I'm going to preface this post by saying that I've been working so exceedingly hard for the last 2-3 weeks that I've been missing meals, and this, compounded with my fast metabolism, has resulted in the loss of 13 pounds. I've gone from my natural weight of 160 to 147. My natural 160 is a weight I maintain through eating heartily throughout the day, and represents the weight I'm at when I don't work out; that 160 number, in other words, represents what I weigh with whatever muscle I have, plus fat I've amassed through eating. In previous times I've lifted my way up to 178 pounds with 7-8% bf at the gym. Nowadays, I like to stay lean but have a enough meat on my bones not to look scrawny. It's amazing how fat weight your frame can hold before you begin to look out of proportion. Now what have I noticed since I dropped weight? I'm decidedly weaker, and so on to my question... II. Does gaining fat weight make you stronger? I have always been under the impression that the answer is yes, but people I used to lift with maintain it's only muscle that gives you strength. Still, I find that hard to believe. I haven't retained any serious amount of the muscle gains I made when I worked out in the gym frequently and have only put on weight through consuming more calories than I burn - ie, fat weight. So does being fatter amount to being stronger? Let's forget about powerlifters and just take the average fat guy into consideration. I used to see him, utterly out of shape, clearly someone who doesn't deal with weights on a regular basis but just as the gym to fool himself, lifting much more than I ever could. So, again, does being fat make one stronger?
No, but fat inside muscle tissue does allow for faster transfer of "fuel" to the muscles, so extreme leaness reduces endurance. You also need to account for muscle tone. That is, 1 lb of muscle that isn't in good condition doesn't have near the strength of 1 lb of very healthy muscle.
The "fat guy" (I speak as one) may well have a much higher pain tolerance (or a different outlook on his weight work) than you - so where you're thinking "I'll not push harder because that hurts" he's thinking "I can stand the pain at this level, I can go higher"
Well, what I'm desirous to know is: will fat-weight gain increase a person's strength objectively? If a person gains 20 pounds via eating donuts all day, is he likely to be stronger man following this weight gain?
Maybe in the legs eventually due to carrying the extra weight. I doubt this girl is about to become the strongest woman in the world any time soon...
It sounds like theres something missing. Fat is essentally stored fuel. There are various kinds of fats and some break down into fuel your body/muscles need easier then others. (saturated, un-satureated, etc). The idea is your body needs fuel, food is fuel as it provides various things. It sounds like your having a harder time get working out. Perhaps, this is more of a neutrtion question. I would look at your calorie and variety of food intake for a few days and consider what your burning vs what you are taking in. Also check and confirm the fluids/water on your workout days. Being well rested and hydrated will help as well. (sorry for mispellings as I'm at work and have to run).
No and muscle weighs more than fat. Nutrition is the key. You are feeling weaker at a lower weight because you are missing meals. Your body requires more calories to keep up your energy. Body builders eat 5 meals a day to keep up their energy and build muscle mass. If you are working out, eat more not less and I'm not talking about donuts. High protein low fat and the right kind of carbs to fuel your workouts. There are tons of books available on this subject. I suggest you read some.
I've been through the whole body-sculpting affair - hard workouts, tremendous calorie intake comprising clean foods: lean meats, whole grains, vegetables and quality fats. Bulking up then cutting. Admiring my physique in the mirror all day. Now that phase of my life is over and I like to stay at 160 without hitting the gym - I'm pleased with that weight on me, as I look lean but am filled out as much as possible. That said, I just want to know if fat adds strength. I feel it does. I know I'm weaker today than I was a month ago. I've lost weight, and losing weight means losing muscle and fat. So I'm not drawing the conclusion based on my experiences. I'm just asking because from observation it seems very much to me that the non-exercised are significantly stronger than their trimmer non-exercised counterparts.
I don't think you'll be able to totally avoid working out and maintaining a healthy body. But, you can cut back to two 30 minute workouts each week and be healthy (though not really athletic).
