What Causes Skinny Fat and How Do I Address It?

January 30, 2025

by Jackie Wicks

Medically reviewed by: Dr. Ronald Mochizuki, MD

If you're at a healthy weight but notice your body looks soft in certain places no matter what you do, you might have "skinny fat."

What causes skinny fat—and more pressingly, how do you fix it?

Understanding what affects your body composition and how to improve it can open up new possibilities for achieving the muscular, healthy physique you’ve always wanted. Whether you're new to toning up or want to enhance your current routine, this guide will explain what causes skinny fat and explore practical strategies for building muscle to replace softness with strength and lasting definition.

What Does It Mean to Be Skinny Fat?

What is skinny fat exactly?

The term "skinny fat" might sound contradictory, but it describes a specific body composition that's become increasingly common in our modern world. When someone is skinny fat, they appear lean or maintain a normal weight but have a higher percentage of body fat and lower muscle mass than is optimal.

This body type can be particularly puzzling because traditional weight-loss advice often doesn't address the root cause. You might be hitting your target weight, but you can’t achieve the toned, healthy look you’re hoping for without adequate muscle mass.

Why It Matters

Understanding and addressing the skinny fat body type goes far beyond appearances. Research has shown that this particular body composition can significantly affect your overall health. One study even found that people with a normal weight but fat around their midsections had a higher mortality rate than those who were overweight with evenly distributed fat.

There are other health risks to having a skinny fat body type as well, including:

Increased risk of metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance
A higher likelihood of developing cardiovascular issues despite having a normal BMI
Reduced strength and physical performance in daily activities
Lower overall metabolic rate, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight long-term

Moreover, having low muscle mass combined with higher body fat can impact your energy levels, making you feel tired or weak even during routine activities. This can create a cycle where lack of energy leads to less activity, further contributing to muscle loss and fat gain.

Causes of the Skinny Fat Body Type

Wondering why some people develop skinny fat while others naturally maintain muscle tone? What causes skinny fat might surprise you. It's not only about how much you eat or even how often you exercise but rather the specific lifestyle factors that influence your body composition.

Understanding these causes can help you make targeted changes to improve your muscle tone and overall health.

Sedentary Lifestyle

In our modern world of desk jobs and digital entertainment, many of us spend most of our days sedentary—we’re driving, working at a desk, and then coming home to sit on the couch and scroll on our phones.

Even if you’re naturally slim, this sedentary lifestyle has a bigger impact on your body composition than you might think:

Daily calorie burn decreases, making it easier for fat to accumulate
Core strength diminishes from prolonged sitting
Metabolism slows down due to lack of regular movement

Even if you exercise for an hour a day, sitting for the remaining hours can impact your muscle mass and body composition.

Poor Nutrition

Having skinny fat is often caused by more than just eating too much or too little. Your diet's quality can affect how your body develops muscle and removes excess fat.

These dieting mistakes may contribute to a skinny fat body type:

Not consuming enough protein to maintain muscle mass
Relying too heavily on processed, nutrient-poor foods
Eating too few calories, causing muscle loss along with fat loss
Following restrictive diets that don't support muscle maintenance
Inconsistent eating patterns that don't fuel muscle growth

Many people who appear slim might be undernourishing their muscles while still consuming foods that promote fat storage.

Lack of Resistance Training

Focusing solely on cardio exercise or not exercising at all is a common cause of skinny fat. While cardio is important for health, resistance training plays a crucial role in body composition.

Your muscles need regular stimulation through resistance to maintain their strength and grow. As a result of that growth, your resting metabolic rate increases, so resistance training allows you to build muscle and burn more calories simultaneously. Focusing only on cardio will prevent you from gaining this crucial benefit.

Genetics and Other Factors

Even though lifestyle plays a major role, some aspects of body composition are influenced by factors beyond our immediate control:

Genetic predisposition to storing fat in certain areas
Hormonal imbalances that affect muscle growth and fat storage
Age-related muscle loss
Medical conditions that impact metabolism
Certain medications that affect body composition

You can't change your genetics, but understanding these factors can help you focus on the aspects you can control through diet, lifestyle changes, and exercise.

How to Address Being Skinny Fat

Now that you know what causes the skinny fat body type, let's focus on practical solutions to help you build lean muscle and achieve better definition. You should take an approach that addresses both exercise and nutrition—and the good news is that these changes are so simple that you can start implementing them right away.

Incorporate Resistance Training

Building lean muscle through resistance training is fundamental to improving your body composition. Here's how to get started:

Begin with 2-3 strength training sessions per week.
Focus on bodyweight exercises and weightlifting like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, push-ups, pull-ups, and bicep curls.
Gradually increase weights as your form and strength improve.
Include exercises for all major muscle groups.

Proper form is more important than heavy weights. Start with lighter weights and focus on technique before progressing to heavier loads. Consistency is also key here. You won’t see results immediately, but over time, resistance training can help you achieve the tone you’re looking for and make you feel much better in the long run.

Prioritize Nutrition

Nutrition plays an essential role in building muscle and reducing excess body fat. Focus on these aspects of your diet to help shed skinny fat:

Consume enough protein to maintain muscle mass and reduce carbs
Eat high-quality whole foods full of nutrients
Eat regular meals throughout the day
Stay hydrated with plenty of water

A wholesome diet will fuel your body transformation, and the proper nutrients will help you build muscle while gradually reducing excess fat.

