Density!
Justin Thacker MS, RD, LD, ACSM-HFS, CES, USAW, CSCS         

                                                               

Let talk…no, let’s LOOK at density. Since I tend to get wordy I am going to make this a picture-based article….well, I am going to try anyway.

First let’s start with the most common phrase I hear from weight loss clients, females, and men who are momma’s boys.

“But, I don’t want to get too big.”

Or

“Yeah, I put on muscle real easy.”

Or

“I don’t want to look like Arnold!”

Or

“My pants don’t fit because of all of these squats.”

Short answer: then lift as heavy as possible and don’t take steroids and you will tone up and lose body fat (sure, with a few extra points too, but that is the general take home).

But, let me prove something to you about density so you stop being so DENSE (you knew that play on words was coming) about how weightlifting (strength training) works in relation to muscle building and fat loss.

Ok, so you started a weight loss program and here you are lifting weights.

You shriek to your trainer, “Shouldn’t I be doing low weight high reps to tone and lose fat!?”

You step on the scale and there it is: 45lbs (bear with me).

“45lbs! But, I haven’t lost any weight! I knew I shouldn’t be lifting all that weight and doing more cardio and eating only 800 calories per day! Bahh!”

Here, you are pictured on the left on day 1 at 45lbs. On the right, day 90, at 45 lbs.  

Looks like the same circumference and size right? So you are pissed, confused, as you run for the pink dumbbells in disgust you glance at the mirror sideways and you notice something different.

“Wow, wait a minute. I am 1/3 the size from this side! Wtf!? But how can this be, I am the same weight!?”

You look closer but this time from a new angle…

“Oh my, I am simply confused right now, how can this be.” As you stand and realize your frame (skeletal structure) is the same but you are 1/3 the size!!!

“What happened!?!?!”

Ok, sit down, here it comes…

This is why we measure body fat percentage and look at your ‘density’. Weight on the scale is simply a measure and not exactly an accurate one when it comes to FAT LOSS. Weight training (strength training) will fill the density of the muscles more compactly and hard (this is muscle tone that you all desperately seek).   So yes, these weights weigh the same but look much different. Actually no, the black rubber one weighs 20kg, that is actually 1lb less, but it is bigger in every direction (it is an Olympic bumper plate used for Olympic weightlifting). It is LESS DENSE. Compare this to fat tissue and the smaller harder weight as lean/smaller muscular tissue. The best part is so many people (yes, you) are so deconditioned, weak, and ‘under muscled’ that you can afford to put on a good 10-20 lbs of muscle before you even get to an acceptable standard! Muscle bound isn’t even on the radar! It would take over 50lbs of lean muscle gain before you even became ‘muscle bound.’ Again, bear with me…

So to review this first point:

Weight 1: is 44lbs with 80% body fat. Meaning it is 35.2 lbs fat and 8.8 lbs of muscle.

Weight 2: is 45 lbs with 20% body fat. Meaning it is 36 lbs of muscle and 9 lbs of fat. The funny thing is it has a higher metabolic rate and can eat more too. Yes, all those skinny people you hate that can eat so much and not get fat;). The more muscle you have the easier it is to lose body fat and the more you can eat!

What happens when so many begin exercise programs are that they will build muscle AND burn fat and get stuck at the same weight on the scale and wind up perplexed. They may have lost 5lbs of fat, but gained 5lbs of muscle and the scale is at a stalemate. When they do their circumferences and body fat measurements they see another story unfold. Their density has changed and things ARE moving. Just not how the assumed or expected it too. Ass. But, you may have noticed clothes fitting a bit differently? This is a sign of this process.

(pic: you see, 5lbs is not 5lbs, and although the scale may say so, this is not the reality and why we must do body fat assessments).

This is the first thing I look for when looking at results. Strength gains, I know changes are happening when strength and performance (performance is a function of strength). Not scale weight, but STRENGTH, and performance measures. This tells me they are becoming more fit and capable of performing more work. This means calories and fat will be burned. And in case you missed it the first time….EVERY POUND YOU GAIN OF LEAN BODY MASS BURNS 50 CALORIES EXTRA AT REST PER DAY (if you gain 10lbs of muscle that is 500 calories burned at rest per day, the same as running 5 miles)! ALSO, THAT MUSCLE WILL HELP YOU BURN MORE CALORIES PER HOUR WHEN YOU EXERCISE!   So no more puny 200 calorie workouts, bring on the 600 plus workouts!

So, what next? Now that you are thinking about density and its ramifications how do we deal with this?

Remember our picture:

Think of these now as 2 different muscle cells. One is biopsied from a bodybuilder (the big black rubber one) and one from an Olympic weightlifter (the smaller, harder, dense one). We will say they are both drug free for arguments sake. The bodybuilder performs reps in order to engorge and increase the cell size and circumference. The Olympic lifter performs reps to increase strength and power. And, look again at the pictures, this is how the muscle cell changes. Yes, one is less dense and larger (also known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, or the space inside the cells not including the contractile proteins) and the other is harder and smaller (also known as myofibrillar hypertrophy, or development of the contractile portion of the muscle). This is how one can become larger, yet weigh less than the other (think about filling a balloon with air vs. water)

Below, you can see the difference of what is targeted, the sarcoplasm, or the myofibrils of the cell.

