The truth about muscle & fat

As a personal trainer, it is fustrating when i see scams that promise to turn your fat into muscle.

Source of picture

The truth!
Muscle and fat are 2 different body tissues. You cannot turn fat into muscle (and vice versa) anymore than you can turn lead into gold.

No idea what's fat & muscle? Look at anyone. Muscle are those hard flesh which can look tone and desired. Fat are those flabs on any area of the body. If one has a tummy, that's fat around the waist.

Looking better will always involve 2 processes. They are fat loss and muscle gain.

Muscle weighs heaiver than fat.
You can weigh heavier and have a smaller waistline.This is the reason why you should be concerned about your bodyfat % than the figure on the weighing scale.

Comparing these 2 men, Brad Pitt is definitely heavier but his body looks better.

Woman with higher bodyfat %

Woman with lower bodyfat %

It is clear that lower body % is desired.

Muscle burns more calories than fat.
If you were to compare both tissues to remain at rest for 24 hours, the increased in metabolic rate is not much. It is less than 10 calories for 1 extra pound* of muscle.
*(2.2 pounds = 1kg)

Only 10 calories? Don't give up the idea of gaining muscle yet. Muscle creates the movement of our body. We are using our muscle even when we are walking. With such long working hours of our muscle, muscle can burn at least 20 times more than fat. This is why somone muscular can afford to eat more without putting on fat so easily.

With these 2 points, (looking better and able to eat more) I hope that your goal is fat loss instead of weight loss & muscle gain instead of weight gain.

However, the sad truth...
Blame it on our body. In order to survive, our body will choose to pack on fat rather than muscle. Even if you are muscular and lean right now, without maintenance through resistance training, your muscle will still shrink! You will only gain fat much faster if you do not downsize your diet accordingly.

The reason why the myth of "Muscle becoming fat when training stop" is still alive. Most people still eat as much when they stop training.

Don't give up the idea of achieving a lean body yet. Maintaining a lean body can require as little as 2 hours in the gym weekly. I am able to maintain my lean body by going to the gym twice a week (less than 1 hour each time) and eat smartly.

Picture of myself

What are you waiting for? Starting hitting the gym to gain the muscle now!