Stop With the Muscle Weighs More Than Fat Myth...

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Replies

  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    This reminds me of a hilarious joke.

    Okay, what weighs more, a pound of...
    Everyone understands the pound of feathers versus the pound of brick riddle so quit rehashing it.
    Oh. I see. Hmmm. Never mind then.

    :indifferent:
  • ModoVincere
    ModoVincere Posts: 530 Member
    It's easy to see where the confusion comes from. If you take a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, and set them in a bath tub, the pound of fat will float and the pound of muscle will sink. So, obviously, the pound of muscle is heavier.

    That's why a pebble weighs more than a battleship.

    No, Silly... this is obvious! The ship weighs more cause it doesnt fit IN the bath tub.... which btw is now a pancake.

    someone needs a bigger tub,.
  • hypotrochoid
    hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
    Know what weighs more than both muscle and fat? Awesome. The more you work out, the more awesome you get, which is why the scale may not change or even go up.

    It sucks being awesome. It truly does.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    Know what weighs more than both muscle and fat? Awesome. The more you work out, the more awesome you get, which is why the scale may not change or even go up.

    It sucks being awesome. It truly does.

    Crap, what exercise helps you gain Awesome?!?!?

    I have actually been asked how big a gallon of root beer was and how long a foot long hot dog was. My answers....the same size as a gallon of milk and 12 inches.
  • 91MoreRep91
    91MoreRep91 Posts: 21
    A lb of muscle looks a helluva lot better than a lb of fat :)
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    A lb of muscle looks a helluva lot better than a lb of fat :)

    Strong first post
  • Feisty_Red
    Feisty_Red Posts: 982 Member
    But what will make someone slide faster? Fat or Muscle?

    slip-n-slide-dude_zps86f4a45f.gif
  • NavyKnightAh13
    NavyKnightAh13 Posts: 1,394 Member
    I am an editor and this annoys my inner pedant too but I keep it to myself because I know I am being ridiculous. In colloquial writing (such as on an internet forum) people will use words and phrases that they wouldn't in formal writing. As long as people understand it doesn't really matter.

    I understand how you feel. I'm a sports correspondent and it is driving me nuts too.
  • debdelilah
    debdelilah Posts: 82
    Ok I'm so sick of hearing this... 1 pound of muscle weighs the same as 1 pound of fat. A pound of anything is the same as a pound of something else. 1 pound of feathers weighs the same as 1 pound of lead.

    Would it be equally rant worthy if someone said "feathers are lighter than lead"? The whole concept of "heavier" vs "lighter" and the point of having those words in our language would be negated if we weren't allowed to say that anything was heavier than anything else based on the rationale some quantity of one and some quantity of the other would have an equal weight on the scale. If ten packages of copier paper weigh the same as one car battery it doesn't mean that a piece of paper weighs the same as a car battery, even if you phrase it "15 pounds of copier paper equal 15 pounds of car battery". It goes without saying that a pound is a pound, the same way as I am I, you are you, and the rain is the rain. :)

    Edited to add: I think the real myth you are getting upset about might be that sometimes as a polite comment, when we talk about weight to friends or colleagues who are criticizing themselves, we might say, "muscle weighs more than fat" as an encouraging response to "I'm 40 lbs over my healthy BMI and I'm trying to exercise" for instance. And it might come hand in hand with "you look good the way you are" or sound like an encouragement for self-acceptance without weight loss, which could be discouraging if a person really needs to lose weight for optimal heath. While muscle weighs more than fat objectively(see link to the exact numbers) http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/576481.html, and you can legitimately say a liter of muscle is heavier than a liter of fat, it is also true that for most Americans with an unhealthily high BMI, the greater contributer to their BMI being high is their fat, not their muscle. For the muscle to be the greater contributer, they would have to be dedicated athletes, and most Americans are sedentary or lightly active. So the whole "muscle is heavier than fat" frustration is caused not because it isn't true, but because it is used sometimes to soothe feelings where the real meaning of it isn't coming into play much. Just because muscle weighs more than fat doesn't mean that people are overweight because they have too much muscle.

    But to give another example with units...A liter of muscle and a liter of fat take up the same volume in the same way a pound of muscle and a pound of fat have the same weight. A liter is a volume measurement and a pound is a weight measurement, so saying a a liter equals a liter or a pound equals a pound has no real meaning....It's really the same as saying rain is rain.
  • BellydanceBliss
    BellydanceBliss Posts: 330
    There is some kind of truth to this...because when i was 245 before gallbladder surgery then i gained weight and lost it again i am 253 r whatever ut us and people tell me i look thinner now then i did then and better...
  • barkin43
    barkin43 Posts: 508 Member
    Can we talk about something new and fresh like cardio vs weight training or thigh gaps?

    I want some thigh gaps!
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 443 Member
    Can we talk about something new and fresh like cardio vs weight training or thigh gaps?

