More Muscle = More Fat Lost?

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Jimmyftw94
Jimmyftw94 Posts: 75 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I read an article online recently saying that the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn. The article made a good analogy: a car with a higher horsepower burn gas faster than a car with a lower horsepower. So for someone like me who is skinny and non-muscular, should I focus on building muscle to cut my belly fat? Also, should I be eating at a deficit, maintain or surplus to do this?

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  • bm920
    bm920 Posts: 114 Member
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    The more lean mass you have, the more calories you will burn at rest throughout the day. So you will be able to lose fat while eating higher calories with more muscle mass making dieting easier. Your current body comp and goals will determine your calorie intake. If you are new to resistance training I would recommend maintenance or slight deficit with a good strength training routine.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,393 Member
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    This is also the reason why older people often gain weight because they are more sedantary? Is there any useful information on how much extra energy an extra kg of lean body mass needs?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Muscle actually doesn't use much energy at all at rest so trying to lose fat/weight by adding muscle is a hopeless strategy. Plenty of good reasons to add muscle but thinking that adding a few pounds of muscle is going to be significant for your calorie balance is wishful thinking.

    Per pound of muscle per day approx. 6 cals.
    Per pound of fat per day approx. 2 cals.

    So it's obvious that actually using your muscles (exercise or activity) is far more significant than just having more muscle mass.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,393 Member
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    Thanks, do you have any sources for that? I know it's not much but it came up somewhere a few days ago and I tried making a point that gaining muscle mass is not such an advantage energy-wise but going on a crash diet and losing a lot of muscle mass might be a problem.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    This is a good read....
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dissecting-the-energy-needs-of-the-body-research-review.html

    Adding an extra kidney, now that would make a difference! :smile:
  • Jimmyftw94
    Jimmyftw94 Posts: 75 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Muscle actually doesn't use much energy at all at rest so trying to lose fat/weight by adding muscle is a hopeless strategy. Plenty of good reasons to add muscle but thinking that adding a few pounds of muscle is going to be significant for your calorie balance is wishful thinking.

    Per pound of muscle per day approx. 6 cals.
    Per pound of fat per day approx. 2 cals.

    So it's obvious that actually using your muscles (exercise or activity) is far more significant than just having more muscle mass.

    Well yes but to build muscle mass you have to workout so it goes hand in hand.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    I've seen you post several questions along these lines and the answer is still the same - if you want to build muscle you need to eat in a calorie surplus. If you want to lose fat then you need to eat in a calorie deficit.

    Choose which of these is most important to you now.

    A good strength training programme is important in both cases.

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