Muscle heavier than fat....is this an old wives tale?

[vi5]

I always thought the notion that muscle mass was heavier than fat was just an old wives tale and had no basis in truth.

However, last year I lost 43 lbs. though diet and excercise. But for the month of december I didn't go to the gym and didn't particularly watch what I ate (although I didn't totally fall off the dietary wagon). And when I weighed myself after the holidays I was actually a pound less than when I last weighed myself prior to taking a break.

So now for the past 3 weeks I've been back at the gym every day lifting weights and watching what I eat and weighing myself every other day and it seems like I've gained 3 or 4 lbs.

Is this just my christmas laziness coming back to haunt me now? Or is there something to this muscle vs. fat thing?

[waylon]

1. I thought it was the other way around....? n.t

[wryter2000]

2. It's true

If you start an exercise program, you can count on gaining about 5 pounds even while your clothes are getting looser. Anything substantially over 5 pounds (or over 10) is probably not a good sign, though.

[meegbear]

3. It is true ...

I started a new program a few weeks ago and the gut is going down and I've gained about 7 pounds.

[vi5]

4. Yes...my clothes are getting looser.....

Around the holidays I noticed the belt getting a tad tighter, which is why I was surprised to have actually not gained and even lost a pound over the holidays.

And now after 3 weeks of hitting the weights my belt is looser but I'm tending towards the higher end of my 5 lb. give and take.

[BOSSHOG]

5. It is true

and its more important to measure bodyfat content rather they weight. You can lose inches around the waist and hips but gain weight if you are replacing fat with muscle in other areas of the body. Forget the weight scales, get your bodyfat checked occasionally. That is a better indicator of your health. The body is a marvelous machine. If you diet to the point of starvation, the fat in your body will eat your muscles therefore, you will "lose" weight, but be less healthy. So keep on eating - good stuff.

[Az]

6. Muscle is denser than fat

Thus for a similar volue of muscle and fat the muscle will weigh more.

[thom1102]

7. True...

It has to due with the density of the muscle. Muscle tissue is much denser than fat tissue, and therefore much heavier. It is like comparing a basketball to a bowling ball: both appear to be the same size, but one is considerably heavier than the other.

[Champion Jack]

8. It's easy to prove

Take a really sharp knife and slice off equal amounts of muscle and of fat from your body and weigh them.
You'll probably need to slice off at least 12 inches of each for the test.
Have a friend standing by to help stop the bleeding.

[4morewars]

16. Dude....

Are you a scientist ?

[LynneSin]

9. Think of it as packing a suitcase

Fat is like tossing everything into a suitcase with no organization whereas muscle is taking the time to fold things neatly in an organized manner.

The Muscle suitcase would weigh more since it's organized and more stuff could fit in there, but the fat suitcause would probably require additional suitcases to hold the same amount of stuff since it was all just tossed in unorganized.

[northzax]

12. well, sure

but which would you rather carry when you have a 20 minute connection at LAX?

[Bushbetrays]

10. It's not a wive's tale - it's true

Muscle is denser (therefore heavier) than fat.

[Bill McBlueState]

11. fat's not very dense

Pick up a can of Crisco. It's not as heavy as the same amount of water. The problem with fat isn't that it's so heavy, it's that it's bulky.

I found this by Googling "density of fat":

Human body fat: 0.918 gm/cc
Water: 1.000 gm/cc
Human muscle: 1.049 gm/cc

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Not Heavier At All

Weight is weight. The difference is how much space muscle takes up for the exact same weight. It's density not weight or mass. (Density is defined as the weight per fixed unit volume.)

Fat is much less dense. It's approximately 0.7g per ml. Muscle is about 1.1g per ml. So, 1000g of fat (2.2 pounds) would take about the space of about 1.4 liters. But, the same weight of muscle would only take up about 0.9 liters. So, the more muscle, the less room it takes up inside the body. The more fat, the more room the fat needs.

If you replace 5 pounds of fat with 5 pounds of muscle you'd trim the body down by about 1.46 liters, or pushing the size of a half-gallon bottle of milk.

So, you could weigh the same, but actually be smaller. Hence the value of excercise.
The Professor

[4morewars]

17. A pound of feathers....

or a pound of rocks ?

[BOSSHOG]

14. Actually

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh - A POUND. However, the pound of muscle takes up less room. Also, the more muscle in the body, the greater fat burning efficiency you will enjoy.

[forgethell]

15. Muscle is denser than fat, thus

it takes a larger volume of fat to equal one pound than it does of muscle. But one pound (the weight, or one ounce, is the same for everything, well, except precious metals and pharmeceuticals, but that's a different story.

[IronLionZion]

18. muscle is heavier than fat

It's more dense. You can be heavy without being fat.