Is Muscle heavier than fat?

pixieval · June 2011

making that statement to weight would be like saying carrots and butter have the same amount of calories, since 100 cals of carrots = 100 calories of butter. So one would say butter and cals have the same calorie content.

Great comparison to that old annoying saying!

Mommyof3texans · June 2011

No. 1lb of muscle weighs the exact same as 1lb of fat

That is misconstruing the question. Because muscle is more dense it does weigh more, by volume. When comparing weights you should keep volume constant, when comparing volume your should keep weight constant. Your statement is comparing weight while keeping weight constant which flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

making that statement to weight would be like saying carrots and butter have the same amount of calories, since 100 cals of carrots = 100 calories of butter. So one would say butter and cals have the same calorie content.

To OP: If you are in a caloric deficit you most likely didn't gain any significant amount of muscle maybe a lb or 2 over a couple of months if you are lucky. What you are probably seeing is your muscles storing water due to strength training while you are losing fat. keep drinking water and eventually you will shed some of that excess water.

This.

dragonflydi · June 2011

Hi

Please could somebody finally clear this up for me, I have debates with everybody over this topic! Is muscle heavier than fat?

I have been eating a max of 1200 calories per day and working out in the gym with a mixture of cardio and strength training. My body is looking quite sleek and toned but my weight on the scales is still quite high and only going down by about 0.5 - 1lb per week. Sometimes it doesnt move at all!

I thought this was down to gaining muscle weight but I have been told that theory is a load of rubbish!!

Help!

Here is a visual for that question

These both weigh 5 lbs, but clearly the muscle takes up much less space because it is more dense, so while 5 lbs is 5 lbs regardless of what the item is (think a ton of feathers vs. a ton of bricks ... they both weigh a ton, but there's a LOT more feathers to get there).

If the muscle was the same physical size as the fat in this photo, it would therefore, way much more than 5 lbs. I know you already got a lot of answers on here ... I'm a visual person, so this photo helped me a LOT to 'see' what was being said