The Do You Work Out Zone

Jet · 09-21-2010, 12:25 PM

Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat?

A pound of muscle, a pound of fat: What's the difference?
By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness

Q. Does muscle really weigh more than fat? I am a trainer and am frequently asked this question by members of my gym. I have heard conflicting reports and can’t seem to find the right answer.

A. No, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat—they both weigh one pound!

This commonly cited gym cliché is somewhat misunderstood and misused. The rationale that muscle weighs more than fat is often cited as an explanation for why a person might find that they aren’t losing weight, or are gaining weight, when they kick off an exercise regimen. The idea seems to be that if you are exercising—and theoretically losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time—the effects cancel each other out. So, in theory, you won’t see desired weight loss as measured by pounds on the scale, even though you may be improving how you look.

You certainly can improve your appearance with exercise without always seeing a change in your body weight—by becoming firmer, more sculpted and sometimes leaner. But that doesn’t mean that you are gaining massive amounts of muscle, or losing lots of fat.

Muscle Does Not Turn To Fat

Some people believe that if they start working out they turn their fat into muscle or that, if they stop working out, their muscle will turn into fat. Neither is true; each tissue is distinctly different. You can gain muscle or lose weight, and you can gain or lose more body fat, but they don’t convert into each other. Both gaining and losing muscle and/or fat can both affect your body weight on the scale, depending upon the magnitude of the body fat or body muscle increase or decrease.

To gain significant amounts of muscle, you not only have to do the type of exercise that stimulates muscle growth—progressive and intense resistance training—you also have to eat more calories than normal to fuel the process. Most people who exercise, especially women, do not perform resistance training at this level, nor do they eat more to try to build muscle. Even if they did, it could take many months to increase muscle mass by just a few pounds.

Body Fat Tests

Some people get their body fat tested at the gym, either by using skin calipers or a portable, step-on, body-fat scale. These measurements may show shifts in muscle-to-fat ratios, making it appear that a person has gained pounds of muscle and lost pounds worth of fat, whether or not the normal body-weight scale registers any big changes. Whether these potentially large changes in fat and muscle mass are accurate is up for debate.

On the body-fat scale, for example, you can get a dramatically different estimate of these figures from the same “weigh-in” based on whether you are input as a “normal” person or an “athlete.” So at the exact same moment a scale may show that you are at 18 percent body fat or at 27 percent body fat, for example. This large discrepancy is because the formulas used in these types of machines to calculate your measurements are based on estimates.

And there’s always a “standard deviation” in these estimated readings from calipers and body-fat scales. In other words, your result may not be as specific as you think it is, it falls within a range.

Why Doesn’t Exercise Always Affect Body Weight?

If someone is working out and not losing weight, or not losing as much as they want—or if they’re actually gaining weight—the first place to look is the type and amount of exercise.

Weight loss boils down to burning more calories than you normally use in a day. Cardio exercise burns more calories than muscle-toning or the average resistance-training workout. So dialing down the stretching and core work to just once or twice a week, and replacing it with more cardio should produce more weight loss. And the more minutes the better when it comes to weight loss: An hour to 90 minutes of aerobic activity per day on most days of the week will affect body weight.

Some people get overly obsessed about numbers on the scale. If you are happy with the way you look and feel, and you feel like you are improving your fitness and strength, then continue doing what you are doing. Exercise works, and every minute of movement helps your health in some way. Weight loss through working out may be slower than you want, but it’s likely to be longer term solution and a healthier way to trim down and shape up, or at the very least to stave off weight gain over the years.

More from Martica on MSN Health & Fitness.

Do you have a fitness or weight-loss question for Martica? Send e-mail to experts@microsoft.com. Please include Ask Martica in the subject line. Each of our experts responds to one question each week and the responses are posted on Mondays on MSN Health. We regret that we cannot provide a personalized response to every submission.

