Measuring Muscle Mass Percentage with Dr. Chris Perry, Anders Varner, Travis Mash and Doug Larson #823

Barbell Shrugged

Doug Larson

Business, Training, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Paleo, Weightlifting, Nutrition, Crossfit

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week's episode of Barbell Shrugged, Anders Varner, Doug Larson, Coach Travis Mash, and Dr. Chris Perry dive deep into the real science of muscle mass, why it's the single most important tissue in the human body and what happens when you don't have enough of it. They cover everything from how muscle mass impacts disease risk, hormone balance, metabolism, and injury prevention to why being "under-muscled" may be just as dangerous as being overweight. Dr. Perry explains how strength training and nutrition can reverse age-related muscle loss and why the decade between your mid-30s and mid-40s is the most critical window for building a foundation of health and longevity.

The crew breaks down what healthy muscle mass standards actually look like for men and women across different age groups and introduces a new way to measure it. RAPID Health's new partnership with Springbok Analytics uses MRI imaging to directly quantify muscle tissue, pinpoint asymmetries, and reveal where strength or mobility imbalances may be putting you at risk. For the first time, anyone, not just pro athletes or research labs, can see their true muscle mass percentage and track real progress over time.

The conversation wraps with practical takeaways for training and nutrition: how often to lift, how hard to push, and how much protein you need per meal as you age. They explain why cardio and resistance training both matter, how to optimize your muscle-to-fat ratio, and why "getting jacked" is one of the best health investments you can make. Learn more about RAPID's new MRI-driven Muscle Health and Performance program launching this week in Austin, TX go to OptimaMuscle.com beginning on Monday Nov 17th to learn more and get started.

Work With Us: Arétē by RAPID Health Optimization

Links:

Anders Varner on Instagram

Doug Larson on Instagram

Coach Travis Mash on Instagram

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Shark family this week on barbedo stroke. Dr. Perry is back. Dr. Christopher Perry. And today we're
0:06.2	talking about muscle standards. How you can get more of it. What is the right amount? Is there any
0:12.4	negativity to having too much? You know, for all those crazy bodybuilders out there that are super,
0:18.6	super beyond. Jack, looking like the bovine cow on the
0:21.6	picture on Google, just shredded cow, but shredded human. Friends, as always, make sure you get over
0:30.2	to rapid health report.com. That's where Dan Garner, Dr. Andy Galpin, are doing a free lab lifestyle
0:35.2	and performance analysis, and you can access that
0:37.5	over at rapid health report.com. Friends, let's get it in the show.
0:43.9	Welcome to Barbile Strug, I'm Anders Warner. Doug Larson, coach Travis Mash, Dr. Chris Perry,
0:48.6	homies back on the show. Today on Barb Al Shrug, we're talking about muscle mass, how much you need
0:53.5	standards for it. But let's start off. We're talking about muscle mass, how much you need standards for it.
0:54.8	But let's start off with talking about all the things for the people that don't have it.
0:59.5	This is the inspiration.
1:00.8	We're going to go down a rabbit hole of all the negativity that will come without you being jacked.
1:06.0	Yeah.
1:07.0	Yeah, you're screwed.
1:08.3	Yeah.
1:09.0	Handle it.
1:09.3	Real science is telling you how bad your life is about to be in the long term without muscle mass. And now, take it away. Without further ado, destroy them, sir. Tell them to get jacked. You ain't getting that. It is muscle mass. Muscle is the most important tissue in the human body. I'm just going to go ahead and say it. You hear so many individuals talk about that now when it comes to your injury risk,
1:31.7	your disease resilience, like everything goes back to healthy muscle tissue.
1:36.3	Because yes, it's about strength. It's about your overall amount of mass you have.
1:41.5	So yeah, being jacked is cool, but at the same time, being healthy
	...

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