MYTH

Nich0le

ok, I am seeing a lot of people on here saying that muscle weighs more than fat....NOT TRUE

Muscle is leaner and fat is bulkier. This is one of the reasons it is good to take your measurements at the start of a weight loss journey.

Just to clarify, a pound is a pound is a pound. A pound is 16oz of whatever product. You aren't going to suddenly weigh more from building muscle but you will look trimmer.

Look it up... you will not find any information that says fat weighs less than muscle, if that were true then fat people would look better than muscley people!!!!!

Nich0le

ok, I am seeing a lot of people on here saying that muscle weighs more than fat....NOT TRUE

Muscle is leaner and fat is bulkier. This is one of the reasons it is good to take your measurements at the start of a weight loss journey.

Just to clarify, a pound is a pound is a pound. A pound is 16oz of whatever product. You aren't going to suddenly weigh more from building muscle but you will look trimmer.

Look it up... you will not find any information that says fat weighs less than muscle, if that were true then fat people would look better than muscley people!!!!!

cellorocker

It is not a myth. When studies say that muscles weighs more than fat, they are taking 1 cubic inch of fat and comparing it to 1 cubic inch of muscle. Muscle weighs more because there is more stuff crammed into it (also called MASS). Mass divided by volume is why some people (namely, overweight people) have an easier time floating that people with many muscles, because the people with muscles have a great mass, and when you divided their mass by their volume, it gives you their density. It can make some people (muscular people, for example) have a HARD time floating.
Go ask any Science teacher.
Go ask any Health teacher
Go ask any Nutritionist.
They will tell you the exact same thing I just told you.
Why do I know this?
Because I take all these classes.

Nich0le

a pound is still a pound, yes, muscle is leaner and more compact but it doesn't weigh more lb for lb.

My point, not worded very well I admit, is that if someone has not lost weight but they are wearing smaller clothes they have "gained" muscle and lost fat. But if someone has hit a plateau and their clothes are not fitting different then they can't blame muscle, they have to look at what they are doing.

Muscle only weighs more by volume, but it is true that a pound is still a pound.

bob9304

The original post was about someone working out and not losing weight, the answer 'could be' the person put on muscle mass, and as a mass muscle is heavier/denser than fat. This is how you can diet and work out and not see much of a weight loss, because you have gained muscle, this is why measurements are better gauges than weight at times. Otherwise most athletes would be overweight.

shenitamo

Here's the thing- most all of us are looking at the VOLUME of ourselves ( I would be ok with weighing 170 if my butt was smaller!)- and yes, there are numbers tied to it our volume, but two people with the same "volume" measurements with different muscle mass will weigh differently.
I think it goes without saying that a pound is a pound, just like a pound of cotton balls equals a pound of marbles in weight, just not in volume. But making a statement as declarative as you did is highly miss-leading to those people on these message boards that come here looking for answers and truth and will believe what they read because they are trusting and unknowledgeable about the subject.
Just realize how what you post affects other people.....

Xtracrispy69

those post was started on a half truth. Yes a pound is a pound, but with muscle more dense it takes less mass of muscle to reach a pound then fat. This makes the biggest deal when a person is getting near their weight loss goal and no long notices changes on the scale (as their body is starting to replace fat with muscle).

cmdsimmon

A couple things I found by researching on the internet... I tell you google.com is a great place to answer any questions!!!

#1
5 lbs. of fat is much bulkier than the 5 lbs. of muscle, but five pounds is still five pounds. Muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than with five pounds more muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds, so for those of you that don't "get" English, you cannot say one thing weighing a certain weight weighs more than another thing at that same weight. It's a common joke to play on an 8-year old. The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat."

A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

Stop being so obsessed with body weight and start paying attention to body composition. How much body fat do you have compared to muscle? Simply seeing how much you weigh isn't very helpful.


#2
Disclaimer: I'm not a real doctor nor do I have a medical background. Nothing in this entry should be construed as medical advice, it's just my own research and experience. All care but no responsibility taken. Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I was going to post a rant about all the people who believe that muscle weighs more than fat and that muscle can magically transmogrify into fat and that lifting weights makes you look unfeminine. About how I hate the propagation of ignorance and the idea that this discourages women from doing weight work to help them lose weight.

