Muscles Weight More Than Fat ???

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Lesliecs
Lesliecs Posts: 930 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I see this statement posted over and over again and I just have to question it. Why would you say that muscles weight more than fat? In my experience (and I could be very wrong), a pound is a pound is a pound. One pound of muscle is one pound. One pound of fat is one pound. Why would one be heavier than the other if you are thinking of it as a pound?

Can someone enlighten me please? Thanks & have a healthy day! :wink:
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Replies

  • sportsforfun
    sportsforfun Posts: 353
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    This tends to be a popular belief and much discussed topic on these boards. You are correct in the fact that fat and muscle weigh the same. 1 lb is 1 lb. The reason that this saying came about is that muscle is more dense than fat thus you get the same weight in a smaller area so in essence by gaining muscle and losing fat you can weigh the same but be a smaller size. You can look at all of the old threads on here for more info.
  • luwalmsley1983
    luwalmsley1983 Posts: 98
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    So I see this statement posted over and over again and I just have to question it. Why would you say that muscles weight more than fat? In my experience (and I could be very wrong), a pound is a pound is a pound. One pound of muscle is one pound. One pound of fat is one pound. Why would one be heavier than the other if you are thinking of it as a pound?

    Can someone enlighten me please? Thanks & have a healthy day! :wink:

    You're right.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,427 Member
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    And this would be one number 2 of my MFP pet peeves! (number 1 is it's "lose" not "loose"!)
  • Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused
    Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused Posts: 935 Member
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    Muscle is more dense than fat. The only way the statement "Muscle weighs more than fat" is true, is if you are comparing equal volumes of each. One cubic centimeter of muscle will weigh more than one cubic centimeter of fat.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Everything weighs the same.
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    1lb is 1lb.

    Speaking in volume. Fat takes up more room then muscle. Muscle is denser then fat.
  • david_swinstead
    david_swinstead Posts: 271 Member
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    If people want to start being picky on the terminology this much, then we could start to talk about how "weight" is a very loosely defined concept and what we should really be talking about is mass and density.

    Weight is just a calculation based on mass and gravity.
  • rgunn02
    rgunn02 Posts: 169 Member
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    a pound is a pound sure BUT a pound of muscle is smaller in size than a pound of fat. So if you have a person who is 130lbs that is muscular they will look smaller and tighter than a person who is 130lbs of fat
  • mikituba
    mikituba Posts: 60
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    Muscle is more dense than fat. The only way the statement "Muscle weighs more than fat" is true, is if you are comparing equal volumes of each. One cubic centimeter of muscle will weigh more than one cubic centimeter of fat.

    ^This.

    If you go from being the same inches of fat to the same inches of muscle you will weigh significantly more. check out this picture, it helps make it more visual

    http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
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    A pound is a pound is a pound....

    However, a pound of fat takes up more space than a pound of muscle.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Everything weighs the same.

    Badgers weigh less than cars.

    A pound of fat has a higher volume than a pound of muscle, so people often shorten that down to muscle being heavier than fat.
  • thea0101
    thea0101 Posts: 54 Member
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    The pound for pound thing is correct.

    I think what that statement means is that if you get a square inch of muscle and a square inch of fat, the muscle will weigh more because of its denser nature. adipose tissue is loose, while muscle is packed.
  • katiejneely
    katiejneely Posts: 52
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    Visualize a sock with one pound of fat in it. Now visualize a sock with a pound of muscle in it. Does it look different? Yes. Does it feel different? Yes. Does it weigh the same? Yes.
  • HoLLyZ82
    HoLLyZ82 Posts: 467 Member
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    a pound is a pound sure BUT a pound of muscle is smaller in size than a pound of fat. So if you have a person who is 130lbs that is muscular they will look smaller and tighter than a person who is 130lbs of fat

    BOOM! i weigh about 130 but ive seen some people weigh less and look like they would weigh more.
  • Gshields42
    Gshields42 Posts: 69
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    While this is technically a fallacy when worded that way, as other people have said it's true in the sense of volume to mass. A ton of feathers is going to take a lot more volume than a ton of steel.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    Yes, per volume Muscle does weigh more than fat, just as per volume, steel weighs more than feathers.

    But a tonne of fat weighs the same as a tonne of muscle, as a tonne of feathers as a tonne of steel.

    http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat -- BY VOLUME!

    In other words, a gallon of muscle weighs more than a gallon of fat.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Muscle does not weigh more than Fat, muscle is "denser" than fat.
  • Skurz47
    Skurz47 Posts: 15
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    A pound is a pound but 1 pound of muscle vs 3 pounds fat... What looks better in the mirror and is healthier?

    I train on weights and if I keep my diet the same I don't loose weight but look and feel so much better.

    As a bonus weight training and healthy muscles in general burn more calories. So even days you don't train you will burn more.
  • Alisha_countrymama
    Alisha_countrymama Posts: 821 Member
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    Think of Volume not weight. If you had one cup of fat and one cup of muscle they would take up the same space, but the muscle would weight more. If you had one pound of muscle and one pound of fat sitting on a table the pound of fat would take up more "space" than the pound of muscle.
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