Health and nutrition expert, Claire Kopicki

WHAT is the difference between muscle and fat?

Muscle is made up of protein, it uses fats and carbohydrates as fuel.

Fat is stored in fat cells, which lie under your skin, on top of your muscles.

Muscle is denser than fat, which means 1lb of muscle takes up a lot less space than 1lb of fat.

If you have two people who are the same weight and height but one has lower body fat and a higher muscle mass then the other, the person with lower body fat/higher muscle mass will wear a smaller clothing size than the other.

Muscle will burn more calories than fat each day, which means metabolic rate will be higher in a person with greater muscle mass. Muscle cells burn calories, fat cells tend to store them.

A common misconception in the fitness world is that once muscle isn’t being used then it will turn into fat, this is not the case.

Fat cannot be turned into muscle, nor can muscle be turned into fat if we stop exercising.

As they are both different cells, different processes are involved in gaining and losing both muscle and fat.

If you gain muscle through exercise then suddenly stop, you may start to lose that muscle mass over a few weeks but it will not turn into fat. However, by losing that muscle mass your metabolism will slow down so that will cause you to gain additional body fat.

So you will lose one and gain another rather than convert. As for turning fat into muscle, with a resistance training programme and good a good diet additional muscle gain will increase resting metabolism and help with lowering body fat, again using one process to aid the other. A lower body fat percentage and/or lean muscle mass is linked to reducing risks of many ailments and health problems.

To get in touch with Claire, tweet her @CLKpt or email ckopicki@me.com.