muscle / fat relationship

TKD SC

Hi,

Does anyone know the relationship between muscle and fat? Ie., by doing weights (on arms or legs) does the increase in muscle result from fat turning into muscle or from whatever muscle that's there getting bigger?

Similarly if you are v muscly (eg Arnie) and then stop doing weights, I know the old saying is the muscle turns to fat. Is this really the case, or are they seperate entities? Does the muscle simply lose its size and shrivel a bit, and any fat increase is purely related to overall metabolism / diet / ex etc as opposed to muscles turning into fat when not in use?

Final q's, does adding muscle through weights (nothing too heavy) generally increase size (eg of arm, assuming arm is semi toned already) or is it merely more lean muscle that isnt bigger, just more defined, and perhaps some fat has been lost also, so overall size actually decreases?

Just interested in the whole relatipnship and knock-on effects between muscle, fat and size. Any answers would be appreciated. I'm not trying to achieve any particular results myself - I'm just interested in how it really works.

Thanks,

Simon

tribulus

Muscle cannot turn to fat.

Fat cannot turn to muscle.

Having more muscle can certainly help keep off fat, however if you're eating loads of carbs and saturated fat then fat gain will still occur generally.

Tigger

tribulus wrote:

Muscle cannot turn to fat.

Fat cannot turn to muscle.

true

as one ages their metabolisim will sloiw
if they loose muscle and train less they will be burning far far less calories
so they will get less muscle aned more fat

but they are two seperate tjhiongs connected only 'cause they are part of the closed system that is yer body

here is a good note

ali.c wrote:

Hi there,
To drop your body fat you need to also look at your diet (loads of info in the stickies on this). Excercise wise though, just so you know part of the reason why weight training is advocated when losing weight is that it encourages your body not to get rid of muscle, so its more to maintain the muscle mass you have rather than build it.
What excercise are best, hmm i would go with whatever you enjoy and something that will get you fit for soccer. I presume that is also one of your goals? i would concentrate more on interval training but through in some endurance work too maybe?
If you are a member of a gym, transforms program for beginners in the stickies would be a great starting point!

Ali

if you however just want to know how to get bigger just eat and eat and eat and lift the most you can
search hypertrophy to get some info

Vegeta

tribulus wrote:

Muscle cannot turn to fat.

Fat cannot turn to muscle.

If a fat person hits the weights big time, but is under eating, will his fat then be used to fuel muscle repair/growth?

Tigger

Vegeta wrote:

If a fat person hits the weights big time, but is under eating, will his fat then be used to fuel muscle growth?

under eating will not help muscle growth

best thing to do is eat a low fat reasonabaly high protien diet

then work on the whole general fitness l;evels

once relativally fit more specialist diet/exercise and realistic targets can be figured out

Dragan

rbd wrote:

best thing to do is eat a low fat reasonabaly high protien diet

I would disagree and say a diet with a moderate level of healthy fats, high proteins and low carbs would be best.

But thats just me.

Vegeta

rbd wrote:

under eating will not help muscle growth

best thing to do is eat a low fat reasonabaly high protien diet

then work on the whole general fitness l;evels

once relativally fit more specialist diet/exercise and realistic targets can be figured out

Don't worry I am in now way under eating

So far today

8am
60g of porridge with low fat milk
1 serving of big whey protein shake
1 slice of white bread (ran out of decent bread) with a nice bit of peanut butter
creatine
multivit

10am
2 slices wholemeal brown bread with very thin spread of real butter
pint of milk
apple
usually handful of nuts here

1pm canteen meal
sirloin steak
1 baked potatoe
scoop of cabbage
scoop of sweetcorn
pint of milk

I am just wondering when I am finished my bulk (have put on some weight lately, hope there's a lot of muscle under there) when I decide to shed the excess flab will it be any use i.e. while on calorie defecit will my body use hte stored fat to repair and build muscle

Tigger

Dragan wrote:

I would disagree and say a diet with a moderate level of healthy fats, high proteins and low carbs would be best.

But thats just me.

steps aside
lol

TKD SC

Thanks for the replies everyone. Interesting, and good to get confirmation re fat & muscle.
One last q's was in relation to size. Eg, if you do let say extra weights on your leg (that you havent done before), and assuming you maintain the rest of your exercise regime / eating regime etc as normal; what would happen the size of your leg: bigger or smaller (more compact)?

My guess is that you are not really going to lose any fat from your leg as maintaining normal ex and eating routine. Therefore, the only new thing effecting your leg is weights and hence extra work on your leg muscles. As your leg muscles get stronger, I presume that means the muscles do actually get bigger. The only reason I could see them getting smaller (compact) might be to do with LEAN muscle?? Ie., your leg muscle is getting worked, and it turns to lean muscle which is smaller? than your regular old muscle? Sounds a bit weird to me though, could anyone confirm? And anyone have a definition of "lean muscle", or is it just a phrase and no real difference to plain old muscle?

Thanks again,

Simon

TKD SC

tribulus wrote:

Muscle cannot turn to fat.

Fat cannot turn to muscle.

QUOTE]
You learn something new everyday! Good to know, always wondered about that! So, doing sit-ups wont actually turn your big fat belly into a big hard fat/muscle belly like people always say! It will just work your muscles underneath your fat and not effect the fat at all. Or that "muscle will turn to fat" that people also say alot.

I'd like to point out I dont have a big fat belly

stevenmu

Vegeta wrote:

I am just wondering when I am finished my bulk (have put on some weight lately, hope there's a lot of muscle under there) when I decide to shed the excess flab will it be any use i.e. while on calorie defecit will my body use hte stored fat to repair and build muscle

In short, no. The fat is stored by your body so it can be burnt for energy if you aren't taking in enough calories through carbs. It can not be used to build muscle, that's what protein is for and afaik this isn't stored by your body in any real meaningful way.

The reason people think that body fats convert into muscle is because as you start to excersise you burn a lot more calories, and if you don't increase your calorie intake your body will be forced to consume it's store of body fats to produce energy. Also because as your muscle mass increases you automatically use more calories even when not counting the excersise, again forcing your body to consume body fats. Two important things to note are that
A: Protein is what 'builds' muscle, when excersising you must be consuming enoug proteins to build up your muscle mass (and more importantly to repair the damage that excersise does to your muscles)
B: Body fat is merely your body's energy reserve. To lose it take in less calories than you use (but not drasticly less ), to put it on take in more calories than you use.

nesf

tribulus wrote:

Fat cannot turn to muscle.

You could burn off the fat while chasing down and killing the mammoth that you then ate which gave you the protein to build more muscle.