Health Tips : Fat to muscle?

By Winston Salem in : Fitness Tips // Aug 29 2010

Despite what all the late night infomercials tell us, fat and muscle are two distinctly different tissues and one cannot be turned into the other.

Muscle will always be muscle and fat will always be fat. As to the second thought you mentioned, one pound of either is exactly that – one pound.

It is in fact a myth that fat cells can change into muscle. You can burn fat and build muscle, but a fat cell will never turn into a muscle cell.

Body fat is a storage place where our body puts additional energy when we consume more calories per day than we burn.

If someone continues to consume more calories than the person needs, the size of their existing fat cells increases.

When we “burn fat” we’re actually shrinking the size of our fat cells by using the energy that has been stored there.

There are also have a fixed number of muscle cells so when we are building muscle the individual muscle cells are increasing in size (bulking up).

Over time, you are able to gain muscle mass through a selection of activities including weight lifting and other forms of resistance training.

If your main goal is to bulk up, you’re likely increase your muscle mass which can increase your overall weight. Do not forget that your weight also depends on what you eat and when you’re doing other types of exercise.

For  instance, if you are doing lots of cardio, then you could ultimately lose fat and lower your weight.

Instead of stepping on a scale, you may want to consider measuring your body composition.

Methods to assess body composition (lean body mass vs. fat body mass) can help give you a more precise idea of what comprises your body.

You can always talk with a Dietetics Professional or a trainer to help determine the weight and exercise plan that is best for you.