- which also leads to addition fat, and weight. Bodybuilders are very familiar with this process, and refer to it as cutting and bulking. Just remembrr that strength, endurance, and muscle mass are not the same thing.

Women should note that this works exactly the same for them.

Except that women tend to lose even MORE LBM---that testosterone thing, y'know. (*grin*)

I don't know. My ex had a LOT of testosterone. She probably had more than most men I've met.

I had a hydrostatic weigh in about a month after surgery and then again 7 months later.

In that time, I lost about 80 lbs.  28%  of that was LBM loss and 72% was fat lost.

There is no way in losing 120 lbs total I could maintain all the LBM that I had before surgery.

This is pretty close to a couple of studies I've seen. Thanks for sharing it.