Muscle weighs more.....what?
catherinet89
Posts: 60 Member
Ive come across many people saying this on here and all over the internet. To clarify ..... false oh so false.
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
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Muscle can't be more compact than fat because an inch of muscle takes up the same amount of space as an inch of fat.
Unless we're assuming all other variables are equal. In which case both ways of phrasing it (muscle weighs more or muscle takes up less space) are equally correct (and equally wrong at the same time).0 -
I googled "what does 20 pounds of fat look like". It showed me a plastic model.
I googled "what does 20 pounds of muscle look like". It showed me a plastic model.
The plastic fat model was larger.
...0 -
Ive come across many people saying this on here and all over the internet. To clarify ..... false oh so false.
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
wow..gaining muscle at a deficit probably not.....maybe if you are obese or new to lifting...note the lifting part because you won't be gaining muscle walking etc...
as for the muscle weighs more than fat thing....most mean 1lb of muscle takes up less space than 1lb of fat....0 -
But an inch of muscle doesn't weigh the same as an inch of fat - but a pound of fat does weigh the same as a pound of muscle...a pound is a pound is a pound. So if you were to look at a pound of fat and a pound of muscle, they would take up very different amounts of space in the human body while still weighing the same.0
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Muscle can't be more compact than fat because an inch of muscle takes up the same amount of space as an inch of fat.
Unless we're assuming all other variables are equal. In which case both ways of phrasing it (muscle weighs more or muscle takes up less space) are equally correct (and equally wrong at the same time).
It's a volume thing. Muscle and fat of the same weight have different volumes. This is why water tank testing for bodyfat analysis works.0 -
Ive come across many people saying this on here and all over the internet. To clarify ..... false oh so false.
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
I'm not sure I believe what you are saying. If I've just started working out and haven't lost weight then I've probably just gained muscle? I just don't believe it. How can I gain muscle so quickly when I'm not even eating enough food to meet my metabolic needs? It just doesn't make sense.
You don't happen to live in the Parkland subdivision do you?
I worked with a personal trainer for several months and in that time didnt really lose as much weight as when i was purely dieting thats because i gained in muscle. Obviously you need to eat accordingly. I was told to eat 2000 calories atleast when working with my personal trainer.
Results are not instant. What i mean is you spent the last week going hard and you only lost a pound if that... which happened to me alot... but your jeans still get looser.
And no i dont0 -
Ive come across many people saying this on here and all over the internet. To clarify ..... false oh so false.
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
wow..gaining muscle at a deficit probably not.....maybe if you are obese or new to lifting...note the lifting part because you won't be gaining muscle walking etc...
as for the muscle weighs more than fat thing....most mean 1lb of muscle takes up less space than 1lb of fat....
You shouldnt really be weight training whilst eating a low calorie diet. as mentioned above i was told to eat a min of 2000 calories a day by my personal trainer.
When i read muscle weighs more then fat ... that makes no sense to me. A pound is a pound ... 10 pounds is 10 pounds no matter the size of the object0 -
Muscle can't be more compact than fat because an inch of muscle takes up the same amount of space as an inch of fat.
Unless we're assuming all other variables are equal. In which case both ways of phrasing it (muscle weighs more or muscle takes up less space) are equally correct (and equally wrong at the same time).
It's a volume thing. Muscle and fat of the same weight have different volumes. This is why water tank testing for bodyfat analysis works.
Exactly ... a pound is a pound0 -
Muscle can't be more compact than fat because an inch of muscle takes up the same amount of space as an inch of fat.
Unless we're assuming all other variables are equal. In which case both ways of phrasing it (muscle weighs more or muscle takes up less space) are equally correct (and equally wrong at the same time).
It's a volume thing. Muscle and fat of the same weight have different volumes. This is why water tank testing for bodyfat analysis works.
Exactly my point. Both phrases - muscle weighs more than fat and muscle takes up less space than fat - are describing the same thing. Both are assuming that the other variable (either volume or weight) remains equal. Thus, a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat and a cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat. Both phrases are equally right, but for some reason people love to pick one apart (muscle weighs more) and provide the other as an accurate alternative (muscle takes up less space).0 -
But an inch of muscle doesn't weigh the same as an inch of fat - but a pound of fat does weigh the same as a pound of muscle...a pound is a pound is a pound. So if you were to look at a pound of fat and a pound of muscle, they would take up very different amounts of space in the human body while still weighing the same.
Precisely0 -
When i read muscle weighs more then fat ... that makes no sense to me. A pound is a pound
Correct. However, a lot of people are basically scientifically ignorant, and weights, volumes, mass, etc are "SCIENCE!"
It's an oft repeated statement due to ignorance. What they mean is that volumes of fat or muscle have different weight.0 -
When i read muscle weighs more then fat ... that makes no sense to me. A pound is a pound
Correct. However, a lot of people are basically scientifically ignorant, and weights, volumes, mass, etc are "SCIENCE!"
It's an oft repeated statement due to ignorance. What they mean is that volumes of fat or muscle have different weight.
Its a common misconception and gives some people false expectations when it comes to working out and weight training. Now when i talk working out i mean cardio and weight training the whole shabang not just running ... since you can actually lose muscle while running.0 -
Muscle can't be more compact than fat because an inch of muscle takes up the same amount of space as an inch of fat.
Unless we're assuming all other variables are equal. In which case both ways of phrasing it (muscle weighs more or muscle takes up less space) are equally correct (and equally wrong at the same time).
