“Does Muscle Really Turn into Fat?

Okay, so let’s look at something a bit more practical this week since its been on my mind, especially as many have been hibernating due to winter or Covid lockdowns. There’s a misconception when it comes to serious weight training and I’ve heard it before. It goes something like this: “That’s great you’ve developed all that muscle but what happens when you’re done? All that muscle will turn into fat.”

No, it won’t.

Now first off, it’s not a logical reason to NOT do something. That would be like saying: “Why are you spending all thing reading your bible? When you’re done you won’t have room for anything else.”

Okay, maybe that’s a bad analogy but an argument like this doesn’t make sense. Let me talk though from a practical statement and make this declaration:

YOU CAN'T TURN FAT INTO MUSCLE.

So, what do you mean Chris? At the core of this issue, a fat cell is independent from a muscle cell, this is a fact of physiology. Muscle doesn’t turn into fat and fat doesn’t turn into muscle. What happens is one shrinks as the other grows.

Okay, so what happens to those competitive athletes who as they get older seem to turn their athletic physique into…well, to be polite, a much less athletic one?

What happens is that their muscles shrink as they exercise less and often they have a habit of eating a certain amount of food and the result is fat begins to take over. Plus, as we age our metabolism slows and our body changes making the accumulation of fat cells that much easier.

Likely most of you will be saying, “so what? I’m not and have never been a competitive athlete so no problem for me.” True, but there’s a principle here that applies to everyone that is seeking to lose weight and cut body fat.

What this means is, if you want to decrease the size of the fat cells in your body, then you have to be in a calorie deficit...

If you do this over time, then your fat cells will decrease, making you look leaner and more muscular.

However, if you wish to increase the size of your muscle cells, then you must be in a calorie surplus...

Doing this over time will lead to gaining more muscle. Not matter what, you must be consistent with this for a specific period of time. Just understand, both cells are separate, and you cannot turn fat INTO muscle. With the right training and the right structured meal plan, you can decrease your fat cells or build up your muscle cells.

Over time, with enough hard work and dedication, you will attain the physique that you want but more importantly, with a leaner, more muscular body, you’ll be healthier and able to do so much more, you’ll be fit for life.