Instead, Dr Tree™ will explain all.

First of all, muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat.

Repeat after me: muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Just to be sure I'm clear, muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Muscle is DENSER than fat. What's the difference? Pay attention, this is important, I may test you on it later. It doesn't weigh more. A kilo of muscle weighs exactly the same as a kilo of fat. But the kilo of muscle will be smaller than the kilo of fat. It will take up less space.

If you think about a kilo of lead and a kilo of feathers, they both weigh the same, but the pile of feathers will be much bigger than the lead. It's the same with muscle and fat.

Poor Kim discovered this the hard way just recently. While her weight had not changed on the scales, all of a sudden her clothes fit better. This puzzled her.

If she had gained a pound of muscle and lost a pound of fat, then this makes perfect sense. Her weight would be unchanged, but she would be physically smaller.

Another example: You get two women, both who weigh 70kg. One trains with weights, the other does little or no exercise. The weight lifter will be smaller than the other girl. She will wear a smaller clothing size. Why? Because she has a lower body fat percentage than the other girl. She has a higher muscle mass percentage. So while she weighs the same as the other girl, her muscle takes up less room than the fat on the other girl.

So, the lesson to learn here? Putting on muscle is good for you. While the needle on the scale might not go down, the size of your jeans certainly will. Besides, muscle burns fat even when you're asleep. It needs to burn fat just to maintain itself. How can something that burns fat while you sleep be bad?

bob9304

one final note, most people when they refer to "Muscle weighs more than fat" are technically wrong but most people would understand that they are talking about mass and not straight weight. i.e. a pound of fat is equal in weight to a pound of muscle. But when most people are making this statement they mean muscle has a greater weight to mass ratio than fat, or if you place one pound of fat in a water filled container and a pound of muscle in another, (If you can keep the fat from floating) the fat will displace more water than the muscle.
The bottom line is muscle is better than fat when it's on you.

songbyrdsweet

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

Nich0le

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

Thanks song, I was trying to post quickly and didn't quite think my post through, but this is exactly what I was trying to get across is that we need to look at our over all fitness and when the scale doesn't budge, which is what most of us use to measure our "success", we need to take a good hard look at what we are doing and try to use something else to measure our success. Measurements are a great way to stay motivated when the scale doesn't move because you realize you are LEANER and starting to look like the pork tenderloin instead of the bulkier bread!

I would rather be 160 lbs of lean & mean than 160 of soft and fluffy!

cmdsimmon

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

Wasn't trying to win any argument (by using 'credentials;)... just trying to say... hey... the internet is a good place to find out information on anything you have questions about. If it helps solve a problem... why not add it in?

goochinator

I just want to point out that people should keep in mind there are literally thousands of different diet myths, "facts", practices, ideas, methods, rules, etc. that people go by and some are doctor supported!
Some may be right, some may be wrong- depending on who you talk to. Nothing wrong with finding out more than one side of the story, right?

Sometimes these things are like opions- so many out there! In any case, i think its good for discussion to have multiple points of view!

songbyrdsweet

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

Wasn't trying to win any argument (by using 'credentials;)... just trying to say... hey... the internet is a good place to find out information on anything you have questions about. If it helps solve a problem... why not add it in?

Oh no not you hehe :laugh:
I agree the internet can be a good place if you look at the right stuff. It's just hard to sort it all out.

bob9304

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

I wasn't trying to be rude either, was just trying to figure out the easiest way to explain, yours turned out more to the point.

songbyrdsweet

5 lbs of muscle is about the size of a pork tenderloin.
5 lbs of fat is about the size of a loaf of bread.

That's really all that matters.

No need to be rude or try to use your 'credentials' to gain the upper-hand in an argument.

I wasn't trying to be rude either, was just trying to figure out the easiest way to explain, yours turned out more to the point.

No not you either hahah :bigsmile: You were very polite.
I just think it's silly to bring up your education or something and be rude about it.