It's a volume thing. Muscle and fat of the same weight have different volumes. This is why water tank testing for bodyfat analysis works.
Exactly ... a pound is a pound
A cubic inch is a cubic inch as well. Muscle is more dense than fat ... more weight per unit of volume which requires the inclusion of both characteristics.0 -
You shouldnt really be weight training whilst eating a low calorie diet. as mentioned above i was told to eat a min of 2000 calories a day by my personal trainer.
When i read muscle weighs more then fat ... that makes no sense to me. A pound is a pound ... 10 pounds is 10 pounds no matter the size of the object
???? No weight training while eating a "lower" calorie diet??? What about competitive bodybuilders who are cutting for competition and still hitting the weights just as hard in the gym?
When I was cutting a few months back on lower calories, I still kept my regular schedule of lifting like I always have? Not sure why you think you should not lift during a time like that??0 -
I googled "what does 20 pounds of fat look like". It showed me a plastic model.
I googled "what does 20 pounds of muscle look like". It showed me a plastic model.
The plastic fat model was larger.
Exactly! I love Google for proving people wrong.0 -
Thank you. It's been 20 minutes since this was last posted.0
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Ive come across many people saying this on here and all over the internet. To clarify ..... false oh so false.
Thast like saying a 10 pound bowling ball weighs more then 10 pounds of feathers... they weigh the same, one is just more compact then the other.
A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat but muscle is more compact then fat.
So if youve just started working out and you notice you might not be losing weight per say dont give up, youre probably gaining muscle!! Youll still lose the inches even if you dont see the pounds going down... that will happen too dont worry.
As the saying goes, " It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change, 8 for your family and friends and 12 for the rest of the world."
wow..gaining muscle at a deficit probably not.....maybe if you are obese or new to lifting...note the lifting part because you won't be gaining muscle walking etc...
as for the muscle weighs more than fat thing....most mean 1lb of muscle takes up less space than 1lb of fat....
You shouldnt really be weight training whilst eating a low calorie diet. as mentioned above i was told to eat a min of 2000 calories a day by my personal trainer.
When i read muscle weighs more then fat ... that makes no sense to me. A pound is a pound ... 10 pounds is 10 pounds no matter the size of the object
really...interesting I've been doing heavy lifting for almost a year and only hit maitenance of 2100 in June...didn't hinder me at all...it helps preserve your muscle while losing weight...I don't care what a personal trainer said...I know better.
Esp since weight loss is CICO and exercise is for fitness.0 -
The problem isn't the misconception it's the way someone says it. "A pound of muscle takes up less volume than a pound of fat" or "a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat" are good ways to describe it. The problem is that you get a lot of people parroting what they've read on here and they really don't understand it so they state it incorrectly. It's like someone saying "I could care less" when what they really mean to say is "I couldn't care less."
The only thing I would caution is the OP's statement that if the person isn't losing weight they are likely putting on muscle. That's not true very often especially if the person isn't lifting heavy and is eating at a deficit and not eating much protein, either. MFP's default protein percentage is absurdly low so someone new to MFP and the whole concept of macros and nutrition is not likely to be eating enough to gain muscle.0 -
I don't think someone on a deficit is going to gain muscle at a faster rate than they lose fat..0
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Muscle is more dense than fat. Period. That's what that statement is trying to say. Everyone KNOWS that's what that statement is trying to stay. So.... can't we stop yet?0
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When people say muscle weighs more than fat, the "by volume" is inferred.
Colloquial irregularities occur frequently in any language.
Since the rest of present company understood perfectly the intended meaning, being particular about the distinction is purely pedantic and arguably pretentious.0 -
Not a single person has ever said a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. That's not what they said, and that's not what they meant.0
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muscle doesn't "weigh" more than fat. muscle is more dense than fat. so therefore with identical volumes you will get different mass. simple physics
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Please no one listen to anything op has said.
that is all.0 -
Lets not forget, in the short term, other things can effect our weight that have nothing to do with fat or muscle. that is why you should not weigh your self so often. Maybe once a week and take measurements like once a month.
How much fluid is in your system today. It could be a couple pounds more or less than you did yesterday. Maybe you lost a pound of fat and holding 2 pounds of fluid today, you did not gain a pound. And on the more delicate side, Bowel activity. You could be holding in a lot of material which hold moisture, you could be 5 pounds lighter tomorrow than today. You did not lose weight and vise versa.
If you are going to weigh yourself everyday, expect weight jumps when you have not gained any fat, expect plateaus (where the weight stays exactly the same for many days straight even though you are being perfect on your diet and working out like crazy. This is all normal. If weighing every day, keep a chart. You want to look at the trend over time not the day to day number. over all, are you trending down? That is what you are looking for.
As for the Fat vs Muscle Weight thing, what is meant by that is that, Lets say one is losing fat gradually while building muscle. it is possible to get thinner while not changing your weight. Back in the day this happened to me. I was 174 with a belly, then by the end of the year or so, I was very strong and fit weighing 3 pounds more than I started with a very low body fat percentage.
But for most of us in our current shape,(or at least in my current shape) you should lose fat faster than you gain muscle. Muscle mass is actually much harder to build than it is to lose fat. Building muscle is a very slow process, And unlike Fat. your body eats away the access muscle that you do not use pretty quickly. While fat just does not want to leave the building.0 -
oh, its this post again
i think its a given that people are talking about density. youre nitpicking0 -
OP looks like Emma Stone.
You may now resume an argument so pointless even I don't engage in it.
You are so right! On both counts!0 -
But what if muscle weighs the same as a duck?0
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