Quick Query

slingerz

I've been training a lot recently between GAA, the gym, Swimming and cycling its about 6 days a week of decent but not extreme exercise, apart from the 2 nights GAA training which is intense enough. my diet has improved to a point where it is at a very good place and I've tracked what i eat each day which helps me keep my discipline

i feel a lot similar, clothes fit or feel too loose on me now and i generally feel slimmer/leaner and a lot fitter than where i began in January

The question is on the weighing scales that i use in the gym it doesnt show a difference at all. Any idea how or why its like this? I thought given my exercise and good diet that i'd see a result on the scales not only feeling it in myself?

Thoughts?

T-rev

I am no expert but muscle is heavier by volume than fat. So if you have shaved inches off your wais and still weight the same then maybe you have put on some lean muscle, and lost some of the bulky fat.

More about body composition than body weight.

My two cents.

slingerz

Thanks for the reply, i'm unsure of putting on lean muscle i was wondering if it was a case of muscle that was previously there but hadnt been used in a few years returning to what it once was or is that not possible at all?

T-rev

not sure what you mean with that statement. Think of it like this:

A 150lb person with 15% body fat will look slimmer than 150lb person with 30% body fat.

Both are the same weight but as fat is much more bulky than muscle the person with the lower body fat ratio will be slimmer than the person with the higher ratio.

slingerz

thanks just dont have a clue how to follow that body fat % thing at all!

Cherrycola

I asked much the same question a few days ago.

Basically think of it this way, take a pair of identical twins, both weigh 150lbs, one exercises, one doesnt, the one that exercises is a size 10, the one that doesnt is a size 14.
Fat takes up more space on the body than the same weight in muscle, so 1lb of fat looks bigger in volume than 1lb of muscle.

deadlybuzzman

as t-rev says, muscle is heavier than fat. so for example if you had 150 lbs of rocks and 150 lbs of polystyrene obviously the 2 piles would be very different sizes.

slingerz

ok so losing body fat % is all well and good and i'm delighted if that is what is happening but what is the best way for me to go about losing actual mass as well as body fat %

15 stones is too heavy for my liking even 1 stone to 14 would make me happy.

jaggiebunnet

deadlybuzzman wrote: »

as t-rev says, muscle is heavier than fat. so for example if you had 150 lbs of rocks and 150 lbs of polystyrene obviously the 2 piles would be very different sizes.

muscle is denser than fat I think you are getting at, which is essentially what your analogy alludes to, ie the rocks and polystyrene might look very different in size but they weigh the same (muscle is not heavier than fat, 1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat).

jaggiebunnet

slingerz wrote: »

ok so losing body fat % is all well and good and i'm delighted if that is what is happening but what is the best way for me to go about losing actual mass as well as body fat %

15 stones is too heavy for my liking even 1 stone to 14 would make me happy.

Post up your diet, you say it is good, I am no expert by a long way, but I have made small adjustments in mines which have proved effective at shifting some lbs for me.

woggie

If you're training in a gym they should have machines there to measure your body fat for you, that way you'd know if it's muscle you're gaining (which is good!!!) Just ask one of the trainers.