Five pounds of fat vs muscle

5lbs of Fat vs. 5lbs of Muscle

Hands down one of the most impactful pictures within my industry.

You hear it all the time, "muscle weighs more than fat," or "you can get lean and still have muscle."

So, is it true?

Muscle is more dense than fat, which means it will take up less space than fat. To be more precise, muscle takes up approximately 4/5ths the space of fat. Since it is denser, muscle does weigh more than fat if you compare same-size portions. 1 liter of muscle weighs 1.06 kg, or 2.3 lbs., while 1 liter of fat weighs .9 kg, or 1.98 lbs. This may vary due to numerous factors including race, being extremely lean, or being extremely obese.

Muscle Metabolism

The truth is that muscle will burn 7-10 calories daily per pound. Fat only burns 2-3 calories daily per pound. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR), or the number of calories your body uses when you are at rest, typically accounts for 60 to 75 percent of the calories you burn in a day.

Bodyfat

High body fat percentages are associated with raised risk for obesity-related diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, breathing problems, gallstones and certain cancers. For optimal health, the best body fat range for women is 14 to 30 percent. For men, it’s 6 to 25 percent. You are considered obese if you are a woman and have more than 30 percent body fat or if you are a man and have 25 percent body fat.

What are you carrying around?

TB

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11 Oct 5 lbs of muscle vs 5 lbs of fat

Posted at 21:59h in Nutrition

**This blog was originally published in 2011 but was UPDATED November 2017

5 lbs of muscle vs 5 lbs of fat

The scale isn’t budging…You are putting in the time, working out and lifting heavier than you ever have before. Your clothes are FITTING better and you FEEL smaller but what is going on? That DARN SCALE number isn’t budging or even worse, it keeps going up?  Before you toss the scale out the window there is a bit of critical information you must learn about Fat vs. Muscle.

How to make sure you are losing FAT not just water

…and Before you read on, this recent Facebook Live Video I did explains it all

5 lbs of Fat vs 5 lbs of muscle

Did you know that 5 lbs of muscle and 5 lbs of fat may WEIGH the same if you put them on the scale? BUT here is the thing, the same 5lbs in fat takes up so much more VOLUME then the same 5lbs in muscle! Chances are you have heard this, but take a look at this – Pictures say 1000 words…

Five pounds of fat vs muscle
Sure, if you WEIGH them they will weigh the same, but look at how much volume the fat takes up? Also look at how tight and hard the muscle looks in comparison to the jiggly fat block?

The same people that say they “know this” are the ones that get upset when they workout intensely, lift heavier weights and wonder why the scale isn’t “drastically” going down. 5 lbs of muscle does NOT weigh more than 5 lbs of fat. The 5 lbs of muscle weighs the SAME as 5 lbs of fat.

Muscle takes up so much less space than fat. So yes, your weight may not adjust much, but when you replace fat with muscle you will be so much smaller and tighter.

How to lose body fat

Ready to take action? Start building MUSCLE and losing the FAT with Stronger HERE

–Natalie Jill

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Natalie Jill

Natalie Jill is a leading Fat Loss Expert and high-performance coach. She helps you change the conversation around age, potential, pain and possibility. She does this through a SIMPLE and FUN unique method that you can find in her best-selling books, top-rated podcasts, interactive programs and coaching sessions. As a 50-year-old female, she KNOWS the struggles and pain that can come with aging! She takes the guesswork away and help you kill the F.A.T. (False Assumed Truths) holding you back from achieving your goals. To know more about Natalie Jill, you can visit her Facebook Profile, Tiktok, and Instagram.

What weighs more 5 pounds of muscle or 5 pounds of fat?

You may have heard that muscle weighs more than fat. However, according to science, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same.

Does 5 pounds of fat make a difference?

You don't have to slim down to your high school size to get real health benefits. Losing just a few pounds makes a big difference. Five percent of your body weight -- 10 pounds for a 200-pound person -- can improve all kinds of health problems, and make you feel better, too.

Is 5 pounds of muscle a big difference?

Five pound increases. "Five pounds can make a huge difference, especially in unilateral movements where you're working one side of your body," she says. "But you need to work on mastering that five pounds before you can get up to 10." If you don't move up, you're hindering your fitness game improvement.

How much does a pound of fat weigh compared to muscle?

Does muscle weigh more than fat? One pound of muscle and one pound of fat weigh the same: one pound. The difference is the amount of space they both take up.