    I want some thigh gaps!

    u1WWqW6nSk-mlfEOGatkpA2.gif
  • hoosierlad
    hoosierlad Posts: 69 Member
    I agree that a pound is a pound whether fat or muscle. However, I don't think people mean it literally; I think what is meant is that you initially add muscle more quickly than you lose fat so you often see that initial gain of weight. Eventually, I think you find it harder to build muscle, yet you continue to burn fat so you start losing weight. My two cents :--) .
  • IronMikeFox
    IronMikeFox Posts: 458
    OMG, I can't believe there is another thread on this. It's like a freaking Hydra - cut one head off and two more grow in it's place! LOL Just to add my own geeky spin on it ... The force of attraction between any two bodies known as gravity is equal to G(m1*m2)/(r*r) where G is the universal gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the respective masses of the two objects and r is the distance between the center of masses of the two objects. G, as it's name implies, is a constant. One of the objects is the Earth (let's say m1) and is obviously constant assuming our measurements are taken on the same planet. The distance between the center of mass of the Earth and the object is essentially identical if the two objects are in the same proximity. Indeed the equation for weight is generally reduced to W = gm where g = Gm1m2/(r*r) which turns out the be the acceleration of an object due to gravity. So given that g is assumed to be the same for two objects in the same proximity, the only variable that comes into play in determining the weight of an object is that object's mass. So 1kg of fat will indeed weight the same as 1 kg of muscle. However, given that the density of muscle is greater than that of fat, 1 kg of fat will occupy more space than 1 kg of muscle. So it could be said that it takes less muscle to make up a pound that it does fat. Hence the common saying "muscle weighs more than fat".
    Sure, go ahead and use Newtonian physics, if you're willing to settle for an approximation. :laugh:

    LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • sweetchildomine
    sweetchildomine Posts: 872 Member
    74647593_wtf_gif.gif
  • wswilliams67
    wswilliams67 Posts: 938 Member
    ...aaaaaaaaand troll successful.

    /end of line
  • wmagoo27
    wmagoo27 Posts: 201 Member
    Ok I'm so sick of hearing this... 1 pound of muscle weighs the same as 1 pound of fat. A pound of anything is the same as a pound of something else. 1 pound of feathers weighs the same as 1 pound of lead. The laws of physics/math still apply in the fitness world.
    I am afraid that I'll have to break the news to you. One cubic inch of muscle does indeed weigh more than one cubic inch of fat. You are mistaken in your assumption that only the weight is referenced. Volume is a given.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    ....clearly it is meant to be volume....
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    There-there; take your medications.
    It's going to be all right.
  • mike4beingfit
    mike4beingfit Posts: 2
    Good thought, but as I am noooo way even near expert but I understand that fat holds toxins; our bodies marvelous way of protecting us :) ! Where as lean muscle helps us to do the things we need and Love to do!! Mo muscle, helps in everything. And it does look mo better yes?
  • neiljbrady
    neiljbrady Posts: 41 Member
    It's easy to see where the confusion comes from.

    If you take a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, and set them in a bath tub, the pound of fat will float and the pound of muscle will sink. So, obviously, the pound of muscle is heavier.
    I'm a Scuba Instructor and have to get people the right weights for neutral buoyancy. The more muscular one (same weight) takes less weights than the one that has less muscle. (fat floats)
  • 91MoreRep91
    91MoreRep91 Posts: 21
    It was a post "fullofwin" :)
  • alminejoey
    alminejoey Posts: 2
    ok can anyone help me? i am 5ft 4 and weigh 11st 6.5 and i have been on fitness pal for couple of months and been religiously adding foods diet and water. some days i struggle to est my calories as i am a gardener as my job and then i have a little boy who keeps me active plus i go nordic walking twice a week!! i am not losing weight instead since starting gardening i am much butcher and seem whatever i do i havent put on weight but im not losing!!! any ideas on things to try?

    thanks chrissy
  • alminejoey
    alminejoey Posts: 2
    by the way the piccy on my profile was how i used to look before gardening lol xx
  • stanleypoobrick
    stanleypoobrick Posts: 71 Member
    Muscle DOES weigh more than fat. That's why it takes more fat to equal a pound than it takes muscle to equal a pound. People say "muscle weighs more than fat" they DON'T say "a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat". Those are two completely different statements. A pound is a pound is a pound BUT a pound muscle with be smaller than a pound of fat because the muscle is heavier (weighs more) than the fat. A cup of muscle definitely weighs more than a cup of fat.
  • perfectmes
    perfectmes Posts: 2
    I tried to explain that 1lb is 1lb and some people actually do not understand that. They really do believe that 1lb of fat weighs less than 1lb of muscle. I think we need to stop using this phrase whether most people know that it means by volume, not everyone does!
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    I tried to explain that 1lb is 1lb and some people actually do not understand that. They really do believe that 1lb of fat weighs less than 1lb of muscle. I think we need to stop using this phrase whether most people know that it means by volume, not everyone does!

    Honestly I've never met anyone who didn't. The people who make a big deal over the wording are usually doing it just to antagonize.
  • perfectmes
    perfectmes Posts: 2
    Honestly I've never met anyone who didn't. The people who make a big deal over the wording are usually doing it just to antagonize.

    She laughed when I asked if 1kg of feathers weighs less than 1kg of sugar, wouldn't accept me saying that 1lb of fat is just bigger in volume than 1lb of muscle and told me that its been proven 1lb of muscle = 3lbs of fat...
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  • Deborah105
    Deborah105 Posts: 183 Member
    You've been on here all of 4 months and *you* are sick of it already?

    Haha! I snorted a bit on this. It's true though - people are NEVER going to stop saying this. It goes with the loose vs lose thing. "Oh I need to loose some weight!" Heh!

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