1lb of Fat vs.1lb of Muscle

A pound of muscle burns more calories in a day than a pound of fat, without any extra effort on our part. Unfortunately, you're not going to burn an extra 50 calories a day from an extra pound of muscle as many websites claim. The extra pound of muscle will, however, prove very valuable in the long run.

2 calories vs. 6 calories:
Studies indicate a pound of muscle will burn 2 calories a day while a pound of muscle burns 6 calories a day. So you're burning an extra 4 calories a day with each pound of fat you convert to muscle. BIG WHOOP! Right? Actually it is. That 4 extra calories really adds up. Read on.

One Year Later:
Let us say a good month at the gym results in a loss of 1 lb of fat and a gain of 1 lb of muscle. Your net weight has not changed. Each day you maintain this loss of fat and gain of muscle, your body will burn an extra 4 calories. In a week, you'll burn 28 extra calories. In a year, that's equal to 1,456 calories. That's almost an extra half pound worth of fat calories burned! For males who are looking to burn fat, one should consistently work to build muscle. No, you do not have to be a body builder or at the gym everyday. If you can maintain a routine of 3 days a week of lifting, it's very feasible to gain half a pound of muscle a month. A year routine could result in 6 more pounds of muscle. And don't forget, you're losing fat with your workouts. Now, if you can gain 6 pounds of muscle in a year, that's 8,736 extra calories burned a year by just the new muscle. (Actually it's more. I calculated that based on 4 calories burned a day. A pound of muscle really burns 6 calories a day. Expect to loss some fat, but not 6 pounds of fat from just lifting). If you're not looking to loss weight, well then that's just an extra 8,736 calories you can eat a year without gaining weight in fat. That's 58 extra beers of 150 calories a year!

Females
Most females do not want to gain 6lbs. of muscle. However, it's important for females to lift weights, even if it's just a light workout. A gain of 2 lbs of muscle over the course of the year is not going to make you look like a body builder. The idea of lifting is to become more toned, not bulky. Replace fat with muscle. A 2lbs gain in muscle with a 2lb loss of fat will result in nearly an extra pound worth of calories being burned off each year. Plus you'll be more toned!

Extra muscle helps us to naturally burn calories and maintain our weight. If you're looking to loss weight, it's great to have any extra help you can get. Those who want to gain weight, lifting is the fasted way to do so. Those of us who want to maintain our weight, converting fat to muscle will allow us to enjoy a couple more burgers a year!