Martica Heaner, Ph.D., M.A., M.Ed., is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and an award-winning fitness instructor and health writer. She has a Ph.D. in behavioral nutrition and physical activity from Columbia University, and is also a NASM-certified personal trainer. She has written hundreds of articles for publications such as Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of eight books, including her latest, Cross-Training for Dummies.

dark_crystal · 09-21-2010, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet

Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat?

my nutrionist tested my body composition with electrodes. i found out my scale shows 2% more than the electrodes. Valuable info

SnackTime · 09-21-2010, 03:36 PM

I started working out again after renewing my membership at the gym last week. I will be lifting weight with the lower body on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I do a mile warm up on the elliptical. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays is my elliptical/treadmill days. I will soon be adding swimming to my workout regime (well actually kicking with fins and kick board). I am rather limited as to what I can do right now with recovering from shoulder surgery. I believe Shad and I came up with an idea that will allow me to get into the pool and start kicking, since I am unable to stretch the left arm out to hold a kick board.

pajama · 09-21-2010, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnackTime

I started working out again after renewing my membership at the gym last week. I will be lifting weight with the lower body on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I do a mile warm up on the elliptical. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Thursdays is my elliptical/treadmill days. I will soon be adding swimming to my workout regime (well actually kicking with fins and kick board). I am rather limited as to what I can do right now with recovering from shoulder surgery. I believe Shad and I came up with an idea that will allow me to get into the pool and start kicking, since I am unable to stretch the left arm out to hold a kick board.

Good job man. See it helps to have a future PTA as a roomie. He'll be figuring out all kinds of torture to put you through that won't actually hurt your shoulder. LOL

SnackTime · 09-21-2010, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pajara2

Good job man. See it helps to have a future PTA as a roomie. He'll be figuring out all kinds of torture to put you through that won't actually hurt your shoulder. LOL

LOL...hy has already done the torture thing by getting my hooked on cycling. At first I was like, You want to do what? Climb what? hahaha

Last night, we were discussing the swimming thing. We came up with the idea of getting a ball (like a dodge ball or kick ball) and and holding it with my left hand against my abdomen and of course hold the kick board with the right hand. The ball will hopefully balance me while kicking. Hy also thinks the ball will help work the core since you will be trying to balance.

shadows papa · 09-21-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pajara2

Good job man. See it helps to have a future PTA as a roomie. He'll be figuring out all kinds of torture to put you through that won't actually hurt your shoulder. LOL

Y'all know I try to help a brother any way I CAN!! But for some reason Snack refused to let me practice range of motion or manual muscle testing on his shoulder two days post-op! I live and breathe to addict folks to the drug of cycling and spread the word of nirvana on two wheels!

SnackTime · 09-21-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadows papa

Y'all know I try to help a brother any way I CAN!! But for some reason Snack refused to let me practice range of motion or manual muscle testing on his shoulder two days post-op! I live and breathe to addict folks to the drug of cycling and spread the word of nirvana on two wheels!

<grumbling> at ROM and muscle testing

LOL

dark_crystal · 09-21-2010, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

my nutrionist tested my body composition with electrodes. i found out my scale shows 2% more than the electrodes. Valuable info

clarification per request via rep. message: valuable info because i know i can believe my scale if i just always subtract 2%...and because i am in recovery from anorexia and my nutritionist has convinced me to ignore the pounds and concentrate on body composition- if i can keep my fat percentage below 25% i am "perfect" no matter how much i weigh

