Unanswered How Many Calories Does a Pound of Muscle Burn? Research?

ucimigrate

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Does anyone have some good quality research on how many calories an added pound of skeletal muscle burns?
 
BloodManor

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I heard around 50 cals a lb. don’t know how accurate it is
 
LeanEngineer

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fantaaoorange

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I think the 50 calories per lb of muscle is a myth. I’ve read it’s more like 7-9 cals per day.

Think about it it.. would a person that is 250lbs (225 lbs LBM) burn 4500 more calories per day than a man who weights 150 lbs (135 lbs LBM) at rest. In this hypothetical both men are at 10% bf so 90 pounds more LBM x 50 cals = 4500 cals per day.

No way. 90 lbs LBM x 7 calories = 630 calories burned at rest seems way more reasonable.
 

ucimigrate

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Thanks for the replies. I wish I could see research.

I tend to put on fat easily, but not muscle. I get jealous of some of my friends who only need to lift four days a week, do no cardio, and can eat lots of calories, but still have a six pack.
 
LeanEngineer

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I think the 50 calories per lb of muscle is a myth. I’ve read it’s more like 7-9 cals per day.

Think about it it.. would a person that is 250lbs (225 lbs LBM) burn 4500 more calories per day than a man who weights 150 lbs (135 lbs LBM) at rest. In this hypothetical both men are at 10% bf so 90 pounds more LBM x 50 cals = 4500 cals per day.

No way. 90 lbs LBM x 7 calories = 630 calories burned at rest seems way more reasonable.
If you weigh 100 lbs more at 10% bf I don't know if you can assume 90 lbs is muscle. There's other factors that contribute to the 100 lbs weighing more. So it's probably not 90 * 50. it's probably more like 30 or 40 * 50 which does still seem high.
 
BloodManor

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If you weigh 100 lbs more at 10% bf I don't know if you can assume 90 lbs is muscle. There's other factors that contribute to the 100 lbs weighing more. So it's probably not 90 * 50. it's probably more like 30 or 40 * 50 which does still seem high.
i agree and maybe it changes by how much mass you have and if you are natural or not
 
delsolrob

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I don't believe the 50 cal/lbs of lean mass is just an increase to BML, but provides potential for 50 calories per day...due to increased potential of work.
 

ucimigrate

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Good insight. We know that people with more muscle somehow have better body composition. But, the exact causation seems elusive. It seems that more muscle equals higher metabolism, as well as increased capacity to do more intense levels of work, and more work in general.
 
LeanEngineer

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i agree and maybe it changes by how much mass you have and if you are natural or not
I think that probably has a lot to do with it as well. ha
 

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