More muscle you have eaiser to burn fat?

[projectaero]

I have a question regarding muscle mass.

I head read that the more muscle you have the easier it is to burn fat.
But i have also heard if you are 18% or higher body fat that its preferred to lose weight before bulking, due to something to do with hormones etc?

[DROE]

Originally Posted by projectaero

I have a question regarding muscle mass.

I head read that the more muscle you have the easier it is to burn fat.
But i have also heard if you are 18% or higher body fat that its preferred to lose weight before bulking, due to something to do with hormones etc?

I can't answer this with facts but I know that a few trainers at my gym did tell me that muscle is responsible for burning calories not fat. So the more muscle you have the quicker you can burn calories. He also said that your back and your legs are the muscles that people neglect the most but at the same time are the biggest in your body therefor if you get them built a little bit it would help with calorie burning. Like I said I am no pro and correct me if this advice is wrong but it made sense to me :^)

[SoSadBtTrue]

Originally Posted by projectaero

I have a question regarding muscle mass.

I head read that the more muscle you have the easier it is to burn fat.
But i have also heard if you are 18% or higher body fat that its preferred to lose weight before bulking, due to something to do with hormones etc?

Yes, muscle burns more energy than fat. Just look at the BMR calculators that are based on lean mass (not total body weight). The more muscle you have, the higher your BMR.

I don't know about the hormones and such. For me, whether to bulk or cut is a matter of personal preference. Do you feel fat? Then cut. If you feel like your bodyfat is in check, then go ahead and add some mass.

[Advocatus]

I've heard of studies saying anywhere from 35-50 calories per pound of muscle is burned daily, not sure how accurate that is.

As for being leaner before bulking, it does help:

- Because you'll inevitably put on fat when 'bulking' so you want to be as lean as possible.
- The leaner you are it is generally easier to build muscle arguably because you have less fat cells to multiply, and thus in a Caloric surplus your body will more likely to opt to create more muscle instead.

Edit: Also the leaner you are, the more testosterone your body will be producing.

[SoSadBtTrue]

Originally Posted by Advocatus

The leaner you are it is generally easier to build muscle arguably because you have less fat cells to multiply, and thus in a Caloric surplus your body will more likely to opt to create more muscle instead.

I've never heard that before. Anyone else that can back that up?

[Advocatus]

Originally Posted by SoSadBtTrue

I've never heard that before. Anyone else that can back that up?

Yeah, x2 on the backing that up (With research) or also, debunking that (With research) I'm pretty sure, and have read studies on it in the past, but I can't find any, I'll keep looking.

Anyway, hopefully someone can prove me wrong (Or right) with research, either way, live and learn.

[in10city]

Originally Posted by projectaero

I have a question regarding muscle mass.

I head read that the more muscle you have the easier it is to burn fat.
But i have also heard if you are 18% or higher body fat that its preferred to lose weight before bulking, due to something to do with hormones etc?

The amount of muscle you would need to add to increase your BMR is large.

This will put most of these wild myths to bed.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...ch-review.html

[Reman]

At rest, a pound of muscle burns only about 6 calories a day. A pound of fat burns only 2 cals. Heart burns about 400 so muscles burn a lot of cals if it's counted as a muscle.

You need passwords to read the fullpaper because this abstract doesn't say anything -
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11224660

Edit. too slow.

[Advocatus]

Originally Posted by in10city

The amount of muscle you would need to add to increase your BMR is large.

This will put most of these wild myths to bed.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...ch-review.html

Thanks for posting that article, been trying to find that! Much appreciated.

[Cape1]

I don't think anyone really knows this topic that well. Many seem to speculate as to how pronounced the effect is of muscle and met rate. But, put it this way... Just observe what is going on around you. I don't think it's a stretch that the lean, muscular athletic guy can eat more than the fat, lazy guy. Not really sure a study is needed at all here.

[Advocatus]

Originally Posted by Cape1

I don't think anyone really knows this topic that well. Many seem to speculate as to how pronounced the effect is of muscle and met rate. But, put it this way... Just observe what is going on around you. I don't think it's a stretch that the lean, muscular athletic guy can eat more than the fat, lazy guy. Not really sure a study is needed at all here.

No of course not. But it's always nice to know, for those interested.

[archepic]

Originally Posted by Advocatus

Yeah, x2 on the backing that up (With research) or also, debunking that (With research) I'm pretty sure, and have read studies on it in the past, but I can't find any, I'll keep looking.

Anyway, hopefully someone can prove me wrong (Or right) with research, either way, live and learn.

Read some stuff from Lyle McDonald. He would back those statements i'm sure.

[archepic]

One thing I remember from Lyle stuff is that he make a difference between someone that has leaned down and a naturaly lean guy. Fat cells shrink but does no go through apoptosis immediately. The number of fat cell do have an impact on hormones because they ARE part of endocrine system.

The part about testosterone i'm not sure what is the cause and effect in the statement.