Muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat and put away the damn sc

I sincerely want to understand this!!

So do both models weigh the same?


both have 15% fat

Assuming they have roughly the same height and frame, the muscular one should weigh a bit more. I'd say by somewhere between 10 and 20 pounds, but that's just a wild guess on my part.

NICE...love this!

...I'm so glad this was posted....clearly has never been discussed on mfp before..

Fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than with five pounds more muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds, so for those of you that don't "get it", you cannot say one thing weighing a certain weight weighs more than another thing at that same weight. It's a common joke to play on an 8-year old. The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat."

Don't get me wrong, I get what you're saying, and I'm not saying you're wrong, so I hope this doesn't come across that way. I just think this is missing the 'point.'

You are correct that 1 pound of fat weighs the same as 1 pound of muscle. True. But I will also say that I never see anyone saying "one pound of muscle weighs more than one pound of fat." Never do I ever see that. I've never heard a single person make that claim.

What people are getting across is exactly what you're saying above (in terms that most people are unlikely to ever pick up because it sounds too scientific or too difficult to get an easy grasp on), which is that "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat." While it's true that one pound of feathers weighs the same as one pound of rocks, I don't think anyone's going to have a problem with me saying that rocks weigh more than feathers. The concept isn't pound per pound. The concept is that the same amount of feathers will weigh less than the same amount of rocks. So on a person, the idea is that yes, your weight may not have changed because you gained muscle to replace the fat, but don't worry, because you'll still be smaller.

I don't see anything wrong with encouraging someone in that logic. Most people don't need to adopt a 'fancier' or more accurate way of saying something when the general population understands what's being said. Rocks weigh more than feathers. Bricks weigh more than pillows. Muscles weigh more than fat. It's not fact in terms of pound per pound, but people get it, it's easy, and it's encouraging.

And those are my thoughts.

I didnt read all the replys to this so maybe its been said BUT

the difference btw muscle and fat is muscle holds more water which is also why men (in general) and muscular women must drink more water than non muscular people.

My thoughts exactly!!!!!

When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per unit volume. No one thinks 5lbs. of anything does not weigh 5 lbs.

Agreed. You are hung up on semantics.

This is wrong. a pound of fat is way heavier than a pillow for instance. It would take 6 100 pound girls to equal just ONE! 600 pound person.

When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per unit volume. No one thinks 5lbs. of anything does not weigh 5 lbs.

Agreed. You are hung up on semantics.

This is wrong. a pound of fat is way heavier than a pillow for instance. It would take 6 100 pound girls to equal just ONE! 600 pound person.

But what if the pillow is muscular?

Stop being so obsessed with body weight and start paying attention to body composition. How much body fat do you have compared to muscle? Simply seeing how much you weigh isn't very helpful.

Now onto the scale and how much you weigh:

Take measurements and put the scale away. The scale is just one tool out of the toolbox to use to track your progress, but in my opinion is probably the less helpful. The scale has a way of playing mind tricks on you and causing setbacks and hopelessness if you do not hit the number you "think you deserve" from all the exercise you are doing. There are so many factors tied into that number on the scale, that weighing nightly, daily, weekly, every two weeks can play significant emotional mind games with some people. Put the damn thing away and use it monthly to track your progress, if at all, if that number even means anything to you. It doesn't to me.

I gauge my success off how my clothes are fitting, my energy levels, and my overall outlook on life. Not some 3 digits on a scale.

^^^ Needed this reminder today :ohwell:

I understand what you're trying to say... I've tried to explain it before when I started out here too. But now, I just put it this way...

Pound for pound: Muscles weighs the same as fat.
Volume for volume: Muscle weighs more than fat.

- If you are gaining weight, but not losing inches... you are not gaining muscle.
- If you did Zumba for two weeks and you're not losing weight... you are not gaining muscle.
- If you are not doing some serious weight training (and I mean heavy weights, lots of reps and lots of sets) over the course of a few months... you most definitely did not gain a pound of muscle. Edit to add: Just ask any bodybuilder how much dedication, time and hard work goes in to gaining 1 pound of muscle.

(Oddly enough, I had Jeff Foxworthy's voice in my head as I read those back to myself. HA!)

The threads that I usually see the "muscles weighs more than fat" comments in are from people trying to explain why "Jane Doe" isn't losing weight even though she says she's eating right and exercising (walking, elliptical, DVD workout, etc.) a couple times a week. I'm sorry Jane... but you need to be more honest about your food diary. Not all calories are created equal.

And don't get me started on the whole Lose vs. Loose thing! LMBO!!!!!!!!

Thanks for saying this. I hope it will help some people to understand mass vs. weight.

That said, people with a significant amount of weight to lose are probably fine focusing on the scale as a measure of how they are progressing. When you're 70lbs overweight, losing weight on the scale means you are losing fat. It's a lot more straightforward than if you think you have 10-15lbs of fat to lose, at which point it makes a lot more sense to look at body fat percentage.

Thx for breaking it down! Nothing would please me more than to throw out the scale!! - But probably won't lol!