Why Am I Not Losing Weight?? Part Two!

You have probably heard the saying before that "muscle weighs more than fat." If it didn't make you giggle a little before, it will after reading this post!

Think of the riddle, "What weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?" Well, a pound is a pound, no matter what it is comprised of, right? The reason that people generally make this erroneous statement is that when you undertake a strength and resistance training regimen, oftentimes you do not see a decrease in the scale in pounds, however you should (all other factors being correct, see yesterday's post for details) see a decrease in INCHES. Muscle doesn't WEIGH more than fat, it is more DENSE and therefore takes up less SPACE than fat. Plus, nice smooth muscle fibers also happen to be far more attractive to look at than lumpy, bumpy cellulite.



It's a very common occurrence that I've seen personally and with my friends and clients that they do not initially see a reduction in the scale when they begin weight training, and without that semi-instant gratification, they drop the weights and go back to cardio, cardio, cardio. So the real question is, what burns more calories? Thirty minutes on the treadmill or thirty minutes of weightlifting?

The answer is: it depends! If you're strolling along on the treadmill but circuit training through full body sets and reps with maximum weights, you'll burn more lifting. If you're running intervals on hills at a 6-minute-mile pace but taking your time with your weights, not lifting to failure and resting between sets, then the treadmill will be a bigger burner there.

BUT! (Here's my BIG BUT again!) the real question you need to consider is how many calories does that muscle burn AFTER you're done with your workout? First, a pound of muscle in recovery (repairing the damage from an intense weightlifting session) can burn an additional 50 - 100 calories just during the recovery process daily. There are an almost infinite number of factors that influence this figure, but suffice it to say that muscle in recovery is a MUCH higher calorie expenditure for your body than the calories you're burning 15 to 20 minutes after stepping off of the treadmill.

The kicker to the whole "building muscle" process, however, is that a pound of muscle burns 6 calories per day at rest while a pound of fat burns TWO. So for as much muscle as you put on your body, that amount of mass (which, remember also takes up a SMALLER amount of space than its fat counterpart) burns THREE TIMES as many calories as your adipose tissue (fat, cellulite, cottage cheese, flab -- pick your name of choice.)

So, the next time you find yourself passing by the barbells making a beeline to the elliptical, you have to think to yourself, "Do I just want to burn calories now, or do I want to make my body smaller, burn extra calories from this workout for the next day or two AND be able to eat more food over time without gaining weight because I'm adding lean muscle to my frame?" Hmmm, that one seems like a no-brainer!

If you're intimidated by the idea of resistance training, don't know how to use those complicated-looking machines at the gym, or think you need to invest in thousands of dollars of barbells to weight-lift at home, then you need to call me! I can design a very simple, very challenging resistance training routine for you using small and easy-to-store bands, medicine balls, and simply the resistance of your body weight. It doesn't take a lot of space, time or money! That's what I'm here for, so let me know if I can help YOU design the workout that keeps working to change your body, even while you sleep!