Most people consider the idea that you can convert fat to muscle as commonly accepted knowledge. After all, if you throw a 300-pound guy and a scrawny 150-pounder in the gym, the 300-pound man is going to have more muscle after hitting the weights. But is this because his fat has converted to muscle?
Absolutely not! The reason why it seems that fat guys immediately get more muscular than skinny guys is because they often have more muscle to begin with - it's just tucked underneath all those layers of lard. Additionally, bigger people eat more calories, so they're likely to get more muscle-building protein. With that said, let us discuss the reality behind the myth that you can change fat to muscle.
Two Different Cells
Let's start this off by quickly stating that muscle and fat are entirely different cells. Muscle is mainly comprised of muscle tissue, glycogen and water. The muscle tissue has amino acid chains that contain nitrogen, which is stored as muscle.
Fat, on the other hand, lacks nitrogen so it cannot be stored as or changed into muscle. Instead, it just sits there as a reserve energy source in the event that you're starving. Luckily, it can also be burned off through exercise like lifting weights.
One Step at a Time
Wouldn't it be so convenient if you could just kill two birds with one stone by changing fat to muscle? Unfortunately, as we just discussed, this isn't possible and so getting a ripped body becomes that much harder.
Taking this into account, it almost always works best if you focus on one goal at a time - i.e. burn fat or build muscle. Weightlifting can accomplish both goals in heavy people, especially right off the bat. However, there'll eventually become a point where you should focus on one or the other.
The reason why is because burning fat requires a calorie deficit, while building muscle requires more calories. My personal preference is to bulk up, then start cutting after you've gained some muscle mass. But those who are tired of being fat might just want to lift for reps while doing more cardio.
Once again, don't believe the myth that you can turn fat into muscle. Instead, you need to work on accomplishing two separate goals to get the body of your dreams. For the lucky mesomorphs out there, these two goals can be met simultaneously. But for us ectomorphs and endomorphs, the journey will be a lot tougher.
