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There are a few phrases that the fitness industry has burned into the brains of the general population. Many of us have said at least one of these phrases at some point — “building lean muscle,” “getting toned,” and “long, lean muscles.” All of these are very frequently stated as physique outcomes people want from nutrition and exercise programs.
Fitness influencers and celebrity coaches often advertise that their particular brand of exercise will help clients achieve “long, lean, or toned” physiques. And often we see athletes or instructors who look a certain way and we naturally are inclined to think, “If I just do what that person is doing, I’ll look that way!”
But can we actually achieve these types of physiques through Pilates, yoga, swimming, barre classes, etc? Is it all genetic? What actually influences how our muscles look on our bodies?
Let’s Break It Down…
The truth is there are some factors we do have control over when it comes to how “lean” or “bulky” we look. But there are also a number of factors that we inherit from our parents and don’t have any control over.
A Note on “Lean Muscle”
Just to clear things up right off the bat — the term “lean muscle” is actually somewhat of a misnomer. In fact, all muscle is technically “lean,” meaning it does not contain fat tissue. When influencers advertise building “lean muscle,” as opposed to “bulky” muscle, they are usually referring to how bodies appear with low levels of body fat and visible muscle.
Muscle Size
We really only have a few options when it comes to influencing the appearance of our muscles. The primary mechanism we have to change the way our muscles look and function are pretty simple: we can grow them (hypertrophy) or we can let them shrink (atrophy).
Put very simply, we achieve muscle hypertrophy through training and recovery — we challenge the muscle via exercise, we recover with sufficient time and nutritional intake, and our muscles adapt to get stronger, larger, and/or have more endurance.
Certain types of exercise, like strength training and sprinting, are better for increasing the size of our muscles, while other types, such as long distance running, can improve endurance at the muscular and cardiovascular levels.
Muscle atrophy happens primarily as a result of disuse but can also be influenced by aging, nutritional intake, and neurological dysfunction.
Fiber Type
You may have heard of slow vs. fast twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch fibers are ideal for sprinting, heavy lifting, and explosiveness. Whereas slow twitch fibers are favored for endurance and much more fatigue resistant.
For the most part, genetics and age determine fiber type. With lots of consistent training, you may be able to shift some of your muscle fibers to another type, but the impact will be pretty small.
You might have an idea of what type of fiber type is dominant in your body, or if you have a balance of both based on where you and maybe even your kids excel or struggle in sports! (Let’s just say for my daughter, she’s not likely to enjoy a life of marathon running. That girl is built for power!).
Muscle Length
This is where many fitness influencers miss the mark.
The length of our muscles is solely influenced by the length of our limbs, not what type of exercise we do. We cannot make our muscles longer or shorter. Muscles attach to bones.
Generally, taller people have longer limb lengths, but long limbs relative to height can be possible as well. People with longer limbs generally have the appearance of lengthened muscles, and often find themselves in sports that favor tall or lengthy stature.
A good example of this: Simone Biles, a gymnast, who is 4’8”, compared to Katie Ledecky, a swimmer who is 6’0”. Both women are the best in the world at their respective sports, are both lean and muscular, and have very different appearances — likely due to their limb lengths.
Muscle Insertion & Tendon Length
This is an interesting one — not all people have muscles that are the exact same length or proportion to one another. While the muscles from one person to another may have generally the same insertion points and functions, they can differ substantially based on how long the muscle is versus the tendon (the soft tissue which attaches muscle to bone) as well as where the muscle belly sits.
This can drastically change both the appearance and the various strengths of different athletes.
Take, for example, the calf muscles of a sprinter compared to those of an endurance athlete like a cyclist. While their activities do likely influence some of the appearance of the muscles, much of the differences you see here are purely genetic — where certain lower limb muscles start and end as well as how long the achilles tendon is.
Body Fat Percentage
More often than not, when people describe a long, lean, or toned physique, they generally mean a physique characterized by relatively low body fat percentage as well as visible muscle.
This means it’s not just about building muscle — it has a lot to do with body fat. Changes in body fat percentage, however, are primarily driven by caloric intake versus caloric expenditure. And while we can use exercise to impact that equation, it’s much more effective to achieve a caloric deficit via nutritional modifications.
Nature vs. Nurture
I think it’s important to discuss the misconception that because someone looks a certain way and they happen to participate in a specific exercise type or activity, that simply doing that activity or mimicking their workout regimen and nutrition will lead to looking like that person.
We all understand intuitively that tall people tend to end up in the NBA because they’re tall (among other things). Most of us don’t believe that playing basketball makes them tall.
However, it becomes more confusing when someone who promotes Pilates on Instagram (or yoga, or deep core, or bodybuilding, etc.), claims that if you just do what they do, you’ll look exactly like them!
Oftentimes, people end up participating in activities that suit their body type, genetics, and interests. It’s more enjoyable to swim butterfly, for example, when you have gigantic hands and feet and an abnormally long torso (looking at you, Michael Phelps).
In the same way, it may feel more comfortable to participate and succeed in bodybuilding if you build muscle relatively easily and have limb lengths that make muscles look larger.
My point is that there is often a “self fulfilling prophecy” aspect to why certain people love and are successful in different physical activities. That doesn’t necessarily mean that type of exercise will make us look like our favorite fitspo on Instagram.
At the End of the Day…
It’s up to you if you want to change the way you look, how your body functions, and the way you feel. But it’s helpful to understand what factors are at play when we have a specific vision in mind.
We can control some of how we look, and we can definitely control how strong, fit, and healthy we are! But keep in mind that you are uniquely you — your fiber types, muscle lengths, attachments, and even the size of your hands.
And if there are things you cannot change, I hope you can see them as parts of you that make you special and learn to accept (and maybe even appreciate!) them.
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