Recently on ExerciseTV’s community blog, someone asked me “Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat?”? This is a great question I get all the time…
The answer is FALSE. Most people think muscle weighs more than fat and I’ve heard this excuse so many times from people that say they weigh a lot because they have more muscle! The truth is that a pound of anything is a pound…so a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of bricks
But, muscle and fat differ in DENSITY. So, a pound of muscle takes up less space because it is more dense and compact, where fat is lumpy and spread out (yuck). So, the more muscle you have, the tighter and leaner you will look. If you take a 150lb woman with 20% body fat and a 150lb woman with 35% body fat, the one with less fat will look slightly smaller and definitely more toned.
Also, for most people it’s impossible to gain 2-3lbs or more of muscle in one week. When people start working out and say they’ve gained weight because they gained muscle…that’s not true. But, you do want muscle. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism and also your body burns more calories at rest.
Btw…fat can’t turn into muscle and muscle into fat. That is another myth. But, by weight training you can get rid of the fat and replace it with muscle.
