How many calories does one pound of muscle REALLY burn in a day?

Just like the title says. Some places I have read that one pound of muscle burns as much as 50 calories a day. Somewhere else I read a pound of muscle burns 13 calories a day. And another place I read it only burns 6 calories a day! confusing! :p
 
Hmmmm...I'm with you on that. There are conflicting stories too. I have read it is between 7-10 caloires per pound of muscle.
 
just stick with a known fact: the more muscle you have, the more calories used to maintain it...ergo more muscle should make it easier to keep fat off.
 
olympic weightlifters eat 8000+ calories daily, and bodybuilders more than that. They are not gaining any fat on them, and the both of them have a lot of muscle on them, so i would say that it's more than 10 calories. Otherwise they would be gaining more fat, so they would eat less than they do.

It only makes sense that it's a lot. My guess is under 50, and above 20 and the person who naturally has a high metabolism would be closer to 50, and vice versa.
 
Are those numbers from heavyweight bodybuilders and powerlifters? It might be more accurate to look at a certain weight class and determine how many cals they eat vs the weight they need to maintain at some n% bodyfat...or something of this nature.
 
olympic weightlifters eat 8000+ calories daily, and bodybuilders more than that. They are not gaining any fat on them, and the both of them have a lot of muscle on them, so i would say that it's more than 10 calories. Otherwise they would be gaining more fat, so they would eat less than they do.

It only makes sense that it's a lot. My guess is under 50, and above 20 and the person who naturally has a high metabolism would be closer to 50, and vice versa.

Remember activity levels.

If you did the working volume of most elite OLers you'd need that kind of intake as well, although 8000 cals/day (regularly) is a bit exaggerated for both camps.
 
agreed, lei.
Besides, proffessional olympic lifters train ALOT more than we do, they need the extra because their workouts burn alot of cals and speeds up their metabolism. Ive heard some of them works out like 9 times a week, so ofcource they need more food than the average joe.
 
agreed, lei.
Besides, proffessional olympic lifters train ALOT more than we do, they need the extra because their workouts burn alot of cals and speeds up their metabolism. Ive heard some of them works out like 9 times a week, so ofcource they need more food than the average joe.

fair enough...but i'm sure the extra muscle does a little bit too. maybe just a bit..
 
yeah ofcource, it helps. i dident mean to bash your post, just make a little addition.
Before it used to be "common knowledge" that 1 pound of muscle burned about 40 cals a day i think. But recently ive had pros tell me that its wrong and that its less.
 
i doubt very much its 50 if that was the case ronnie coleman wouldnt put as much weight on offseason ...he would be ripped all year carrying that amount of muscle..i think lyle macdonald said it was nearer to 10.
 
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