Muscle Vs. Fat

Yosra85
Yosra85 Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
Is it true that muscle weight more than fat?? that's what i've been told at the gym. I guess they were trying to cheer me up since i havent't lost any weight in like 2 weeks!!! I am dieting and working out bodypump 3 times a week plus Pilates twice and Zumba twice a week. I am a waitress and an office assistante!! I move and don't eat a lot but i feel discouraged since the weight loss is not happening. By the way i did lose 15lbs last last month i wana say when i started.

Replies

  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
    People here get mad if you say that, so you must describe in detail that for equal volume samples, muscle will weigh more than fat due to the higher density of lean mass.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    it's incredibly difficult to gain muscle. and for newbie gains it's probably like 2 pounds of muscle over the course of a few months.

    so odds are, you're mainly retaining water which is showing up on the scale.

    are you keeping track of how your clothes fir and your measurements? that will give you more of an idea of how well you are doing
  • cara4fit
    cara4fit Posts: 111 Member
    Muscle doesn't "weigh less" than fat. For it's volume, it simply takes up less room than the equivalent weight in fat. Think of it this way - 5 pounds of muscle takes up about the same volume as 3 tangerines, and 5 pounds of fat takes up about the same volume as 3 good-sized grapefruits. Or think of a pound of fat taking up the same amount of room as a pound of butter.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    Is it true that muscle weight more than fat?? that's what i've been told at the gym. I guess they were trying to cheer me up since i havent't lost any weight in like 2 weeks!!! I am dieting and working out bodypump 3 times a week plus Pilates twice and Zumba twice a week. I am a waitress and an office assistante!! I move and don't eat a lot but i feel discouraged since the weight loss is not happening. By the way i did lose 15lbs last last month i wana say when i started.

    Yes, muscle weighs more than fat by volume. What this means is that if you weigh 150 and have mostly fat, you're going to be wearing say a size 10. But if you weigh 150 and it's a lot of muscle, you'll wear a size 6. (Yes these numbers are made up).

    1 pound of fat takes up more space than 1 pound of muscle. That's why you should measure inches rather than weigh yourself. Just because you're not seeing the numbers drop on the scale doesn't mean you're not getting healthier and leaner.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    Muscle doesn't "weigh less" than fat. For it's volume, it simply takes up less room than the equivalent weight in fat. Think of it this way - 5 pounds of muscle takes up about the same volume as 3 tangerines, and 5 pounds of fat takes up about the same volume as 3 good-sized grapefruits. Or think of a pound of fat taking up the same amount of room as a pound of butter.

    And feathers don't weigh less than bricks...
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
    lbs, oz etc... are all standardized units of measure. Everything weighs the same if they weigh the same.... ;)
  • whiteheaddg
    whiteheaddg Posts: 325 Member
    This is what folks mean...

    http://botcrawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/5-pounds-of-fat-vs-5-pounds-of-muscle-mass-comparison.jpg
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Yes, it is heavier but you're not putting on any muscle if you're not doing actual strength training - and even then it's very hard to do. You're either overeating, underexercising, or you just have some temporary water retention. If you don't lose weight for a month then maybe rexamine what you're doing.
  • Cathleenr
    Cathleenr Posts: 332
    I am dieting and working out bodypump 3 times a week plus Pilates twice and Zumba twice a week.
    Yes, it is heavier but you're not putting on any muscle if you're not doing actual strength training - and even then it's very hard to do. You're either overeating, underexercising, or you just have some temporary water retention. If you don't lose weight for a month then maybe rexamine what you're doing.

    jesus don;'t tell her to eat less and exercise more! with the minimal information she has provided, there's no telling what is going on. generally, bodypump classes are good for an overall warmup for strength training, but the weights are way too light and form is not emphasized. if your gym has weights, drop the zumba and bodypump and get on a beginning strength training like "starting strength" or "new rules of lifting for women." and get a nutritional plan...you cant lift and diet seriously. you need to feed your body when you ask it to work, but its up to you to get the right things going in. tons of resources available, depending on whether you like to read studies (alan aragon), what your goals are (fat loss or muscle building) or are just interested in how your body does what it does day after day (leangains.com or marksdailyapple.com). those are just a few protocols and there are many more. you will have to experiment and find which one works for you.
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
    a pound of muscle = a pound of fat

    a square inch of muscle > a square inch of fat
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
    One CUBIC foot of muscle weighs more than one CUBIC foot of fat.
  • KeyMasterOfGozer
    KeyMasterOfGozer Posts: 229 Member
    a pound of muscle = a pound of fat

    a square inch of muscle > a square inch of fat
    Nobody here said that 1 pound of muscle weighs more than 1 pound of fat.

