Posts Tagged ‘exercise calories’

Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat?

Well it goes something like this.. person starts exercising and expects drastic weight loss, once they start working out. Whilst they might experience some weight loss as their clothes become loose, the weight scales do not show any real noticeable change. In some cases, the person may actually gain weight, instead of losing it.

So person becomes disheartened and gives up and starts looking for some other method of weight loss. What is the reason behind this phenomenon? This is where most trainers give the explanation that exercises help in muscle building and muscles weigh more than fat. This is not actually true, and the real facts can be misunderstood or misused by the trainers.

FACT: If I place one pound of muscle on a scale and one pound of fat on a scale, they will both weigh one pound.

WEIGHT LOSS vs. FAT LOSS

The difference between the two is in total volume. Another way to say this is the difference is the amount of space one pound of muscle occupies compared to one pound of fat. One pound of muscle may appear to be the size of an orange; however one pound of fat will be three times the size and look like a lump of jelly.

One pound of muscle and one pound of fat are NOT the same size.

The image above shows what one pound of muscle and the same one pound of fat. As you can see, muscle is smaller in size than an equal weight of fat, when you replace fat with muscle, your body will occupy less space. (i.e., smaller clothes)

So muscle is a denser tissue and thus takes up less space than an equal weight of fat. That’s why it’s possible to lose inches but show little to no change in weight but still lose fat, look great and feel great!

Having more muscle means you have a more desirable body composition, or fat-to-muscle ratio. Your body will look different, smaller, and more toned.

So two people can weigh the same yet look very different. One you might refer to as toned and fit looking, the other as rounded, fatter and unhealthy looking. Yet both are the same weight. Which one are you trying to be?

The fatter person gets fat easier. The other does not. When the fatter person diets their weight yo-yo’s up and down. They don’t keep the fat off. They gain it back faster and easier. He or she has a slower metabolism. He or she is less energetic. They also look fat.

Here’s another image for you… this shows two thighs of the same size side by side.

Even though both the circumferences of the two thighs are the same, the one on the right is much fatter than the other. The one on the left uses more calories than the one on the right.

So Does Muscle Weigh More Than Fat?

No but it looks much bigger! Again, try to visualise this.. if you put 5 lbs of lean muscle into a container next to the same 5lbs of fat – the fat would take up 3 times the space looking 3 times bigger! That’s what your body looks like when it increases fat. For every lb of fat you lose, it will be 3 times smaller than the same loss of muscle (losing muscle has been associated with chronic dieting without appropriate exercise).

Also stored fat does not burn calories unlike stored muscle which requires some 50 calories per day for each 1lb of muscle you maintain. Fat is only useful for burning calories when you carry it around with you (so if you are carrying excess fat, be more active).

Tags: exercise calories, fat burners, fat burning, fat loss, muscle toning, weight loss
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Why the Fat Burning Zone is NOT the Way to Lose Fat!

If you have been taught that working out in the low so called ‘fat burning’ zone is the best way to lose fat exercising… you’ve been deceived! Think about it, why are all those people who are exercising in the ‘fat zone’ not losing weight?

Because it’s a myth!

Here’s how it all started… when we are at rest we burn more fat to carb for energy (our body burns a mixture of glucose and fatty acids for energy throughout the day), and as we exercise the percentage changes. The harder we work, the more carbs we use and the less fat we use. Someone took that to mean that you need to exercise at low intensities to burn fat.

Firstly, I believe any trainer needs to be able to do the math! How are you going to talk sensibly about calories, diets like ‘40/30/30,’ percentages of calories from protein, decoding a food label, or anything else along those lines without getting out your calculator?

Probably the biggest myth in exercise and weight loss is the concept of the so-called ‘fat burning zone’. How many times have you heard an aerobics teacher or a weight loss ‘expert’ talk about slowing down to burn more fat?

Perhaps you’ve seen the fat burning programs on cardio equipment or had your clients ask you how to exercise to burn fat?

Lets look closer at what’s going on here. At rest the average person burns fat to carbs at a rate of about 70/30. Protein is not included here because the body prefers not like to use this for fuel.

Now, as we start exercising the fat percentage goes down in favor of carbs and this continues in line with intensity (the harder you work, the more carbs to fat you burn). At maximum effort you use carbs almost exclusively.

Now can you see where one might mistakenly refer to low intensity/high fat? But, you have to understand that percentages are being confused with absolutes!

For example, would you rather have 10% of $1 million or 95% of $10,000? Well, if you asked me I would take the 10% of the million dollars because it is much more than 95% of ten thousand! It’s the same with fat and total calories:

Take a look at this example:

Two people exercising, they are both have exactly the same statistics except one is exercising at 50% to ‘burn more fat’ and the other at 80% to get fitter:

Lets assume this person is 40 yrs old and has a Vo2 Max of 40 ml.kg.min

First we calculate the heart rates (using HRR):

220-40=180
180-60=120
120*.5=60+60=120 bpm (50% of max)
120*.8=96+60=156 bpm (80% of max)

They both exercise for 30 mins. Here’s the math:

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL …..

Because the person exercising at the higher intensity will get fitter quicker – lets revisit the same two people 3 months later:

The person exercising at the higher intensity has improved their fitness capacity (Vo2 Max) by approx 10%. The other person who has stayed at the lower ‘fat burning’ intensity has remained at the same fitness level.

Look at the difference between these two people now:

Not only has this person increased the number of calories they can burn per minute at the same effort but he/she has also increased the percentage of fat burned as their system has become more efficient than before.

The other ‘fat burning zone person’ has made little impact on their fitness capacity because they have not used any overload to enhance performance.

Let me remind you, energy comes from the same pool – CALORIES! At the end of the day, it’s not what mixture you burn but the total calorie deficit you can achieve. Fat loss comes from using more calories than you need and consume.

If at the end of the week, you have created a calorie deficit you will lose weight. And if you have preserved your metabolic rate in the process you will have lost FAT.

Higher intensities increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR) more than lower intensities, thus you will burn more calories 24 hours a day! Plus the good news is that you don’t need to spend hours trying to ‘burn fat in the fat zone’.

You can maximize your efforts in the least amount of time – good news for busy people who want maximum results for less time!

An Exercise Scientist can evaluate exactly how YOU should exercise for maximum weight loss. To gauge how hard someone is working we need to know their heart rate – this is the body’s speedometer!

In addition we need to know the bodies own oxygen uptake (Vo2) to determine actual energy used.

For the best results we must preserve or increase BMR whilst simultaneously removing fat. Weight loss is a Science and can be individually tailored for maximum and more importantly PERMANENT results. .

Anything less is guess work and results will vary according to the systems used and individual body/fitness.

Also See Article: How to shift gears to burn fat!

JJ Armstrong is the Creator of Potentialization Metabolics

Tags: burning FAT, Calories, Exercise, exercise calories, exercise intensity, exercise myths, fat burning, fat burning zone, fitness, vo2 max
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