Muscle DOES Weigh More Than Fat

well done..this reminds me of the physics i took my first year of uni! ughh!

Well, I hope your measurement of muscle weighs more than fat is true. That would completely explain why I have gained weight in the past 2 months. I likely had no more fat to lose, just muscle to gain. So my husband says anyway. :-)

While my explanation is true, it may not be what you are seeing. Muscle is hard to build and in most cases requires a caloric surplus and heavy weight training. In 2 months under optimal conditions you could have gained roughly 2-4lbs of muscle if you are in a caloric surplus and training properly. If you are new to weightlifting you could still see some muscle gains on a caloric deficit but they would be closer to only a ½ to 1lb gain over 2 months.

I solved the equation for weight, I did not hold it constant. Gravity and volume were held constant.

I solved the equation for weight, I did not hold it constant. Gravity and volume were held constant.

Uh .... no.

A pound of muscle and a pound of fat both weigh a pound. No more, no less.

A pound is a pound whether it's a pound of rock or a pound of marshmallows..

:flowerforyou:

Ok, so I am moving this from my blog to the forums because I have already seen a metric *kitten* load of inaccurate posts/comments on the topic.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this topic thought, and I don’t understand why. Maybe it is just because of how my thought process works, but I don’t understand how people cannot see that muscle does, in fact, weigh more than fat. So I am going to make a naive attempt at trying to settle this debate once and for all (lol) using simple math and the fundamentals of physics. The results are pretty difficult to argue with and will hopefully give the “lb is a lb” group of people a new perspective on the topic at hand.

So, does muscle weight more than fat? The answer is yes, and here is why.

Weight is a measure of force (so technically it is measured in Newtons), specifically the force gravity has on an object. Whereas, mass is a measure of how much matter an object has (measured in mg, g, kg, etc…). Mass is constant, where as weight is variable; granted we are all on Earth so it should remain relatively constant. I think we can agree on all of this, or at least I hope so, because it is pretty fundamental to the laws of physics.

Furthermore, in order to compare two objects, you need to have both a constant and a variable, otherwise there is really no point in comparing them. Saying that 1lb of fat weighs the same as 1lb of muscle is a given because you are only comparing the two constants and ignoring the variable. That is no different than me saying that 100 calories of butter is the same as 100 calories of lettuce, however the quantities, or volume, of both will obviously differ. So when someone says that muscle weighs more or has more mass than fat it should be assumed that we are not referring to the two obvious constants alone, but are referring to their weights as a variable with respect to a constant volume.

Additionally, It is impossible to say that muscle weighs the same as fat and is, at the same time, denser than fat. When you refer to density you are, by definition, referring to both mass and volume simultaneously because both mass and volume are required to find density. So if Weight = Mass x Gravity and Density = Mass/Volume then we can combine these two equations into one by saying that Weight = (Density x Volume) x Gravity. This equation perfectly illustrates how all three components account for the weight of any given object. Gravity is constant because we are all on Earth, so if we also hold volume constant, and we all agree that muscle is denser than fat, then the outcome of the equation can only result in muscle having a greater weight than fat.

You can even use completely arbitrary numbers to prove this, without the need for specific units or measurements. Let’s say that gravity is represented by the number 5 and volume is represented by the number 2. Since we are holding these to values constant they will be the same for both muscle and fat. We will then give fat a density of 12 and muscle a density of 15. Here it goes:

• Muscle: (15 x 2) x 5 = 150
• Fat: (12 x 2) x 5 = 120

Now, unless we are going to argue about which number is higher, that pretty much settles it. When thinking in terms of this equation there should no longer be any question or debate on the matter. Muscle is heavier, period.