Does muscle burn fat? | POPSUGAR Fitness

You've probably heard that muscle burns fat one or two times by your favorite Instagram, a bodybuilder in the gym or maybe even by a random user of Reddit. But if you are like us, you like to do your own research and find evidence to back up or refute such claims. Because we want to be strong and know how our body works, especially how it burns fat and strengthens muscles, we asked an expert.

"This is not necessarily [that] Muscle burns fat, "said POPSUGAR sports physiologist at NYU Langone Sports Center, Rondel King, MS, CSCS.," Which is the stored form of carbohydrates in muscle, Rondel explained.

In order for your body to use fat and burn it, Rondel said that his body had to convert triglycerides, the main form of fat stored in your body, into glucose. This occurs through a process called gluconeogenesis. According to Rondel, gluconeogenesis occurs when your body needs glucose and also when doing high intensity exercises like sprinting and weightlifting.

To be perfectly clear, no, muscle does not burn fat directly. Instead, the fat molecules must be converted to glucose – your muscle will then be able to use it as fuel, that is, to burn it. Although muscles do not burn fat, the more muscle mass you have, the better your resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories your body needs to perform the basic functions that keep you alive such as breathing). That means you'll burn more calories, Rondel explained.

It's a pretty complex process, but at the end of the day, remember these two things: the muscle does not burn fat directly and the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. To start burning fat and developing your muscles, try one of the following workouts: