Lean body mass

Method

Fat-free soft tissue mass (FFM) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or by a method recorded on the edge where DXA was not used.

The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.

Notes

Method matters more here than almost anywhere else in this file. DXA, bioelectrical impedance and hydrostatic weighing disagree materially, and creatine's known intracellular water retention inflates several of them. A curator must record the method or the edge means very little. Reported as FFM as often as by name, and an extraction was refused because the span "FFM" shared no vocabulary with "Lean body mass". This paragraph used to continue "there is no abbreviation field" and explain that FFM had therefore been worked into the measurement instead. The field was added afterwards and this note was not, so it sat one line below the `abbreviations: [FFM]` it denied the existence of — and it is the note a curator reads before deciding how to record an acronym. Corrected 2026-08-23, when RPE and CMJ hit the identical refusal. What remains true, and is the part worth keeping: an acronym is scored only from the LABEL, the MEASUREMENT, the slug, or `abbreviations`. Notes are not scored, deliberately, so that discussion of a near-miss cannot enlarge the vocabulary that defines it. Strictly LBM includes essential lipid and FFM does not; the difference is a few percent, the measurement already specifies fat-free soft tissue, and this literature uses the two interchangeably.

Findings

1 finding from 1 compound, strongest first.

• creatine — increases

  BLikelyGrade B, Likely. Human evidence, limited replication or design limits.Finding

  “Both novice and experienced lifters gained FFM with Cr supplementation compared to placebo.”

  Study

  meta-analysis

  Population

  trained and untrained adults undergoing resistance training

  Creatine supplementation and resistance training: a comparison between novice and experienced lifters - a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.2025PMID:41433021An author is affiliated with a producer