I've known fat people that were weaker that skinny people and visa-versa. Neither having worked out a day in their lives. I do not believe that generally speaking, fat adds strength. Added fat just makes your heart work harder and puts a strain on your skeletal system. It may make you "feel" stronger, but its bad for your health.
simple answer: fat has nothing to do with strength. muscle has almost everything to do with strength. think of a car. the engine is the muscle. the gas tank is the fat...I guess actually the gas tank would be the stomach, and perhaps the gas lines the fat? anyway, let's take some creative license here! the engine will determine the strength, be it big and high powered, or smaller but tuned for endurance. the fat our bodies store is the fuel. We need that fuel. Now, if you take a high-performance car, go to the corner "economy" gas station (around here that's EZ-Mart), and fill up with the lowest octane, the engine isn't going to perform it's best. You're going to want to get a premium gas and a high-octane. That will describe your diet. In the same vein, an engine not so tuned will not exactly benefit from the higher octane fuel, and middle or even low octane, but of a quality brand, fuel will give it the performance it needs. I think you're asking one question (if fat adds strength), while looking for an answer to a different question. Fat fuels our muscles/strength, but not necessarily the more fat we have, the stronger we are. But we need a constant supply of fuel to keep us going. Think of adding wood to a fire. You have a nice fire going, and a stack of wood (the fuel, or for our bodies, food/fat). If you give the fire a few pieces regularly, before the previous burns gets too low, but not while it's peaking, then you keep a nice burning fire. If you wait too long, the heat will be low and it will eventually burn, but will do so inefficiently with some downtime. Likewise, if you add the fuel while it's hottest, you risk losing some of the fires performance. Now, all this high-quality fuel that makes the fire burn is good, right? So, if it's good, lets dump ALL the wood on the fire! What happens? you just put the fire out. Certain amount of fat your body needs to function, but it has no direct correlation with strength, your muscles and fitness totally determine that, but with out fuel they won't work properly. Make any sense?
Your power and strength muscle, Fast Twitch type A, doesn't even use fat as energy. It stores Glucose and Glycogen and turn that in to ATP (adenosine triphosphate) with lactic acid as a by product. This is what causes failure on heavy reps. As the Lactic acid raises the PH of the muscle cell it turns off. Fat is used for energy in slow twitch muscle which is a smaller muscle because it uses mitochondrias to turn fat and oxygen into ATP. That is your aerobic muscles. But as many people have already pointed out not eating properly will affect your workouts/strength. Thank you Dr Kenneth Cooper for teaching me all of this.
Yes if your doing a tiny amount of weight. Your strong muscle fiber is fast twitch type A usually good for 1-8 reps. This muscle fiber is white because it doesnt have mitochondria (which are red) which turns fat to energy. It has to store its energy which makes it larger and stronger (on the cellular level). Your slow twitch is a smaller red muscle is packed with mitochondria and uses fat for energy. You can train your body to support the growth of the different types of muscle. Thats why you see body builders lifting heavy weights all the time in small reps but getting winded climbing stairs and Lance Armstrong can ride bicycles for days on end. There is also a 3rd type Fast Twitch B which is a a pink muscle thats in between the to I already mentioned.
Overweight people that become slim quickly will feel weaker. When weight is lost too quickly, you burning off the muscle along with the fat.
Arbitrarily gaining 20 lbs of fat isn't going to make you stronger. There does seem to be some anecdotal correlation between higher bodyfat percentages and strength, but those guys aren't just fat slobs. They have a lot of powerful muscle underneath the adipose.
I don't know what the deal is. Maybe I'm a genetic oddity. When I used to train I'd bulk eating only clean foods, then basically stop eating while continuing to train for the brief time it took me to get cut. I used to get so ripped like this without cannibalizing much muscle, people thought I was taking Winstrol. Now I just put on 10 lbs without touching a weight and just eating calorie-dense junk food, candy & donuts, and I'm very clearly stronger. What's going on? Whatever it is, I like it.
When I was in Afghanistan I trained hard everyday. Then when I came home I Laid around and drank all the time and blew up in size. The only thing I realized is when I was training non stop and eating right I didn't get much rest. Approximately 3-4 hours of sleep day. So when I got home and caught up on my rest even though I was not at all being healthy the extra rest I got showed more results then all my work had. I also read somewhere that TO would sleep 18 hours a day during his training season. Im not sure how exaggerated that number is.
