Muscle Does NOT Weigh More Than Fat

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LeanLioness
LeanLioness Posts: 1,091 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I found this article because I see is so many posts people saying that muscle weighs more than fat.

A pound is a pound, no matter what the 2 items are that are being weighed.............

Muscle takes up less space as you can see from the picture below:

fat-v-muscle.jpg
As you can see, the 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.
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Replies

  • LeanLioness
    LeanLioness Posts: 1,091 Member
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    I found this article because I see is so many posts people saying that muscle weighs more than fat.

    A pound is a pound, no matter what the 2 items are that are being weighed.............

    Muscle takes up less space as you can see from the picture below:

    fat-v-muscle.jpg
    As you can see, the 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.
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
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    All someone using the phrase has to do is add "by volume" to the end of it.

    Here's my pet peeve....

    Person A just started exercising for the past week. Gained a pound.

    Person B says, "Oh you've probably just gained muscle..."

    Really?! In a week? And a female? It's just not that easy to gain muscle, especially a whole pound of it.
  • codykitty
    codykitty Posts: 729
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    right, so you can weigh the same but be smaller...which explains why people (ie: me) lose inches but not weight...right?
  • abs0830
    abs0830 Posts: 319 Member
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    Interesting. Thanks for sharing. The image of the fat is enough to put one off their lunch.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
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    All someone using the phrase has to do is add "by volume" to the end of it.

    Here's my pet peeve....

    Person A just started exercising for the past week. Gained a pound.

    Person B says, "Oh you've probably just gained muscle..."

    Really?! In a week? And a female? It's just not that easy to gain muscle, especially a whole pound of it.

    ya I seriously hate that too. you have to be doing some serious, heavy duty work to gain weight in muscle, especially if it's gained in a week! that irks me too.
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
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    right, so you can weigh the same but be smaller...which explains why people (ie: me) lose inches but not weight...right?

    Yes. People always guess my weight to be around 140-145. I'm 5'7".

    But I'm actually 166 currently. My body is pretty dense. And I guess I carry muscle and weight in a way that is deceiving.
  • fatstrat
    fatstrat Posts: 216
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    I found this article because I see is so many posts people saying that muscle weighs more than fat.

    A pound is a pound, no matter what the 2 items are that are being weighed.............

    Muscle takes up less space as you can see from the picture below:

    fat-v-muscle.jpg
    As you can see, the 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.

    Notice how much smaller the muscle is than the fat.

    YOU'RE WRONG.

    Try factoring in VOLUME because you HAVE TO when you make that comparison.

    These posts are ^&#%# ridiculous. :grumble:
  • fatstrat
    fatstrat Posts: 216
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    NM
  • molsongirl
    molsongirl Posts: 1,373 Member
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    I found this article because I see is so many posts people saying that muscle weighs more than fat.

    A pound is a pound, no matter what the 2 items are that are being weighed.............

    Muscle takes up less space as you can see from the picture below:

    fat-v-muscle.jpg
    As you can see, the 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.


    EXECELLENT info Lioness, I think you should cut and paste this everytime one of those magical, you gained muscle that's all, posts come accross. :laugh:
  • MarineWife1371
    MarineWife1371 Posts: 17
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    right, so you can weigh the same but be smaller...which explains why people (ie: me) lose inches but not weight...right?

    Yes. People always guess my weight to be around 140-145. I'm 5'7".

    But I'm actually 166 currently. My body is pretty dense. And I guess I carry muscle and weight in a way that is deceiving.

    perfect example of fat vs muscle..... pre pregnancy I had a lot of muscle... I lived on a farm, I worked out a lot without knowing it, so I was 140-145 and very skinny and toned...... I am at that same range right now but I have a LOT less muscle so instead of being skinny, I'm the same weight but there is much more fat on me than muscle, and fat takes up more space than muscle so being 145 with muscle you look much better than being 145 with fat, like I am now.

    per volume, muscle does weigh more than fat... of course 5 pound sis 5 pounds... we all learn that in kindergarten... but 5 pounds of muscle takes up muuuuuch less space than 5 pounds of fat!! so people say muscle weighs more than fat because 5 sq in of muscle DOES WEIGH MORE than 5 sq in of fat!!!
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    I think what people really mean when they say 'muscle weighs more than fat' is that muscle is denser than fat. That is certainly true. But you're right about people explaining away gains by saying this trueism . . . I think for women it's often a case of either water retention (due to our lovely monthly cycles, we get to lose weight half the month and gain it the other half - we just have to cross our fingers and work hard to minimize the gain and maximize the loss), or simply not paying close enough attention to calories in/calories out, which is what this site is all about.
  • fatstrat
    fatstrat Posts: 216
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    EXECELLENT info Lioness, I think you should cut and paste this everytime one of those magical, you gained muscle that's all, posts come accross. :laugh:

    I agree that people are so quick to jump on that boat as well.
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    well....some people are just dense about density. :tongue:
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    well....some people are just dense about density. :tongue:

    careful
    dense people have a sensitive organ that weighs more than their car
  • codykitty
    codykitty Posts: 729
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    well....some people are just dense about density. :tongue:

    careful
    dense people have a sensitive organ that weighs more than their car

    I object!
  • Heather125
    Heather125 Posts: 433 Member
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    THANK YOU for your post I've been reading some of the same posts and shaking my head.
    I suppose it's one of the myths that are easy to believe if you really want to but I'm really glad you put this post up education is importiant:drinker:

    P.S. I'm also going to refer back to your pic next time I want a fatty meal it should be a good deterrent:laugh:
  • ambermathiasen
    ambermathiasen Posts: 3
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    A
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    This horse has died on numerous occations, been brought back, and beaten again until death.

    Let the poor horse RIP for the love of Pete!:tongue:
  • fatstrat
    fatstrat Posts: 216
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    TurkeyFeather.jpg

    Weighs the same as:

    peterbilt_dump_truck_red.jpg

    Ok.
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
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    Actually, muscle does weigh more than fat. In looking at the picture, the 5 lbs of muscle is much smaller than the 5 lbs of fat. Therfore, if you had muscle that was the same size as the 5 lbs of fat in the picture.....it would weigh much more.

    no muscle and fat weigh the same a pound is a pound- Muscle is just dense which is why someone can weigh more and yet look like they weigh 15-20lbs less--

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