Does muscle really weight more than fat?

DESIREE1210

I started with a personal trainer a few weeks ago. My first week i lost 3-1/2#'s, now this week he has been working me really hard strength training and I show i'm up 2#'s and there's no way I should be up considering my diet and just the sweating alone. It discouraged me. A co-worker said it could be muscle gain but I don't buy it. i'm sticking with it no matter what, maybe i'm just retaining water. I'll be drinking it like a fish the next week.
So my question, is it possible it's muscle gain.????

marquesajen

a pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. Weight is weight. However, muscle is leaner. So while a pound of fat and muscle weigh the same, the muscle looks smaller, as it is denser.

SarahWrittenThin

a pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. Weight is weight. However, muscle is leaner. So while a pound of fat and muscle weigh the same, the muscle looks smaller, as it is denser.

This

mikeyml

Read these

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis

http://bankshealth.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/weight-gain-with-new-exercise-programs/

welloiledmachine

It takes quite a while to gain muscle. But when you do lift weights, your muscles will hold water, but that goes away pretty quickly. It's not all about the exercise. Food is a much bigger factor in losing weight.

randa_behnam

this is normal. i put on 2kg after a week of training with my trainer and i went mental then i realised i was actually slimmer, it was just the muscle.

get your trainer to measure you and go by that instead of what the scales say x

omid990

a pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. Weight is weight. However, muscle is leaner. So while a pound of fat and muscle weigh the same, the muscle looks smaller, as it is denser.

^This

but i'm sorry to say that you didn't gain two pounds of muscle in a week. A lot of the 3.5lbs the first week was probably water weight. it's not like your body reformed 2 pounds of fat again this past week. I'd guess that your body is working out its water balance. just watch your sodium, keep drinking water, and stick to the plan. you'll lose those two pounds again and even more!

kimmerroze

NOO NO NO it is not possible to gain that much muscle that quickly...

It is most likely water retention because when you work out and tear your muscles they retain water to help heal them.


That is all it is. Keep at it. It is soooo good for you, and you will see great results.

ninerbuff

I started with a personal trainer a few weeks ago. My first week i lost 3-1/2#'s, now this week he has been working me really hard strength training and I show i'm up 2#'s and there's no way I should be up considering my diet and just the sweating alone. It discouraged me. A co-worker said it could be muscle gain but I don't buy it. i'm sticking with it no matter what, maybe i'm just retaining water. I'll be drinking it like a fish the next week.
So my question, is it possible it's muscle gain.????

It's water retention. Your body needs excess water to repair muscle and to store it along with glycogen in the liver and muscle for the next "anticipated" workout. It's normal and can last up to a couple of weeks till your body adapts.
And if you're on calorie deficit, this whole BS of "you're gaining muscle" is really just BS. To gain muscle, you need to have a caloric SURPLUS. It's possible to gain a little muscle if you've never strength trained before, but it would be minute. The best trainers who try to put on muscle are lucky to add 1lb of lean muscle a month even with spot on nutrition.

omid990

It takes quite a while to gain muscle. But when you do lift weights, your muscles will hold water, but that goes away pretty quickly. It's not all about the exercise. Food is a much bigger factor in losing weight.

^ This too

JennLifts

not likely in a deficit, and at that rate.

Judy_V

What does a 'clean eater' mean?

JDMPWR

It is veryvery hard to gain muscle with in a deficit, secondly 1lb is 1lb, 1lb of fat is actually larger then 1lb of muscle.

aviduser

I agree with the comments about not gaining muscle weight in 2 weeks. More likely it is water, so do not worry about. Keep drinking water (8+ cups a day), keep working out and stick to your diet plan.

Muscle DOES weigh more than fat because it is denser and leaner. Fat floats, muscle sinks. You will notice this if you ever go in a pool. You will float less as you lose fat.

While I always think weight is an important indicator for many reasons, you will also notice that your clothes feel looser. You need to use both as indicators of progress.

This weight loss thing does not happen overnight. It will take months of consistent effort (depending on how much you have to lose). So stick with it and be patient.

JStarnes

It's water retention. Your body needs excess water to repair muscle and to store it along with glycogen in the liver and muscle for the next "anticipated" workout. It's normal and can last up to a couple of weeks till your body adapts.
And if you're on calorie deficit, this whole BS of "you're gaining muscle" is really just BS. To gain muscle, you need to have a caloric SURPLUS. It's possible to gain a little muscle if you've never strength trained before, but it would be minute. The best trainers who try to put on muscle are lucky to add 1lb of lean muscle a month even with spot on nutrition.

What he said.

JStarnes

Muscle DOES weigh more than fat because it is denser and leaner. Fat floats, muscle sinks. You will notice this if you ever go in a pool. You will float less as you lose fat.

A pound is a pound.
Muscle is more dense, it'll take up less 'space' than a pound of fat, but it still weighs the same.

KHaverstick

One pound of anything will weigh a pound. BUT, one pound of muscle takes up less space (i.e. is more dense) than one pound of fat. A certain *volume* of muscle does weigh more than the same *volume* of fat.

If you keep at it, you should see inches lost, and eventually the pounds coming off, too. But weight can fluctuate so much throughout the day, due to so many things...water retention, food/beverage consumption, time of day, bowel/bladder elimination. Following a downward trend over time, and following inches lost, is much less frustrating than following the day-to-day fluctuations (which can be a few pounds).

Heather75

Muscle DOES weigh more than fat because it is denser and leaner. Fat floats, muscle sinks. You will notice this if you ever go in a pool. You will float less as you lose fat.

A pound is a pound.
Muscle is more dense, it'll take up less 'space' than a pound of fat, but it still weighs the same.

Right. So everything weighs the same. Using this logic, lead and feathers weigh the same because a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of lead.

kaitlynnm10

No. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. Muscle is just denser.

myofibril

WIth regard to the eternal "can you build muscle whilst on a calorie deficit" question the answer is yes, but only in specific circumstances.

In the Wallace study (Wallace, M.B., Mills, B.D., & Browning, C.L. (1997). Effects of cross training on markers of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia) a group of 8 men lost an average of 16.3 lbs of fat whilst gaining 9.5 lbs of lean mass under clinical observation over a 14 week period.

However, it should be noted that these men were borderline obese with BF% of around 27 and new to training. Also, the figures cited were an average: some lost more and some less due to genetic factors. In addition, whether this rate of fat loss and lean mass gain would carry on at such a rate once their bodies had adapted to the training is highly dubious.

Other circumstances include where an individual can lose fat whilst gaining lean mass are formerly athletic individuals coming back to training after a layoff. However, their figure will be nothing like the above.

If you don't fall into the above categories then it is highly unlikely you can gain lean mass at the same time losing fat whilst on a calorie deficit.

Like the vast majority of questions in fitness this one is individual specific.

ETA: in the Wallace study the water displacement method was used to calculate changes in lean mass (thank you Archimedes...) This is subject to error but better than most methods.