Who's right....Who's wrong???

Pulled this from http://www.phentermine.com/forum/my-experience-phentermine/7630-1-lb-fat-vs-1-lb-muscle-picture.html

One pound of muscle and one pound of fat are NOT the same size.

If I place one pound of muscle on a scale and one pound of fat on a scale, they will both weigh one pound. The difference is in total volume. One pound of muscle may appear to be the size of baseball; one pound of fat will be three times the size and look like a squiggly bowl of Jell-O.



Why is it that we can lose sizes, yet the scale remains the same? Because muscle weighs more than fat...

Muscle is a denser tissue and thus takes up less room than an equal weight of fat. That's why it's possible to lose inches but show no changes in scale weight. Having more muscle means you have a more desirable body composition, or fat-to-muscle ratio. You may still weigh the same, but your body will look different, smaller, better and tighter. Though it may take you a few weeks to see measurable changes, you begin to put on muscle and burn calories from the moment you start exercising.

The muscle weight you gain also beefs up your metabolism which in turn, helps you to burn off more fat. Talk about a win-win situation! (You won't jiggle as much at your ideal weight, either.)

I'm with Roaddog, I just took an anatomy course on this.. if you really think about it a pound is a pound anyway you cut it. Muscle just takes up less space. So perhaps you and I can weigh the exact same, but I might be 4 sizes smaller than you. Don't stress too much about the science. If you are working out, than you know you are doing good! Try to measure by how you feel and how your clothes fit. Tracking your inches is a very good way!

Pulled this from http://www.phentermine.com/forum/my-experience-phentermine/7630-1-lb-fat-vs-1-lb-muscle-picture.html

One pound of muscle and one pound of fat are NOT the same size.

If I place one pound of muscle on a scale and one pound of fat on a scale, they will both weigh one pound. The difference is in total volume. One pound of muscle may appear to be the size of baseball; one pound of fat will be three times the size and look like a squiggly bowl of Jell-O.



Why is it that we can lose sizes, yet the scale remains the same? Because muscle weighs more than fat...

Muscle is a denser tissue and thus takes up less room than an equal weight of fat. That's why it's possible to lose inches but show no changes in scale weight. Having more muscle means you have a more desirable body composition, or fat-to-muscle ratio. You may still weigh the same, but your body will look different, smaller, better and tighter. Though it may take you a few weeks to see measurable changes, you begin to put on muscle and burn calories from the moment you start exercising.

The muscle weight you gain also beefs up your metabolism which in turn, helps you to burn off more fat. Talk about a win-win situation! (You won't jiggle as much at your ideal weight, either.)

Yes! Muscle takes up less space. I have learned that. My weight number hasn't changed but my clothes are looser. I learned yesterday that my calves have gotten skinny!

I love the fat analogy! Squiggly bowl of jello! LOL

Part of the problem is the imprecise use of terminology.

When people say " muscle weighs more than fat" they actually mean that muscle is MORE DENSE than fat. Meaning that 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat (obviously, they both weigh the same, i.e. 1lb). The cliche is that you can "gain muscle" which means the scale number won't go down as quickly (since the scale weighs everything) but appear "leaner" (assuming you lose fat) because the muscle takes up less space. Think of replacing the 12oz or so of down feathers in a pillow with a 12 oz rock.

The reality, of course, is not that simple. Basically, you have fat and "non-fat". The fat is, well, fat and the "non-fat" is: everything else. That can include water, bones, muscle organs, stored fuel, etc., etc, etc.

Starting a dlet and exercise program can result in a number of physical changes as part of the process of adaptation. There are fluid shifts and changes in fuel stores. Some of these can occur fairly quickly, whereas losing fat can be a slower process, especially at first. So, it is conceivable that one can see scale weight stay the same or even increase somewhat in the beginning of a program, even though the process of losing fat is beginning.

What can be confusing is that the ability of the average person and for programs like P90x to actually "build muscle" is greatly overstated, along with the supposed "increased metabolism" that occurs. A lot of people act like building muscle is as easy as putting on a sock, but that is not the case.

While it is possible to build actual muscle and lose fat when starting a program, this does not persist. Under normal circumstances, someone who is maintaining a large calorie deficit will not build significant amounts of muscle. You will see significant strength increases, but not large increases in muscle mass. And that's fine. The fact that the "muscle building" aspects of a program like P90x are probably overstated doesn't really have anything to do with the program's effectiveness. I would concentrate on learning the moves, staying consistent, and focusing your efforts in doing the actual routines. Don't get caught up in the trivia.

Pulled this from http://www.phentermine.com/forum/my-experience-phentermine/7630-1-lb-fat-vs-1-lb-muscle-picture.html

One pound of muscle and one pound of fat are NOT the same size.

If I place one pound of muscle on a scale and one pound of fat on a scale, they will both weigh one pound. The difference is in total volume. One pound of muscle may appear to be the size of baseball; one pound of fat will be three times the size and look like a squiggly bowl of Jell-O.



