Muscle Vs Fat

[CYBERSIS]

I was just on another forum reading questions and a very lively discussion has come up about whether fat weighs more than muscle. Seems the girl was told that the scales were two pounds heavily that week because she was exercising and lifting weights now and that muscle weighed more than fat.

I had always thought that as well, is it just a myth? When I first started lifting weights regularly ( 3 to 4 times a week) I did notice an increase in weight at the start but that leveled off and I started losing.

I am now curious as to what the answer to this question is: Does fat weigh more than muscle? Go to it educated crowd!

 

[Calico]

No, Muscle weighs more than fat, fat takes up more space in the body than muscle. The muscle is more condensed thereby taking up less room, that is how you can lose fat, gain muscle and go up in weight and down in size. Hope that helps clear up any confusion!

 

[LizzieLiz]

It is no myth! Annette said it well (I love this) "you can go up in weight and down in size." And that is the very reason that i don't own a scale and constantly harp on people I know who weigh themselves several times a week... it drives me crazy!

 

[EricaH]

Muscle can't weigh more than fat, but it can take up a lot less space. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat.

Reminds me of that riddle - what weighs more - a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Erica

 

[mogambo]

I think they mean an equal volume of muscle weighs more than an equal volume of fat. Ditto for the bricks and feathers.

 

[LizzieLiz]

If we're comparing a pound of muscle to a pound of fat, of course that weighs the same, it's not rocket science. However, the laws of physics tell us that muscle does indeed weigh more than fat. As we all know, it takes less space to carry a pound of muscle than a pound of fat - in other words, muscle is more dense.

Density = Mass/Volume. Since muscle is more dense than fat, it has a greater mass when the volume is constant.

If you take the same volume of muscle and fat, the muscle will have a greater mass than the fat.

If you take the same poundage of muscle and fat, the muscle will have less volume.

That's why when you feel that you aren't losing weight, or even if your weight has slightly increased, you will still lose inches overall since you're burning fat and building muscle.

 

[cz639]

Hi
Muscle does weigh more than fat. You can be muscular and weigh 125 and compare that to someone who's 125 but not muscular. The non-muscular 125 pound person will look fatter than the muscular 125 pound person. Having muscle is great but you can eat more without gaining weight.

 

[naughtoj]

Thank You Liz!!! That was a very intelligent answer!! Even though I "knew" the answer to this one, as did many others, I couldn't figure out how to word it and you did a fantastic job! I copied and pasted it to an email for my just learning friends!

 

[LizzieLiz]

Thank you - you are very sweet. ;-)

 

[icklemoley]

Fat and muscle weight almost the same, so little in it that it really isn't worth mentioning, but fat takes up 5x the room as a pound of muscle. Ouch, thats gotta hurt.

 

[R_Lam]

Bodyfat analysis of a co-worker at the start of her exercise program was done as a baseline...6 months later it increased along with her caliper readings. She was very upset because she said she was eating clean and had been working so hard. She did lose weight and her cardiovascular endurance was amazing. She said she has never felt better nor has she been able to stay on the threadmill for so long.
The whole 6 months though was devoted entirely to cardio. I think she lost lean mass. What do you think?

 

[icklemoley]

I totally agree, as we get older we lose muscle mass, and aerobics without muscle work leads to muscle loss. Not good. I have seen many really fit, super fit even, aerobic instructors but with high high body fat as they do no muscle work. Remember when Oprah lost all that weight running, well Bob Greene told her not to do weights (back then) and only to concentrate on aerobic work. Big mistake. Now Oprah does weights and aerobics and looks much better.