Muscle weighs more.....what?

13

Replies

  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
    Muscle is more dense than fat. Same thing as 1 square cube of muscle would weigh more than square cube of fat. Density not weight is the differance. Cant believe some ppl are still arguing this. 1lb of gold is the same weight as 1 lb of aluminum but 1 square cube of gold will weigh more than 1 square cube of aluminum.
  • EthanTheBrave
    EthanTheBrave Posts: 8 Member
    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).

    An inch is a measurement of distance.

    "Compactness" i can only assume refers closest to density, and it's what people generally mean.

    I kind of doubt the whole point of this thread. Do people really not understand the difference? Yes it's misquoted everywhere but maybe I guess I'm naive in thinking that people understand the correct meaning.

    It's definitely easier than saying "1 cubic meter of muscle has greater mass than 1 cubic meter of fat" -which is about as correct a statement as you can get.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    The pen is mightier than the sword.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    It lowers. When "on" the water, water is displaced by mass. When "in" the water, water is displaced by volume.

    A Cannonball has greater mass than volume. So it displaces more water when above/floating (on a boat) than it does when under the water. Once the cannonball leaves the boat and enter the water, less water is displaced and the water level lowers.


    The bolded is fundamentally incorrect.
  • catherinet89
    catherinet89 Posts: 60 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements

    You just complained that people are taking your words far to literally after taking other people's words literally. Another day full of irony here on MFP.

    In reality it takes a lot of time, fuel, and effort for a woman to gain even a pound of muscle mass. Few members on MFP are gaining more muscle than they lose in fat. It's basic thermodynamics.

    what exactly did i take literal? The question was what about competitive bodybuilders. Theyre diet and workout would differ substantially from someone who is just trying to lose 10 pounds
  • catherinet89
    catherinet89 Posts: 60 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements
    sorry but muscle gain is not why your seeing the scale go up, not in a calorie deficit at least

    and the average joe would benefit from lifting, not just bodybuilders. i dont consider myself a bodybuilder, not within a mile, but ive been lifting in a deficit for 8 months now

    I had my body fat % checked on the regular so i know exactly how much fat was lost and how much muscle was gained and where even got it on paper and no where did i say you shouldnt weight lift as an average joe ..... im pretty sure a few posts ago i even said what a benefit it is to losing weight
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements

    You just complained that people are taking your words far to literally after taking other people's words literally. Another day full of irony here on MFP.

    In reality it takes a lot of time, fuel, and effort for a woman to gain even a pound of muscle mass. Few members on MFP are gaining more muscle than they lose in fat. It's basic thermodynamics.

    what exactly did i take literal? The question was what about competitive bodybuilders. Theyre diet and workout would differ substantially from someone who is just trying to lose 10 pounds

    Your ENTIRE thread is based on you taking a commonly used phrase literally.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    You people are silly. Obviously a muscular cannonball weights much less than a fat cannon ball. Durrr....


    summer_cannonballWEB.jpg


    cannonball-300.jpg



    The OP is just wrong.
  • danaph3681
    danaph3681 Posts: 13 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements

    I doubt you had gained any real amount of muscle during that time. In most cases a stable or increased body weight is largely due to increased body fat stores, glycogen and water not because you are packing on a ton of muscle from lifting a few weights and definitely not from cardio.

    And I suspect that you know for a fact " body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements"??? I consider myself a body builder. I am NOT a competitive body builder but I can assure you that your statement is not true. YOU have no clue the hard work that goes into building real and decent muscle and the length of time it takes to do so.
  • catherinet89
    catherinet89 Posts: 60 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements

    You just complained that people are taking your words far to literally after taking other people's words literally. Another day full of irony here on MFP.

    In reality it takes a lot of time, fuel, and effort for a woman to gain even a pound of muscle mass. Few members on MFP are gaining more muscle than they lose in fat. It's basic thermodynamics.

    what exactly did i take literal? The question was what about competitive bodybuilders. Theyre diet and workout would differ substantially from someone who is just trying to lose 10 pounds

    Your ENTIRE thread is based on you taking a commonly used phrase literally.

    because i have literally seen the words "and remember muscle weighs more then fat" on a weight loss blog just this morning .........
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements
    sorry but muscle gain is not why your seeing the scale go up, not in a calorie deficit at least

    and the average joe would benefit from lifting, not just bodybuilders. i dont consider myself a bodybuilder, not within a mile, but ive been lifting in a deficit for 8 months now

    I had my body fat % checked on the regular so i know exactly how much fat was lost and how much muscle was gained even got it on paper and no where did i say you should weight lift as an average joe ..... im pretty sure a few posts ago i even said what a benefit it is to losing weight
    bolded doesnt say average joes shouldnt lift on a deficit?

    and bf% is an extremely hard quantity to measure, therefore unreliable for calculating muscle mass. DEXA scans are really the only accurate measurement and they are expensive
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
    Nevermind
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    I had my body fat % checked on the regular so i know exactly how much fat was lost and how much muscle was gained and where even got it on paper and no where did i say you shouldnt weight lift as an average joe ..... im pretty sure a few posts ago i even said what a benefit it is to losing weight


    I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. Unless you died (multiple times) and had full post-mortems performed, you really don't know exactly how much fat and muscle you had. My guess is your trainer used the calipers? If so, there are quite a few potential flaws in their (mis)use. And if you used bio-electric impedance (such as a scale or the handheld device), those are almost always very far off.
  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
    A pound of muscle weighs one pound
    A pound of fat weighs one pound
    A pound of steel weighs one pound

    fat weighs the same as steel. Don't get it? ask the OP.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member

    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??

