Is Muscle Heavier Than Body Fat?

If you've spent any time in the gym or spoken to anyone involved with exercise then you at some stage would've heard the phrase "Muscle Weighs More Than Fat". This is a myth that if taken at face value is not true.

After reading this article you'll understand the reason why muscle would seem to weigh more than fat and also the benefits of having more muscle than fat. And lastly some basic advice on how to maintain or build more muscle.

Muscle and Fat: Like Chalk And Cheese

Firstly we have to make a distinction, a kilo of muscle and a kilo fat weigh the same. But muscle is more densely packed and tighter so it would seem to way more whereas fat spreads out and fills up more area.

Muscle because of it tight composition makes you look leaner, tighter and fitter and conversely fat has a less dense composition so you look softer and fatter.

The Benefits Of Muscle Tissue

Now that we've cleared up the confusion between muscle and fat we can move onto the benefits to your health and wellbeing of muscle tissue.

Muscle is what is referred to as metabolically active tissue which is a fancy way of saying that it burns calories. And the greatest reservoir of calories are our body fat stores.

By emphasizing your efforts on maintaining or even better, building some muscle you'll improve your calorie burning potential. Muscle tissue has a direct influence on your metabolism so if you lose muscle (which happens naturally as we age, but can be slowed/stopped with intervention) your metabolism slows down also. This situation will contribute to a gradual increase in bodyweight over time.

The other benefit you'll experience is an increase in strength so you can perform your daily activities better, just think how much easier it'll be to climb the stairs or carry your shopping and if you play any sports you'll notice the difference there also.

General Body Strength

Now that we've discovered what muscle can do for us the next step is to decide how to approach building muscle.

You can improve your body composition by performing exercises using a tailored strength building program. This involves using progressive resistance training.

Muscle responds to having a stress placed on it and then as it recovers and adapts it becomes stronger. The idea being that you place an increased stimulus gradually.

So to finish off remember that a kilo of muscle will always be more dense and take up less room than a kilo of body fat but they will always weigh the same. And by shifting your focus to keeping/building muscle using a resistance training program you'll maintain your body in great shape.

But by far the greatest advantage you'll receive is being able to live the life you want with a strong and fit body.


Darren is a fitness professional with over 10 years experience and has helped hundreds of people to reach their health and fitness goals. His interest lies in strength training and in particular maintaining muscle as we age.

Check out his website at: Muscle Gaining Secrets

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