 Also below, on the left side see the densely packed fibers next to each other. They become harder and more densely packed. On the right, more voluminous and loosely packed.

 

Bodybuilders reps (the sarcoplasmic/large volume kind) on average range from 8-15 and go as low on occasion as 6 reps (low weight higher rep training). The Olympic lifters reps are on average 1-3 reps and go as high on occasion as 5 reps (of course with much heavier loads). Here is a great chart breaking this down in terms of muscle function and morphology (go ahead and memorize that).

Now, this is baffling when this is what the average weight loss client wants to come in and not get ‘huge’ or ‘muscle bound’ wants to do. And they are doing precisely what gives them that gorge/pump and in turn causes their fear of weight training for fat loss. Then, 3 bad things typically happen:

1)      They feel that muscle, blood, fluid pump in their arms/legs and think their clothes don’t fit anymore and stop strength training (when they are simply only pumped for a few hours and the blood/fluid then pools back to the rest of the body, what a sick joke). Folks, this is not real muscle gain in these situations and only temporary, as in minutes to hours.

2)      Before they even get to ‘real’ strength training they ditch weight training for light, high rep training and the vicious cycle continues (when all they did was their first heavy sets of 10-15 reps. Ladies and gentlemen, it isn’t heavy until it is at least 5 reps or less and it requires an 8-10 out of 10 effort to even move the weight.  Also, you should know on the first rep if it is heavy, not the 10th and beyond, that is called fatigue).

3)      They quit weights all together and go follow a one-sided fitness program of all long endurance cardio…or worse they stop all exercise together.

‘Random side tangent’: When people begin training early on and find that ‘their clothes don’t fit.’ More times then not it is the muscle pump post workout problem. However in those first 0-90 days or even longer (if your not following your diet!!! Shame on you. Every time you cheat on your diet a puppy dog dies). And then it’s the dreaded ‘interim period’ where you are in a necessary but uncomfortable transition of gaining lean body mass and losing fat mass. The problem is your are stuck between the mutations of the two and still have some fat sitting on top of the new lean muscle, so yes your circumference is temporarily large. BUT, if you stick at it, THIS DOES NOT LAST LONG, you are making the right moves and on your way. And unfortunately this an essential period to get to if you are ever going to get to the amazingly wonderful promise land you have been hearing all about.

Final review: Here are examples of some of the best in the world at the respective examples. This should illustrate to the ‘Nth’ degree what happens when a given training paradigm is taken to its fullest extent.

Here is what you get with lower rep and heavy weight strength training (never sacrifice your form! Form first, strength second!):

3 Time Olympic Weightlifting Champion Pyrros Dimas (4 time Olympic medalist! That is 16 years at the top of the world, that is aging gracefully). Notice the far right pic, yep same guy…pretty GQ Smooth, you would never know he is one of the strongest pound for pound men in history!

And for the ladies:

Female Olympic weight lifter. Muscle bound?! Nope, just cute, lean, loving life.

Here is what you get when you use higher reps and moderate weight:

Jay Cutler: 4 time Mr. Olympia winner does his 10-15 rep sets. Large and in charge. But, a freak show.  Nope, his shirts, nor pants, fit.

And for the ladies:

Ms. Olympia Kim Chivesky…she does her 10-15 rep sets.

Ms. Olympia Kim Chivesky on less drugs…still hitting her 10-15 rep sets.

What you get when you use light weight and high reps exclusively:

Man, poor Richard isn’t aging too well…or is this Robert Sher?

Now, don’t get me wrong. A combination of ALL rep schemes is ideal. You don’t want to go full blown heavy all the time and likewise light and fluffy. QA blend of ranges is optimal. It’s just that the majority never do the real work, the heavy stuff.

One final comment before we conclude this dense article. You see the above pictures of the Olympic weight lifter and Bodybuilders. Don’t look into this to far, but it is worth noting. You see both the weightlifters and the bodybuilders are very lean, they just differ in muscular size. But, body fat is nill in both, interesting. Weight lifters do ZERO cardio. ZERO. Bodybuilders in order to get that chiseled do anywhere from a couple to several hours per week of cardio on top of their weight training. And adhere to much stricter dieting regimes then the typical weightlifter.

Now, I hope you give strength training a second thought when organizing your fat loss routine! And for God sakes PLEASE stop confusing heavy weights with turning into Arnold!

That wasn’t so many words now was it?

PS: Here are some more perplexing visuals-

Both of these women are leaner but MORE dense and thus have a higher scale weight than before.

Ultimately, the body fat percentage can reveal some interesting appearances.  For the men, at the same % one man clearly shows more muscle mass.  For the women, although ALL are fit, the woman with the lowest % seems to have the largest muscles.  However, this can simply be a matter of her lower body fat % revealing deeper cuts in her muscles making them look bigger. If she added some body fat she would appear much less muscular.