    Im talking about the average joe not body builders. In my opinion a body builders lifestyle isnt healthy anyways but thats not the point. Youre taking things im saying far too literal. This is about fitness goals for losing weight not becoming mister america. I know when i started going to the gym id get discouraged because i would go 5 sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes lose a pound if that id even sometimes gain weight but not because i wasnt getting results but it was because i had gained muscle. I didnt do hours of weight training i did a mix of cardio, HIIT and weight training. And plus body builders have binge days and they take alot of supplements

    You just complained that people are taking your words far to literally after taking other people's words literally. Another day full of irony here on MFP.

    In reality it takes a lot of time, fuel, and effort for a woman to gain even a pound of muscle mass. Few members on MFP are gaining more muscle than they lose in fat. It's basic thermodynamics.

    what exactly did i take literal? The question was what about competitive bodybuilders. Theyre diet and workout would differ substantially from someone who is just trying to lose 10 pounds

    Your ENTIRE thread is based on you taking a commonly used phrase literally.

    because i have literally seen the words "and remember muscle weighs more then fat" on a weight loss blog just this morning .........

    You don't even realize the hypocrisy of your complaining that people here take you literally while ranting about that phrase, do you?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I had my body fat % checked on the regular so i know exactly how much fat was lost and how much muscle was gained and where even got it on paper and no where did i say you shouldnt weight lift as an average joe ..... im pretty sure a few posts ago i even said what a benefit it is to losing weight


    I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. Unless you died (multiple times) and had full post-mortems performed, you really don't know exactly how much fat and muscle you had. My guess is your trainer used the calipers? If so, there are quite a few potential flaws in their (mis)use. And if you used bio-electric impedance (such as a scale or the handheld device), those are almost always very far off.

    dis...

    besides if you gain substainal muscle wth is mine...I want my muscle....if she can has it I wants it too.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    This is supposed to be a support group but rather things get taken too literal or generalised. Disappointing to say the least.

    like those people who get all nitpicky over the phrase "muscle weighs more than fat", yes we all understand why, but really typing out 25 sentances about M=VD gets old
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    Does a lb of muscle on earth weigh the same as a lb of fat on the moon???
  • Muddy_Yogi
    Muddy_Yogi Posts: 1,459 Member
    Please no one listen to anything op has said.
    that is all.

    But she worked with a PT for several MONTHS!

    Yes months because unfortunately not all of us can afford one longer then that... also during that time i lost over 50 pounds and gained several pounds in muscle so no im not clueless. Peoples need to make someone look a fool on here is sad. This is supposed to be a support group but rather things get taken too literal or generalised. Disappointing to say the least.
    Disappointing is when people come to the interwebz trying to be an expert on something because they worked with a trainer for a few months. ..... that is disappointing to say the least.
  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
    okay we all know a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat...

    but what about an ounce of muscle...does it weigh the same as an ounce of fat? New argument...go!
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    Lots of LOLZ at all the armchair physicists and engineers on here.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    okay we all know a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat...

    but what about an ounce of muscle...does it weigh the same as an ounce of fat? New argument...go!

    Pound force (or ounce force) of something is dependent on location.

    Pound mass of something is the same no matter where it is.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    This is supposed to be a support group but rather things get taken too literal or generalised. Disappointing to say the least.

    like those people who get all nitpicky over the phrase "muscle weighs more than fat", yes we all understand why, but really typing out 25 sentances about M=VD gets old

    or F = mg
  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
    okay we all know a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat...

    but what about an ounce of muscle...does it weigh the same as an ounce of fat? New argument...go!

    Pound force (or ounce force) of something is dependent on location.

    Pound mass of something is the same no matter where it is.
    Which was the OP talking about. Wait...did we measure the pound of fat on a balance or on a scale with a force sensor? Oh great...start over...
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I had my body fat % checked on the regular so i know exactly how much fat was lost and how much muscle was gained and where even got it on paper and no where did i say you shouldnt weight lift as an average joe ..... im pretty sure a few posts ago i even said what a benefit it is to losing weight


    I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. Unless you died (multiple times) and had full post-mortems performed, you really don't know exactly how much fat and muscle you had. My guess is your trainer used the calipers? If so, there are quite a few potential flaws in their (mis)use. And if you used bio-electric impedance (such as a scale or the handheld device), those are almost always very far off.

    and what is the amount of variance for ct based body comp scanning?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    okay we all know a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat...

    but what about an ounce of muscle...does it weigh the same as an ounce of fat? New argument...go!

    Pound force (or ounce force) of something is dependent on location.

    Pound mass of something is the same no matter where it is.
    Which was the OP talking about. Wait...did we measure the pound of fat on a balance or on a scale with a force sensor? Oh great...start over...

    Force sensors only help detect Jedi and Sith. :bigsmile:
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    The pen is mightier than the sword.

    You have penis mightiers! You've been holding out Trebeck.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    Please no one listen to anything op has said.
    that is all.

    But she worked with a PT for several MONTHS!

    Yes months because unfortunately not all of us can afford one longer then that... also during that time i lost over 50 pounds and gained several pounds in muscle so no im not clueless. Peoples need to make someone look a fool on here is sad. This is supposed to be a support group but rather things get taken too literal or generalised. Disappointing to say the least.
    Disappointing is when people come to the interwebz trying to be an expert on something because they worked with a trainer for a few months. ..... that is disappointing to say the least.

    but she's had literally TENS of workouts....TENS of them!
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    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).
    There's no point in even weighing anything or having scales, because everything weighs the same as everything else. A feather weighs the same as a galaxy.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    There's no point in even weighing anything or having scales, because everything weighs the same as everything else.

    Drug lords disagree.