Muscle DOES NOT weigh more than FAT

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  • Otis_Toussaint
    Otis_Toussaint Posts: 18
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    Muscle is more dense than fat, that's why it looks smaller than fat.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    ...extending my previous thought...

    If I eat gold, my body fat percentage will go down!
  • jennifer2977
    jennifer2977 Posts: 156
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    Oh f--- not this again!!


    AMEN!
  • mlpeterman
    mlpeterman Posts: 2 Member
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    I think the expression is intended to mean that muscle, relative to density, weighs more than fat. Should say a pound of fat takes up more room in your pants than a pound of muscle. I'll take a pound of muscle over a pound of fat any day.
  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
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    Oh f--- not this again!!

    My thoughts exactly.
  • katyejean
    katyejean Posts: 233 Member
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    5lbs of anything = 5lbs of anything else.

    5lbs is 5lbs. It's more of the way you think about it. "Muscle weighs more than fat." Not really, because it's still 5lbs. Muscle is 'smaller' than fat, which makes it more like a play on words.

    5lbs of rock is still equal to 5lbs of feathers. I see no problem with the phrase.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Wow for real? A pound weighs a pound, but if you filled a cubic square with both, the muscle would be heavier!! Why is that so hard to understand? You are splitting hairs over the measurement! That doesn't change the fact that logistically muscle is heavier. Why do you think your body burns more calories when you have muscle??
  • cassondraragan
    cassondraragan Posts: 233 Member
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    .
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
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    It gets tiresome to see this same thing posted every couple of days. Muscle is heavier than fat by VOLUME. if you take the same size piece of muscle and fat, the muscle will weigh more. Hence, if you are losing fat but building muscle, the numbers on the scale may not move much, but you'll be losing inches. That's what people mean when they say muscle weighs more than fat.

    I think it's pretty darn obvious that 5 lbs of anything WEIGHS the same as 5 lbs of anything else. That's not the point.
  • MFPLORI
    MFPLORI Posts: 3
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    The point is that if you take equal volumes of fat and muscle tissue, one cup for example, one cup of muscle will weigh more than one cup of fat because muscle is more dense.

    Oops, didn't read the post above mine that says the same thing.
  • kducky22
    kducky22 Posts: 276 Member
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    Joker_popcorn.gif
    Dead horse + baseball bat= this thread

    :heart: :laugh: :heart:
  • MangoAmanda
    MangoAmanda Posts: 22 Member
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    LOL! Ok, I'll admit that I'm guilty of saying that, BUT, not for the reason originally thought. It's like a layman's term when you're trying to explain to someone who is overweight, has never exercised in their life and they question their weight, because they only go by the scale NOT the tape... you try to explain the density/volume ratio of muscle vs fat, and their eyes gloss over, so you just sigh and say "muscle weighs more than fat"... *click* "ohhh, I get it". ;-) ... sometimes you have to use hand puppets too... such a misused term... and irritating, but hey, people's misuse of your/you're and their/they're/there really irritates me, but I won't start a thread on it... or will I...
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    4. When people mean "hey it's ok if you gained weight, it's probably muscle", they're wrong. When you're overweight you can lose a lot more fat (in weight) than you can gain in muscle.

    True. The weight gain is more likely to be water than actual muscle since muscle takes weeks to develop.
  • marthafox1
    marthafox1 Posts: 191 Member
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    Here's my twopenneth for all you pedants:

    If I go into a shop (and its a univeral shop that sells everything) and ask for a pound of fat, a pound of muscle and a pound of steel I would receive a pound of each (if shop keeper is honest with me!), they would all weigh the same but would be different sizes.

    If I go into the same shop (because let's be fair, they sell everything!) and ask for a cubic inch of fat, a cubic inch of muscle and a cubic inch of steel (oh and a bag of apples for the kids please while you are there), I would get the same sized item but they would all be a different weights.

    Now, if I understand all your debating correctly - you are all saying the same thing.

    End of. I am a thread killer. Let's end this now shall we.
  • recriger
    recriger Posts: 245 Member
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    Ahh, the joy of visuals. Here's one for density. 1 Ton of gold will fit into 1.6 cubic feet. 1 Ton of aluminum is nearly 12 cubic feet.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Muscle is approx 17% more dense for you nerds out there.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    yes, but should cleaning really be in the "exercise" database? that's what I want to know!



    and i kid, this is just exhaustive.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I keep seeing responses to posts that muscle weighs more than fat when in fact this is an old myth. When you take 5lbs of muscle and weigh it against 5lbs of fat, according to my math, 5lbs is 5lbs. Fat is much thicker than muscle, so by going by the scale if you are working out and you are not losing weight, you are simply replacing the fat with muscle. You could go months without losing weight, but your clothes are getting bigger and bigger on you. This is because you are losing the fat and converting it into muscle.

    Please read here if you could: http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html

    Let's stop this myth for everyone's sake and don't always go by what the scale says but what you see in the mirror or how your clothes fit!!

    Hope this helps!!
    Cheers
    Ed

    Wow, that is all so silly. Things that are more dense than other things of the same size weigh more than the less dense things. Therefore, muscle weighs more than fat. What unit of measure is used doesn't make any difference. The fact that 5 lbs of muscle is smaller than 5 lbs of fat is because muscle weighs more. This is not a myth.

    Fat does not get converted into muscle. You can gain muscle at the same time that you lose fat, but the fat does not turn into muscle. You are also unlikely to gain muscle at the same rate you lose fat.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    BUMP

    I don't want to miss out on this thrilling debate.
  • livinginwoods
    livinginwoods Posts: 562 Member
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    fat-v-muscle.jpg

    Wow. You have no idea how much I needed to see this picture. Now it makes sense to me and its motivating.

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