Fat vs. Muscle

Have you ever heard the saying, “Muscle weighs more than fat?” Well it really doesn't make sense because a pound is a pound.

The truth is that when placed on a scale, one pound of fat is going to weigh the same as one pound of muscle – just like one pound of bricks is going to weigh the same as one pound of feathers.

Where the confusion comes in is that muscle and fat differ in density (muscle is about 18% more dense than fat) and one pound of muscle occupies less space (volume) than one pound of fat.

If your looking to reshape your body remember to to hit the weights. Remember muscle is more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories when you are at rest. Muscle is also denser than fat, which means it takes up less space than fat. So even though two people are the same height and weight, the person with a higher body fat percentage will wear a larger clothing size.

As you add lean muscle mass your body weight may increase. However, pound for pound, muscle and fat weigh the same so when tracking progress of a fitness regime, it is very important to look at all areas of improvement and not just the numbers on the scale.