Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

I was reading a women's magazine the other day. They have a section in each magazine that has quick fitness tips which are supposed to help keep you motivated and separate facts from myths.

Usually there are a lot of good tidbits, however, this particular month, one of the statements was geared towards not worrying about getting on the scale and actually losing pounds, but instead use things like measurements to gage your progress.

I agree with that statement. You should either use a body fat test or just measure yourself with a tape measure to get a more accurate reading of how much you are losing.

It was their reasoning for why you should use measurement instead of a scale that I disagreed with. They said you should do this because "muscle weighs more than fat".

Really?

No it does not. At least not when you word it that way. One pound of muscle is exactly equal to one pound of fat, as far as how much they weigh. What is true is that muscle is less dense, so per volume muscle weighs more than fat.

This magazine is not the only source that has used this saying incorrectly. Most people who are "somewhat" fitness educated will agree that muscle does weigh more.

I understand where the comparison is coming from. In generally people just look at themselves, and then look at the scale and wonder, why do I look better yet weigh more?

I know it is just a little detail, those couple extra words. In general I would hope, no matter which way it is worded, people understand what is being said. But then again, those also might be the same people who think a one pound brick is heavier than a one pound sack of feathers.