Fat to Muscle question

Frankiestylee

Now, it might be a myth or it might not be, so I'm gonna ask and I'm prepared for any Duhs along the way buuuuut....

... is it easier to build muscle from fat then just kinda creating it?

At the moment I'm not playing rugby or any of the stuff I'd normally do, so I'm really just planning to lose weight but I'm going to eventually need the aul muscles back so is it much more difficult to build muscle when you're skinny then when you've got some flab to work with?

Chucky the tree

oh dear me.

Fat cant be turned into muscle, just like bronze cant be turned into gold. Read the stickes and try and delete this thread before everyone else reads it tomorrow.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

JayRoc

The one thing I'd say though, is that in my experience you'll generally find fewer true "hardgainers" among people with natural endomorphic tendencies, which is probably where a lot of the general confusion/myths about the difference between fat and muscle has sprung from.

Lothaar

If your body is inclined towards putting on fat, then it's quite possible that it is easier for you to put on muscle (with proper diet and exercise). But you can't turn fat into muscle... and muscle doesn't turn back into fat if you stop working out.

I mean - if you're a big man, you'll tend to be a big man, whether it's fat or muscle.

justsomebloke

Ye I have to go with J and Lothaar on this one in that if you are fat chances are that you may find it easier to put on muscle as you already know how to eat Big which is a good bit of the battle.

However you may find it slithly harder as one of the other most important things to putting on muscle is rest and chances are that if you are posting at 4.30 in the morning you aren't getting enough of this

rubadub

Some studies I read have said it is easier to put on muscle on a calorie deficit if you are already overweight. I figure the body is taking the extra calories from your fat stores to build new muscle. So fat might give energy to produce muscle but doesnt transform itself.

Some previous threads have had lads talking of losing lots of fat before even taking up weights, then others were asking should they get fat before starting weights!

I plateaued on cardio work, then started weights and lost fat, then I got to a stage where I was putting on muscle at the same rate I was losing fat. This is the stage where some might coin the term "turning muscle into fat". I am still pretty much at this stage now. I only workout about once a week and am making really slow progression in weights but getting a little thinner each month. I dont care about having big muscles or getting strong, just dont want to be fat & unfit, the strength level I am at now is fine for me would still like to lose about 7lb of fat.

Hanley

Oh and the reason "muscle turns to fat" is because when people stop training their muscles atrophy, as a result metabolism slows, and I without changing their eating habits which they had while they were training the slowed metabolism + the excess kcals = alot of fat gain.

Frankiestylee

Delete a thread?!?! Nah, can't be doing that... I've heard this myth so many times that it's obviously a common enough misconception, heh heh, I'm like the guy who asks the question half the class are pondering. I wouldn't laugh if any of ye made a similar boo boo in the musicians forum for instance.

That's good to know though, I've already read the stickies for calorific deficit etc, just wondering about this point, and now I know. Didn't realise they were two completely differant things, but now that I think about it... it seems rather obvious.

And yes, I tend to have weird sleep patterns that I'm currently trying to address with little success