Can fat turn into muscle or muscle turn into fat?

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  • I already know the answer to this...but I just want to see how many people dont...I was arguing with my hubbies family...when people play sports they think they know everything about fitness, diet and nutrition...I just want to know what you know and what you dont understand...And see if Im the only one here...

    Do you think fat can turn into muscle...or muscle can turn into fat?
  • No!!
  • Can cats turn into dogs and dogs turn into cats? No - but you can replace a cat with a dog (or vise versa).
  • The technical answer is "no," however I think the way people use the information, it doesn't matter. So, if someone says the exercise can turn fat into muscle they may or may not realize that what they're really saying is that exercise can help a person replace fat with with muscle.

    Does it matter that the new muscle isn't made of the same molecules as the fat was, or does it only matter that the person has muscle where they once had fat?

    Now, if the people are saying that it is EASY to replace fat with muscle - that's an entirely different argument.
  • Quote: The technical answer is "no," however I think the way people use the information, it doesn't matter. So, if someone says the exercise can turn fat into muscle they may or may not realize that what they're really saying is that exercise can help a person replace fat with with muscle.

    Does it matter that the new muscle isn't made of the same molecules as the fat was, or does it only matter that the person has muscle where they once had fat?

    Now, if the people are saying that it is EASY to replace fat with muscle - that's an entirely different argument.
    I was asking for the factual answer....thats all...when people say it they think of literally fat turning into muscle....so basically a 340lb person will turn all the fat into muscle...wow! how buff would he be? It isnt all replaced with muscle....especially with women...when we lose fat our muscle cant build that big to fill the areas where we lost the fat....If it did we wou ld be pretty buff...lol...
  • Quote: Can cats turn into dogs and dogs turn into cats? No - but you can replace a cat with a dog (or vise versa).
    Good answer....that was funny too! LOL
  • Uh, NO. With exercise, fat is used as fuel and muscle builds through the process of stressing it creating microtears and healing creating bigger muscles. The size of the muscle is a reflection of the amount of stress you put on it. Once you stop using it, the muscle is not longer needed so it "wastes away" (just think of the calf muscles of a person who has been in a wheelchair for a long time -- nonuse of muscle means muscle atrophy). If you eat too many calories, the excess is stored as body fat.

    If you bodybuild and get great muscles, then stop bodybuilding, your muscles will shrink in size. If you continue to eat the same amount that you were when bodybuilding, you'll get a layer of fat over top. If you moderate your eating, you will lose muscle still and won't get the fat over top. This happened to a friend of ours who went directly from body building to long distance running. He changed from a mini-Arnold to a super-lean-muscled runner. But his muscle didn't turn into fat.

    And sometimes a question is just a question, not an exploration of the metaphysical implications suggested by grammatical sentence construction...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...

    Kira
  • Quote: I already know the answer to this...but I just want to see how many people dont...I was arguing with my hubbies family...when people play sports they think they know everything about fitness, diet and nutrition...I just want to know what you know and what you dont understand...And see if Im the only one here...

    Do you think fat can turn into muscle...or muscle can turn into fat?
    LOL!!Sounds like my husband...always trying to outsmart me!When will he ever learn???????????
  • Fat is a different type of body tissue (adipose connective tissue) than muscle (muscle tissue). These cannot change from one into the other. The answer is no.

    Active muscle is able to burn fatty acids, so in that sense exercise can help reduce the amount of fat in the body. But it isn't that one changes into the other.

    Jay
  • Quote: LOL!!Sounds like my husband...always trying to outsmart me!When will he ever learn???????????
    Men...lol...no but it wasnt my husband it was his family...When one says something they all gang up on you...they take sticking together to a whole new..obsessed level...LMAO.....
  • Quote: Fat is a different type of body tissue (adipose connective tissue) than muscle (muscle tissue). These cannot change from one into the other. The answer is no.

    Active muscle is able to burn fatty acids, so in that sense exercise can help reduce the amount of fat in the body. But it isn't that one changes into the other.

    Jay
    See! Why do we all know but some people seem to swear they know and they dont! lI think its their ego's....they graduated college already and I graduate next year...So they think their "smarter" than I am...Its my major! Health science.....Im going for nursing but I want to be able to give people correct information when they ask so I take courses that I dont really need...
  • I was just thinking how funny we would look if fat DID turn into muscle.Can you imagine?My babies had the fattest cheeks and feet....baby fat goes away.........Oh great....now they have cheek and toe muscles...LMAO.
  • Not everybody is versed in every topic and to think that they are is not realistic. I don't necessarily get "annoyed" when someone is ignorant on a subject. Of course if they state their opinion over and over and over again as fact and it's false, that could get a little bothersome. But if someone is 100% wrong, I try to gently point it out, without making them feel - dopey. No one knows everything. I learn new things all the time and hope to never, ever stop.

    This just reminded me of the often thrown around statement that fat weighs more then muscle. When of course it's that one pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat, but that the muscle takes up less space.
  • It's Official
    Quote:
    SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
    In our cover story on exercise, we suggested that fat could be converted to muscle. It cannot be. [Aug 17.] Muscle, which is built up, and fat, which is burned, are different types of tissue.

    Time Magazine, August 23, 2009, Page 6.
    --
  • Quote: I was just thinking how funny we would look if fat DID turn into muscle.Can you imagine?My babies had the fattest cheeks and feet....baby fat goes away.........Oh great....now they have cheek and toe muscles...LMAO.


    MAN! That would look pretty wack! That was a good one....