The relationship between muscle and fat?

Hey all,

Right, I'm not very well informed about the whole fitness thing, and therefore, I hope you guys can go easy on me, as I'm about to no doubt ask a very retarded question.


What's the crack with fat and working out, to achieve muscle?

I read a few threads here every now and again, and across the net in general when im bored, and always read very much conflicting advice.


I was always under the impression that, say you have fat on your arms, and you start lifting weights, that the muscle in your arm tears, and the fat enters it, thus pretty much turning your fat to muscle (in a roundabout kind of way).

Now that, still, kinda makes sense to me. However, ive been reading around and people post a lot of other theories (ironically enough, now that I decide to actually make a thread to ask about it, i can't remember any ) so i was just wondering if anyone here could clarify for me, the relationship between fat and muscle, and what happens to fat when you start lifting weights etc (and also what happens to muscle, when you decide to stop lifting weights).



Cheers, and sorry again for the extremely uninformed post.

corkcomp

Deleted User wrote: »

Hey all,

Right, I'm not very well informed about the whole fitness thing, and therefore, I hope you guys can go easy on me, as I'm about to no doubt ask a very retarded question.


What's the crack with fat and working out, to achieve muscle?

I read a few threads here every now and again, and across the net in general when im bored, and always read very much conflicting advice.


I was always under the impression that, say you have fat on your arms, and you start lifting weights, that the muscle in your arm tears, and the fat enters it, thus pretty much turning your fat to muscle (in a roundabout kind of way).

Now that, still, kinda makes sense to me. However, ive been reading around and people post a lot of other theories (ironically enough, now that I decide to actually make a thread to ask about it, i can't remember any ) so i was just wondering if anyone here could clarify for me, the relationship between fat and muscle, and what happens to fat when you start lifting weights etc (and also what happens to muscle, when you decide to stop lifting weights).



Cheers, and sorry again for the extremely uninformed post.

hi, your question is slightly vague, but you cant turn fat into muscle as such .. when you lift heavy, you create micro tears and muscle is built when these repair. the energy you need to build muscle can come from diet or fat stores .. what will happen to fat when you start lifting will depend on diet, it is hard to answer this as there are several possibilities!

Khannie

Deleted User wrote: »

Cheers, and sorry again for the extremely uninformed post.

Don't be sorry. I hope the fitness forum can be a place where people aren't afraid to ask questions.

So...to answer the original question: It's hard to answer and there are conflicting views. Here's what I understand to be the case, though there are more knowledgeable people on here than me so they may correct what I say (or maybe not, if I'm right).

Fat stores occur when you have a calorie surplus.
Muscle is built by your body when you have the right nutrition and a change in your environment requires it (e.g. you start lifting heavy things so your body adjusts to that by building muscle).

My understanding is that most people are going to require a calorie surplus (and lifting heavy things or whatever) to build muscle and a calorie deficit to lose fat so it's difficult to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

What happens when you stop? Well, maintaining muscle is costly, so your body sheds it.

brianthebard

Deleted User wrote: »

I was always under the impression that, say you have fat on your arms, and you start lifting weights, that the muscle in your arm tears, and the fat enters it, thus pretty much turning your fat to muscle (in a roundabout kind of way).

This is not the case, muscle and body fat are made up of two different types of cells and don't convert into one another. When the micro tears you mention above happen protein in your diet is used to repair the muscle, making it stronger. Weight training does not directly impact on the fat stored on your body, it is the larger effect of increased activity that can cause fat to be used as energy. This is the best way I can explain it, I hope it is accurate enough.

So what happens in the case if you're eating lots of crap (calorie surplus) but lifting lots of weight (building muscle)?

Transform

Deleted User wrote: »

So what happens in the case if you're eating lots of crap (calorie surplus) but lifting lots of weight (building muscle)?

then you will most likely not see any real changes

Khannie

Probably muscle + fat, depending on how much of a surplus.