We all know it, or at least how many of us have gone to the gym at least once in their life: to lose fat mass and speed up the metabolism, therefore lose weight, you need to gain muscle mass . Muscles burn more, and intense physical activity to develop muscles allows us to increase muscle mass and gradually reduce fat mass. In this regard, however , we always find ourselves confusing some concepts concerning the combination of lean mass / fat mass, concepts that if they are not very clear can disappoint our expectations of weight loss and make us do harmful or useless work in the desperate intent of have a shaped and lean physique. Here is probably what you often ask yourself about gaining muscle mass:
1) The increase in muscle mass corresponds to an increase in weight: yes (more or less). The more muscle work you do, the more the balance tends to rise, at least in the beginning. Because? There are two reasons. The first is not that muscles weigh more than fat, although that’s true. With the same volume, the muscle weighs more. But when we start to develop lean mass, the increase in muscle mass corresponds to an increase in cellular water in our body. Muscles swell more at first, and cells need more water and nutrition for muscle mass to increase. This does not mean that we are putting on who knows how many muscles! In short, it is not only because the muscles grow that we gain weight: we also gain weight due to a greater load of water, the fact that the muscle fibers are swelling and so on. The tip of the balance stabilizes long after (months later), and depending on the work we do.

2) The increase in muscle mass corresponds to the loss of fat mass: yes, but it takes time, the muscles, contrary to popular belief, do not grow overnight, and are obtained with targeted work and not just aerobic work. . In fact, muscle mass does not replacethe fat mass. It is not that one is converted into the other, it is the body, not the game of risk. If you gain lean mass over time, you tend to burn more and more fat mass.
3) How can I tone up without gaining muscle mass? It is impossible to tone up without gaining muscle mass, it means calling the same things differently. If you want to be more toned and outlined you need to have more lean mass, you cannot tone fat mass.
4) How can I gain muscle mass and lose fat so that I can finally see the scales go down?The personal trainer (one who follows you, not one who entrusts you with a program and then drops you there) is for this, and almost always relying on a good personal trainer allows you to do targeted work and increase muscle mass and decrease a little. at a time the fat one in function of a slimmer figure and an effective weight loss. If you do your own thing it is much more difficult, I tell you from personal experience.
5) How much does muscle weigh compared to fat? This is a big problem. When we hear that muscle weighs more than fat, well, we shouldn’t be surprised if this sentence confuses us even more instead of clearing our heads. In fact it means nothing: a kilo of muscle and a kilo of fat are always a kilo.I said before that for the same volume the muscle weighs more. Fat is less condensed and more voluminous than muscle. A pound of muscle is more concentrated than a pound of fat: I read in a US blog that it’s like the difference between a raw potato and a mashed potato. With the same volume, two kilos of muscle occupy more or less the same space as a kilo of fat, to give an idea. So why should one gain muscle mass? Because in the end he will look leaner unless he wants to put on a lot of mass (1) compared to the same pounds of fat; because the muscles will increase its basal metabolic rate (2) and this, at the end of the games and after months of training between weights and aerobics, will also lead to effective weight loss .