Add Whole Body Vibration (WBV) to Your Routine

Power Plate's whole body vibration (WBV) technology can accelerate your results by:

Increasing muscle activation during exercises
Improving circulation and metabolic response
Enhancing recovery between workouts
Providing low-impact options for all fitness levels

This innovative technology helps make your workouts more efficient and effective, especially when combined with traditional strength training. Read all about the benefits of vibration plates.

Monitor Your Progress

Tracking your progress can help you maintain motivation and give key indicators that you're moving in the right direction:

Take monthly progress photos
Record body measurements every 4-6 weeks
Keep a workout log to track strength gains
Use body composition measurements rather than just scale weight
Note improvements in energy levels and how clothes fit

Progress isn't always linear—these various tracking methods will help you see improvements that might not appear on the scale alone. Celebrate small victories and use this data to adjust your approach as needed.

How Power Plate Can Help Address Skinny Fat

If you want to improve body composition, whole body vibration technology can enhance traditional exercise methods. Power Plate's innovative technology creates rapid involuntary muscle contractions, which can help you achieve better results in less time than conventional workouts alone.

Benefits of Whole Body Vibration for Body Composition

Power Plate technology works by creating controlled vibrations that engage muscles in unique ways:

Activates more muscle fibers compared to traditional exercise
Improves blood flow and nutrient delivery to muscles
Enhances metabolic rate during and after workouts
Helps maintain muscle mass while supporting fat reduction

A comprehensive study of body composition in postmenopausal women even demonstrated that when combined with resistance training, whole body vibration significantly decreased body fat percentage while increasing lean tissue mass, particularly in the arms and trunk regions.

This study shows that these physiological responses caused by WBV technology can improve strength and overall body composition when combined with regular exercise.

Low-Impact Strength Training

One of Power Plate's greatest advantages is its ability to provide effective strength training while minimizing joint stress.

A meta-analysis of 14 clinical trials demonstrated that whole body vibration combined with strength exercises significantly improved physical function and muscle strength, with no adverse effects reported.

This combination of effectiveness and accessibility enables effective workouts with lower joint impact. It also allows for gradual progression as strength improves, making WBV an excellent tool for anyone looking to improve their body composition, regardless of their starting point.

Enhancing Recovery and Consistency

Beyond its role in exercise, WBV technology also supports the recovery phase of your body composition transformation. Research on ACL reconstruction patients showed that those using Power Plate maintained muscle strength and reported less pain than those using conventional therapy alone.

Here’s how WBV training can assist in muscle recovery to build firmer muscles:

Reduces exercise-related muscle soreness
Helps speed up recovery between workouts
Improves overall circulation and muscle function
Provides gentle massage-like effects for relaxation
Supports longer-term exercise consistency

The ability to recover more effectively means you can maintain a more consistent workout routine, leading to better results over time.

A Complete Approach to Skinny Fat Solutions

Addressing the skinny fat body type requires a strategy that combines proper nutrition, regular strength training, and innovative tools like whole body vibration technology. By understanding the causes of skinny fat and the solutions to fix it, you can make lasting improvements in your body composition and overall health.

Just remember that while changes take time, using the right combination of tools and techniques will help you achieve your fitness goals more efficiently.

Achieve Your Health and Fitness Goals with Power Plate

Want to find out for yourself how adding whole body vibration training to your fitness routine can help you achieve your body composition goals more effectively? Explore Power Plate’s collection of whole body vibration equipment designed to support your mission to banish skinny fat and build a stronger, more toned physique.

Sources:

Annals of Internal Medicine. Normal-Weight Central Obesity: Implications for Cardiovascular Mortality. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M14-2525

Time. The Hidden Dangers of ‘Skinny Fat.’ https://time.com/14407/the-hidden-dangers-of-skinny-fat/

New York Times. Lifting Weights? Your Fat Cells Would Like to Have a Word. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/well/move/weight-training-fat.html

Jump Rope Dudes. How To Fix Skinny Fat. https://www.jumpropedudes.com/blog/how-to-fix-being-skinny-fat/#:~:text=You%20need%20resistance%20training%2C%20specifically,major%20muscle%20groups%20at%20once

Power Plate. Whole Body Vibration Augments Resistance Training Effects on Body Composition in Postmenopausal Women. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/1139/2645/files/Whole_Body_Vibration_Augments_Resistance_Training_Effects_on_Body.pdf?v=1648790487

PubMed. Effects of Whole-Body Vibration Therapy on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/1139/2645/files/whole-body-vibration-enhances-recovery-after-acl-reconstruction.pdf?v=1586151105

German Magazine for Sportsmedicine. Whole Body Vibration Enhances Recovery After ACL Reconstruction. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/1139/2645/files/whole-body-vibration-enhances-recovery-after-acl-reconstruction.pdf?v=1586151105

MedlinePlus. Health Risks of an Inactive Lifestyle. https://medlineplus.gov/healthrisksofaninactivelifestyle.html

Power Plate. The Science Behind Power Plate. https://powerplate.com/pages/science