09-21-2010, 12:25 PM	#1
Jet Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: .. Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: .. Posts: 3,471 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 292 Thanked 2,647 Times in 1,293 Posts Rep Power: 0	Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat? A pound of muscle, a pound of fat: What's the difference? By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness Q. Does muscle really weigh more than fat? I am a trainer and am frequently asked this question by members of my gym. I have heard conflicting reports and can’t seem to find the right answer. A. No, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat—they both weigh one pound! This commonly cited gym cliché is somewhat misunderstood and misused. The rationale that muscle weighs more than fat is often cited as an explanation for why a person might find that they aren’t losing weight, or are gaining weight, when they kick off an exercise regimen. The idea seems to be that if you are exercising—and theoretically losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time—the effects cancel each other out. So, in theory, you won’t see desired weight loss as measured by pounds on the scale, even though you may be improving how you look. You certainly can improve your appearance with exercise without always seeing a change in your body weight—by becoming firmer, more sculpted and sometimes leaner. But that doesn’t mean that you are gaining massive amounts of muscle, or losing lots of fat. Muscle Does Not Turn To Fat Some people believe that if they start working out they turn their fat into muscle or that, if they stop working out, their muscle will turn into fat. Neither is true; each tissue is distinctly different. You can gain muscle or lose weight, and you can gain or lose more body fat, but they don’t convert into each other. Both gaining and losing muscle and/or fat can both affect your body weight on the scale, depending upon the magnitude of the body fat or body muscle increase or decrease. To gain significant amounts of muscle, you not only have to do the type of exercise that stimulates muscle growth—progressive and intense resistance training—you also have to eat more calories than normal to fuel the process. Most people who exercise, especially women, do not perform resistance training at this level, nor do they eat more to try to build muscle. Even if they did, it could take many months to increase muscle mass by just a few pounds. Body Fat Tests Some people get their body fat tested at the gym, either by using skin calipers or a portable, step-on, body-fat scale. These measurements may show shifts in muscle-to-fat ratios, making it appear that a person has gained pounds of muscle and lost pounds worth of fat, whether or not the normal body-weight scale registers any big changes. Whether these potentially large changes in fat and muscle mass are accurate is up for debate. On the body-fat scale, for example, you can get a dramatically different estimate of these figures from the same “weigh-in” based on whether you are input as a “normal” person or an “athlete.” So at the exact same moment a scale may show that you are at 18 percent body fat or at 27 percent body fat, for example. This large discrepancy is because the formulas used in these types of machines to calculate your measurements are based on estimates. And there’s always a “standard deviation” in these estimated readings from calipers and body-fat scales. In other words, your result may not be as specific as you think it is, it falls within a range. Why Doesn’t Exercise Always Affect Body Weight? If someone is working out and not losing weight, or not losing as much as they want—or if they’re actually gaining weight—the first place to look is the type and amount of exercise. Weight loss boils down to burning more calories than you normally use in a day. Cardio exercise burns more calories than muscle-toning or the average resistance-training workout. So dialing down the stretching and core work to just once or twice a week, and replacing it with more cardio should produce more weight loss. And the more minutes the better when it comes to weight loss: An hour to 90 minutes of aerobic activity per day on most days of the week will affect body weight. Some people get overly obsessed about numbers on the scale. If you are happy with the way you look and feel, and you feel like you are improving your fitness and strength, then continue doing what you are doing. Exercise works, and every minute of movement helps your health in some way. Weight loss through working out may be slower than you want, but it’s likely to be longer term solution and a healthier way to trim down and shape up, or at the very least to stave off weight gain over the years. More from Martica on MSN Health & Fitness. Do you have a fitness or weight-loss question for Martica? Send e-mail to experts@microsoft.com. Please include Ask Martica in the subject line. Each of our experts responds to one question each week and the responses are posted on Mondays on MSN Health. We regret that we cannot provide a personalized response to every submission. Martica Heaner, Ph.D., M.A., M.Ed., is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and an award-winning fitness instructor and health writer. She has a Ph.D. in behavioral nutrition and physical activity from Columbia University, and is also a NASM-certified personal trainer. She has written hundreds of articles for publications such as Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of eight books, including her latest, Cross-Training for Dummies.

09-21-2010, 03:36 PM	#3
SnackTime Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Transgender Preferred Pronoun?: He Relationship Status: UNattainable Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Feeling the ocean breeze... Posts: 4,868 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 10,393 Thanked 13,228 Times in 2,883 Posts Rep Power: 21474856	I started working out again after renewing my membership at the gym last week. I will be lifting weight with the lower body on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I do a mile warm up on the elliptical. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays is my elliptical/treadmill days. I will soon be adding swimming to my workout regime (well actually kicking with fins and kick board). I am rather limited as to what I can do right now with recovering from shoulder surgery. I believe Shad and I came up with an idea that will allow me to get into the pool and start kicking, since I am unable to stretch the left arm out to hold a kick board.