    Saying that muscle weighs more than fat is correct. Everyone here knows that this implies that a given volume of muscle is heavier than the same given volume of fat.

    Also, volume is measured in cubic inches, not square inches.
  • beccarockslife
    beccarockslife Posts: 816 Member
    152278031120273601_SXevtY7A_f.jpg

    80079699593851707_m12aKQCv_f.jpg
  • gym_king_carlie
    gym_king_carlie Posts: 528 Member
    a pound of muscle = a pound of fat

    a square inch of muscle > a square inch of fat

    best and simplist description and answer to the question
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
    a pound of muscle = a pound of fat

    a square inch of muscle > a square inch of fat
    nope
    a square inch of muscle weights more than a square inch of fat. but both would be the same size.
    lol

    i get what you're saying it, but you worded it in the wrong way.
  • ppaigeyy
    ppaigeyy Posts: 16 Member
    If you lost 15 pounds to start out with.....perhaps you've just hit a plateau? Change up your exercise routines...."confuse the muscles"!

    Also, make sure you're eating nutritional foods, not just LESS of the BAD. :-)

    REMEMBER: 80% IS NUTRITION AND 20% IS EXERCISE
  • AddA2UDE
    AddA2UDE Posts: 382
    I love this game! Can we play again next week? :drinker:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Muscle doesn't "weigh less" than fat. For it's volume, it simply takes up less room than the equivalent weight in fat. Think of it this way - 5 pounds of muscle takes up about the same volume as 3 tangerines, and 5 pounds of fat takes up about the same volume as 3 good-sized grapefruits. Or think of a pound of fat taking up the same amount of room as a pound of butter.

    Using this logic, nothing weighs more than anything else. Cars weigh the same as trucks, laptops weigh the same as full grown men, fresh picked cotton weighs the same as the space shuttle. We may need an infinite amount of space for the volume, but by George, if we have it, we'll make everything weigh the same.

    Please end this thread.
  • whiteheaddg
    whiteheaddg Posts: 325 Member
    Muscle doesn't "weigh less" than fat. For it's volume, it simply takes up less room than the equivalent weight in fat. Think of it this way - 5 pounds of muscle takes up about the same volume as 3 tangerines, and 5 pounds of fat takes up about the same volume as 3 good-sized grapefruits. Or think of a pound of fat taking up the same amount of room as a pound of butter.

    Using this logic, nothing weighs more than anything else. Cars weigh the same as trucks, laptops weigh the same as full grown men, fresh picked cotton weighs the same as the space shuttle. We may need an infinite amount of space for the volume, but by George, if we have it, we'll make everything weigh the same.

    Please end this thread.

    D=M/V or M=DV. If comparing an equal M...say 5 lbs...then you could use DM(muscle)=DM(fat). Since it is known that D(muscle) > D(fat) then for the formula to be true M(muscle) must be proportionally less than M(fat) or M(muscle) = DM(fat) / D(muscle).

    I concur the thread needs to go.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Is now the appropriate time to bring up the topic of boats?

    Or floating flat on your back vs floating in various other positions?

    Or of crumpled balls of aluminum foil?

    What about cheaks, spelt and hardy?

    :wink:


    ETA: And if the MFP forum mods would stop deleting these otherwise benign threads, we could point new OP to the old thread and it would potentially end there...but I get the impression that MFP opposes this solution *for some reason*... :huh:
  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
    And feathers don't weigh less than bricks...

    Man it's gonna take a big bag of feathers to equal one brick.

    We need a sicky- '10lbs of fat weighs the same as 10lb of muscle but takes up more space'
  • Yosra85
    Yosra85 Posts: 8
    Thank you all for the comments!! I am trying to change my habits eat halthy and workout. Not trying to be extreme about stuff but it would be nice to see results...I am hoping that it will all come together at some point... I try to stay active all throughout the day and my eating choices are better, it consist of more natural and less processed.
  • iluvprettyshoes
    iluvprettyshoes Posts: 605 Member
    If you are eating right, exercising, getting cardio activity and strength training then i wouldn't worry too much about the scale. The weight will come off eventually. You may find your clothes getting bigger to be a better indication of your progress than the scale especially if you are lifting. That's what I've found to be the case for me.
  • Yosra85
    Yosra85 Posts: 8
    I did notice my clothes are fitting better it is just the scale that is not moving...I am hoping that the weight will come off eventually.

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