Free tool
How much muscle are you risking?
Six questions about the last month. You get a score out of 100, a breakdown of which factor is doing the damage, and the one thing to change first. It estimates risk factors from what you tell us. It is not a diagnosis and it cannot see inside you.
0
out of 100. Higher means more of the things that cost people muscle are stacked up at once.
Where the score came from
Each factor carries a different weight, because they do not cost you the same amount. The three you can change are at the top.
Change this first
What to watch over the next three weeks
You cannot see muscle going. You can see these, and all three move before the mirror does.
One strength test, weekly
Sit-to-stands in 30 seconds, or press-ups in one set. Same movement, same day, same way. Fat loss does not make you weaker. A number falling three weeks running is muscle.
Protein weekly average
Grams a day averaged across seven days, not judged on one bad Tuesday. Below 1.2 g per kg of goal weight is where the trouble starts.
Upper arm tape
Same arm, same spot, relaxed, centimetres or inches. Your waist will shrink whatever you do. If the arm shrinks at the same rate, that is lean tissue leaving.
Weight, last
The number everyone watches and the least useful one on its own. It cannot tell you what you lost. Keep it, rank it fourth.
Get your score explained, plus the five-day course
What each factor means for you, how to run the three numbers every Sunday, and five short emails on keeping muscle while the weight comes off. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
On its way. The first email lands in a minute.
The Keep Muscle Kit
The plan that pulls every one of those factors down
The 12-week workbook, the 2-Day Strength Plan you can do at home, meal plans at three protein levels, the Sunday tracker and the injection-day card. 107 pages, instant download.
How the score is built, in full
We would rather you could check our working than trust a black box. Five factors, weighted by how much each one contributes to lean mass loss in the research and in what we see coaching people over 45.
| Factor | Worth | Why that much |
|---|---|---|
| Rate of loss | 30 | Scored as a percentage of your body weight a week, so the same kilo means more for a smaller person. Under 0.5% scores nothing. Over 1.5% a week scores the lot, because at that speed the body has to take material from somewhere and muscle is the easiest place. |
| Protein | 28 | Measured against your goal weight, not today's. At or above 1.6 g per kg it scores nothing. Below 0.9 g per kg it scores the lot. This is the single biggest lever you control today. |
| Strength training | 22 | Two sessions a week scores nothing, one scores half, none scores the lot. Protein supplies the material. Training is the signal that tells the body to keep it rather than burn it. |
| Age | 12 | Under 45 scores nothing, then it climbs in steps to 75 and over. Muscle protein synthesis responds less to the same meal and the same session as the decades pass, so the same habits buy you less. |
| Sex | 8 | Women start with less muscle in absolute terms, so the same loss takes a larger share of what is there and reaches the point of affecting daily tasks sooner. It is a small adjustment, not a verdict. |
Bands: under 25 is low, 25 to 49 moderate, 50 to 74 high, 75 and over very high. The bands describe how many risk factors are stacked up, not how much muscle you have lost. Two people on the same score can be in different places.
What this tool is not
It cannot measure your body composition. Nothing you type into a web page can. A DEXA scan measures it, a good bioimpedance scale estimates it, and a weekly strength test tells you the direction, which is usually what you actually need to know. Treat this score as a list of the things worth fixing, in order.
If you are losing weight far faster than you expected, feeling weak or unwell, or your appetite has gone entirely, that is a conversation with the doctor who prescribed your medication. Not with us, and not with a calculator.
The other free tools
- Goal weight protein calculatorThe target set from where you are heading, not where you are, with the food to match.
- Strength test trackerOne test a week, charted, printable. The number that answers this question properly.
- Injection day plannerThree days of eating and training built around your dose day.
- Meal protein builderBuild a plate and see the protein, the energy and the volume before you cook it.
This tool estimates risk factors from what you tell it. It does not diagnose anything, it cannot measure muscle, and a low score is not a guarantee. Nutrition and strength coaching, not medical advice. Anything to do with your medication, your dose, or symptoms that worry you belongs with your prescribing doctor.