Why is it that we can lose sizes, yet the scale remains the same? Because muscle weighs more than fat...

Muscle is a denser tissue and thus takes up less room than an equal weight of fat. That's why it's possible to lose inches but show no changes in scale weight. Having more muscle means you have a more desirable body composition, or fat-to-muscle ratio. You may still weigh the same, but your body will look different, smaller, better and tighter. Though it may take you a few weeks to see measurable changes, you begin to put on muscle and burn calories from the moment you start exercising.

The muscle weight you gain also beefs up your metabolism which in turn, helps you to burn off more fat. Talk about a win-win situation! (You won't jiggle as much at your ideal weight, either.)

LIKE!! Good illustration and explaination!

Part of the problem is the imprecise use of terminology.

When people say " muscle weighs more than fat" they actually mean that muscle is MORE DENSE than fat. Meaning that 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat (obviously, they both weigh the same, i.e. 1lb). The cliche is that you can "gain muscle" which means the scale number won't go down as quickly (since the scale weighs everything) but appear "leaner" (assuming you lose fat) because the muscle takes up less space. Think of replacing the 12oz or so of down feathers in a pillow with a 12 oz rock.

The reality, of course, is not that simple. Basically, you have fat and "non-fat". The fat is, well, fat and the "non-fat" is: everything else. That can include water, bones, muscle organs, stored fuel, etc., etc, etc.

Starting a dlet and exercise program can result in a number of physical changes as part of the process of adaptation. There are fluid shifts and changes in fuel stores. Some of these can occur fairly quickly, whereas losing fat can be a slower process, especially at first. So, it is conceivable that one can see scale weight stay the same or even increase somewhat in the beginning of a program, even though the process of losing fat is beginning.

What can be confusing is that the ability of the average person and for programs like P90x to actually "build muscle" is greatly overstated, along with the supposed "increased metabolism" that occurs. A lot of people act like building muscle is as easy as putting on a sock, but that is not the case.

While it is possible to build actual muscle and lose fat when starting a program, this does not persist. Under normal circumstances, someone who is maintaining a large calorie deficit will not build significant amounts of muscle. You will see significant strength increases, but not large increases in muscle mass. And that's fine. The fact that the "muscle building" aspects of a program like P90x are probably overstated doesn't really have anything to do with the program's effectiveness. I would concentrate on learning the moves, staying consistent, and focusing your efforts in doing the actual routines. Don't get caught up in the trivia.

The wise man speaks again Thanks for sharing your wisdom and always making it understandable in the process, most appreciative! :drinker:

I'll refer to what Adzak said.

I'll add to it only by saying that the reason why, many times, people perceive muscle size increase, weight gain, and strength increases when they start a new program isn't because of increased muscle mass, it's because muscles that are infrequently used or used with a low percentage of total strength, never fully utilize all the muscle fiber bundles, and some of those bundles go dormant. When you start a new program, the body re-activates these bundles, giving you more strength for the same muscle. This also forces your body to send more glycogen to the muscle site to compensate for the increased energy usage.

the result is larger looking, more defined muscles, and increase muscle weight (mostly from the glycogen increases). But that isn't the result of increased muscle mass, it's just your body using it's existing muscle more efficiently. This can happen in a few weeks (noted by the rapid ability for someone to increase weight levels when doing new weight training routines). You normally won't begin gaining muscle mass until the body maxes out the existing fiber bundles in a muscle, which, depending on the intensity of the program, is usually between 6 to 9 weeks. Please remember though, as Adzak said, even when you max out, if you're eating at a calorie deficit, you probably won't gain any muscle mass (or any significant muscle mass) as the body won't normally add muscle when in caloric deficit.

Anyone who's done an extended weight training regiment will tell you about the strength "plateaus" that hit around week 8 or so. I'll give you one guess as to why this is.

Here is a picture of a pound of fat next to a pound of muscle.

Yeah, please ignore all the people who are constantly saying, "No, muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat!" These people are irritatingly using the whole "which weighs more a lb of feathers or a lb of bricks" riddle to point out the obvious, and what they do in return is just confuse people who simply want to know whether their workout plan + diet is working or not b/c the scale doesn't move or move in the last direction.

Yes, we know you're soooo smart, a lb of muscle weighs the same as a lb of fat, good for you, you must be a genius. Now getting back to the point, when people say muscle weighs more than fat they mean "with relation to volume". Simply put, you can weigh the same but take up less space (and thus be less fat) as muscle weighs more than fat (w/ relation to volume, i.e. space taken up) <-- now everytime someone wants to make that statement he/she must add this little phrase in parenthesize so as not to get sniped by all these 1 lb = 1 lb geniuses.

= the biggest battle I've fought on this site.

Unfortunately the whole "don't worry about the weight on the scale because your just gaining muscle" thing also doesn't fly. There's just too much going on, as pointed out by a couple of our more knowledgeable and well-spoken members.