If you think you gained muscle... Read this.

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  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I have just had a bio-impedence test done andin one month I lost 2.8kg in fat and gained 200 gms lean weight so that would suggest that it surely is possible to gain lean weight while calorie deficit.

    Are you obese? Because I stated that this is possible with higher body fat percentages, in fact, I took advantage of this ability myself and gained about 1lb of muscle per month on a calorie deficit. Secondly, bioimpedence devices are subject to a large margin of error because of the various amounts of liquid that may be in your body at any given time. The best (still with margins of error) methods to measure your body fat are a caliper and/or tape measure and their associated formulas.
  • sophjakesmom
    sophjakesmom Posts: 904 Member
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    Important information to get out there. I think we try to look for excuses to make each other feel better and we are really hurting each other rather than helping. I would prefer that someone tell me to take a look at my diary and really see if there is someplace I needed to be more honest with myself. Perhaps I am eating too much or too little. Or maybe I had too much sodium for the week. If we look hard, we can usually figure it out. Keep speaking the truth, regardless of how unpopular it may be.
  • claire_b79
    claire_b79 Posts: 101 Member
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    Very good info...thanks for sharing!
  • MiNiMoNkI
    MiNiMoNkI Posts: 447 Member
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    i wish i understood all this, duhhhh!, sounds interesting but im not the brightest tool in the box!
  • jdix000
    jdix000 Posts: 10
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    Thank you! I hate it when people think that a lb of muscle weighs more than a lb of fat.

    It does, because muscle is denser than fat.

    I agree with everything you posted, except for the above statement that 1lb of Muscle weighs more than 1lb of Fat. That statment is impossible. 1 lb of any substance cannot weigh more than 1 lb of another substance. You are talking density and volume. it takes less muscle by volume to weigh 1 lb. but 1lb = 1lb
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    Thank you! I hate it when people think that a lb of muscle weighs more than a lb of fat.

    It does, because muscle is denser than fat.

    I agree with everything you posted, except for the above statement that 1lb of Muscle weighs more than 1lb of Fat. That statment is impossible. 1 lb of any substance cannot weigh more than 1 lb of another substance. You are talking density and volume. it takes less muscle by volume to weigh 1 lb. but 1lb = 1lb

    I addressed this already; I misread... my bad.
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
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    I went from understanding to confusion as well. I'm 5'11" and around 170 (female), so I'm not that far out of the weight range for my height, though I'm happiest in the 150s. I'm naturally lean, but when slack off and do the couch potato thing, my body gains fat, especially around my middle. Doing body weight exercises and circuits with light weights gets the results that I want, so that's what I do. It's not a fear of lifting heavy.

    From what I (thought) I understand from the thread, my body is losing fat, but the muscle "tone" that I have was always there and just under the fat? And that I can lift and carry everyday items up to 100 pounds is just my natural strength and not a result of anything that I'm doing? I mean, I can live with losing fat and being She-Ra (what my family calls me), but I just want to be clear.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I went from understanding to confusion as well. I'm 5'11" and around 170 (female), so I'm not that far out of the weight range for my height, though I'm happiest in the 150s. I'm naturally lean, but when slack off and do the couch potato thing, my body gains fat, especially around my middle. Doing body weight exercises and circuits with light weights gets the results that I want, so that's what I do. It's not a fear of lifting heavy.

    From what I (thought) I understand from the thread, my body is losing fat, but the muscle "tone" that I have was always there and just under the fat? And that I can lift and carry everyday items up to 100 pounds is just my natural strength and not a result of anything that I'm doing? I mean, I can live with losing fat and being She-Ra (what my family calls me), but I just want to be clear.

    You are understanding correctly. Your muscles that you see have always been there and you have likely seen some increases in muscle size (increase in sarcoplasmic fluid) and some strength, but you have probably not had much if any muscle mass gains. 
  • deadmittens
    deadmittens Posts: 536 Member
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    Thanks Debbie Downer. lol jk


    kind of. :grumble:
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
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    Thanks. It really clears up a lot for me.

    I've been puzzled when I would read threads about weight and strength training and see the comments about how unless someone lifts heavy, they will have spaghetti arms and be "skinny fat" and I would start thinking that I was hallucinating my muscle definition and strength. So it turns out that I have the DNA fairy (and the body weight exercises) to thank for those two things. It makes me wonder what kind of scary strength I could gain doing a real strength training regime.

    I've been thinking of moving up lately. The 5 lb weights are just so light to me now. I was doing some compound movements with them a few days ago and felt like I was flinging feathers.
  • yummy♥
    yummy♥ Posts: 612 Member
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    adding to my topics to read tonight
  • Angela_MA
    Angela_MA Posts: 260
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    bump
  • atabt
    atabt Posts: 58 Member
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    bump
  • TrophyWifeSass
    TrophyWifeSass Posts: 490 Member
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    Sooooo much info...so late...sleepy...must come back...and yawn, read...tomorrow...thanks...and night...yawn...
  • MechM
    MechM Posts: 4
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    love this thread !
  • TAWoody
    TAWoody Posts: 261 Member
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    I'm going to have to keep this window open at work and read it tomorrow when I'm more awake. Looks like good stuff. :smile:
  • krizstyling
    krizstyling Posts: 40 Member
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    One of the best threads I've ever read. Nothing annoys me more, except maybe when people use the word "tone" all wrong.

    I agree witht he above poster who stated sometimes when we are trying to help others or encourage them, we truly are hindering them. ESP when we think we know what we are talking about and the facts are ALL WRONG.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I have just had a bio-impedence test done andin one month I lost 2.8kg in fat and gained 200 gms lean weight so that would suggest that it surely is possible to gain lean weight while calorie deficit.

    Are you obese? Because I stated that this is possible with higher body fat percentages, in fact, I took advantage of this ability myself and gained about 1lb of muscle per month on a calorie deficit. Secondly, bioimpedence devices are subject to a large margin of error because of the various amounts of liquid that may be in your body at any given time. The best (still with margins of error) methods to measure your body fat are a caliper and/or tape measure and their associated formulas.

    Not to mention that bioimpedance does not and cannot measure "muscle". What it proposes to distinguish is the difference between "fat" and "not fat", but it cannot analyze what the "non fat" is.

    And there is no bioimpedance device in existence that can accurately measure changes as small as 200 grams.

    And I would say about calipers and tape measures: they are perhaps the most accurate way to detect changes in body composition, but I would not go so far as to say they were the best methods to measure body fat %. (I.e. might be excellent at capturing a true change in skinfold thickness, but not the best at determining whether that thickness represents "X%" body fat).
  • adrienc
    adrienc Posts: 57
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    thanks for posting this and your detailed explanation - very instructive!
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    One of the best threads I've ever read. Nothing annoys me more, except maybe when people use the word "tone" all wrong.

    I agree witht he above poster who stated sometimes when we are trying to help others or encourage them, we truly are hindering them. ESP when we think we know what we are talking about and the facts are ALL WRONG.

    AGREE!! I also hate the word tone!! It doesn't mean anything!

    I also agree it is so freakin frustrating when people say muscle weighs more than fat...I want to scream...and then I want to say "Its because you're eating too much!" but I know that doesn't help a thing either.

    It is just irritating and incorrect information to boot!

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