The word metabolism is certainly not unfamiliar to any of you. Although it is a very well-known term, many people do not really know what exactly they mean by it. And even if they do, they often don't give it enough weight. Yet, it is metabolism that is absolutely the key factor that determines whether you gain weight, lose weight, or maintain your current weight. For more than just strength athletes, therefore, understanding metabolism is absolutely indispensable. Knowing your metabolism is also necessary to be able to properly design your diet, which must be adapted to how you know your metabolism works. Therefore, in today's article, we will focus on the topic of metabolism and answer a lot of important questions. What is basal metabolism? How to speed up metabolism? What slows down metabolism? This and much more you will learn in the following paragraphs.
What is metabolism and why bother with it at all?
Metabolism is a collective term for a group of chemical processes occurring in the human body during whichprocessing of nutrients, the conversion of substances ingested in food and their use as energy for the body's functioning. It is therefore no coincidence that the word metabolism is derived from the Greek word metabolé, meaning change or transformation. Metabolism keeps us alive by breaking down the food we eat during the day into the individual substances necessary for the body to function. Metabolism is also responsible for using the energy from the food we eat. The rate of metabolism therefore influences, among other things, how quickly we gain or lose weight. Last but not least, metabolism also involves the breakdown of metabolic waste from the body in the form of faeces.
It is therefore clear that the term metabolism is really broad and includes a large number of individual processes. Precisely because of its great complexity, metabolism is a very fundamental phenomenon in our body and anyone who tries to build muscle mass or burn fat should have at least a basic idea of how the various processes in the body work and what influences them. Only in this case is a person able to create an appropriate diet that meets the needs of his body and his goals.
What concepts do I need to know?
Metabolism can be too complex a topic for complete novices, as everyone article or every study you come across works with a variety of terms that many people are unfamiliar with. Therefore, in this section of our article, we will discuss each concept in detail. In addition to understanding the terms themselves, this will help us with understanding many important functions and phenomena within metabolism itself.
Energy metabolism
The basic division of metabolism works primarily with two concepts. These are energy and metabolism. The former involves the conversion of substances contained in food into energy. Thus, energy metabolism is the name given to the chemical processes that begin with the conversion of individual macronutrientsivin into smaller molecules, the whole process ending in the formation of cellular fuel known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate).This serves as an energy source for all cells and is indispensable for any physical activity. Energy metabolism is an extremely complex topic that requires a separate article, so we must limit ourselves to a very brief description at this point. However, understanding energy metabolism is important, for example, to understand what foods are best for rapid energy replenishment during exercise.
Substance metabolism
Substance metabolism, on the other hand, involves the conversion of individual substances into essential nutrients. It involves the processes by which food becomes protein, carbohydrate and fat molecules, which are then in various forms within the body, with the body storing mainly carbohydrates in the form of glycogen and fats. However, substance metabolism also involves the opposite processes, i.e. the synthesis of complex substances from simple substances.
Basal (resting) metabolism
A very important concept that you will certainly come across every time you startWhen you start to calculate your daily caloric expenditure, for example, is the so-called. Basal (sometimes also referred to as resting) metabolism. These are the processes within the metabolism that, simply put, serve to keep the body alive. It is thus the minimum necessary for survival. The amount of energy required for basal metabolism does not vary between individuals depending on their daily energy expenditure, as that is irrelevant to basal metabolism, but in body build, weight, age, sex, temperature, environment, etc.
Catabolism
Other extremely important concepts you should know if you want to do strength sports are catabolism and anabolism. Basically, they are opposites of each other. Catabolism could also be referred to as breakdown. When your body goes into catabolism, it starts using itself as an energy source. More specifically, it will start taking energy from fat stores, for example, or in a worse case, it will start breaking down muscle mass. Although catabolism is primarily associated among strength athletes with unwanted muscle breakdowncatabolism is in fact a ubiquitous issue that is often even desirable. An example is the aforementioned fat burning. However, catabolism can also include the use of glycogen stores and other processes in energy metabolism that are essential for the body to function. However, long-term catabolism is associated with an energy (calorie) deficit. In this case, weight loss occurs because the body needs to use more energy than it has received.
Anabolism
The opposite of catabolism is anabolism. This could therefore be otherwise called building. Although it is usually (like catabolism) associated primarily with muscle mass, i.e. building muscle mass, it also includes a number of other processes. For strength athletes, however, muscle anabolism is of course the most important. Since anabolism is the opposite of catabolism, it is probably not surprising that to achieve it, a caloric surplus is needed. Thus, the human body must take in more energy (calories) than it consumes. In this case, energy is stored in various forms, one of which is the formation of muscle tissue. But the important thing is that the body needs the right 'building material' for this." For muscle building, a sufficient intake of protein is essential, as it is the only macronutrient that the body cannot create by breaking down other macronutrients. Protein and the amino acids it contains are indispensable for building muscle.
The thermal effect of food
Another very important concept that is closely related to basal metabolism is the thermal effect of food. This value, simply put, represents the energy required to digest the food eaten. In addition to basal metabolism, this is another component of energy expenditure that is not related to physical activity during the day. Given that the thermal effect of food accounts for about 8-10% of total daily energy expenditure, it is certainly not worth underestimate it and should be taken into account when calculating how much food you need to eat during the day. In this context, it should be mentioned that the thermic effect of food depends on the amount of food consumed, its consistency and, above all, its nutritional composition. In this context, the thermal effect of proteins is often mentioned, as they significantly increase the amount of energy needed to digest food. Therefore, a diet rich in protein helps to kick-start and speed up the metabolism, as it is more energy-intensive to digest than carbohydrates and fats.
Caloric intake and expenditure
Caloric (energy) intake and expenditure, and the related concepts of caloric surplus or caloric deficit, are terms you've probably already encountered. We've already touched on some of these when discussing anabolism and catabolism. Caloric intake and expenditure values are the basic indicators you need to follow when creating your diet. As soon as your body takes in more energy than it uses, it starts to store the remaining energy in some way. Depending on the nutritional composition of your diet, this will either be in the form of fat stores, replenishing muscle and liver glycogen stores or perhaps building muscle mass. In the case of an energy deficit, on the other hand, your body will use up its stores to meet all of its energy expenditure. In this case, targeted fat burning may occur, but also, for example, unwanted catabolism (breakdown) of muscles.
Metabolism and weight loss/weight gain
Based on the above, it is obvious that if you want to lose weight, you need to achieve a calorie deficit. If, on the other hand, you desire more muscle, you will need to achieve a caloric surplus. However, it should be noted that both processes, i.e. burning fat and gaining muscleor even the reverse, fat gain and muscle burn, can work side by side. We have discussed this topic in more detail in our article Is it possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? A basic rule of thumb to follow, however, especially if you are not one of the more experienced is the aforementioned need for a caloric surplus for gaining weight and a caloric deficit for losing weight. However, whether it is muscle gain or fat gain depends primarily on your diet. The same is true for weight loss, as a caloric deficit for a person who does noteating enough protein will mean losing some of their muscle mass.
So again, this shows how important a role metabolism plays. Without knowledge of how the metabolism works, a person is left to diets created by someone else, but which may not suit their specific needs. On the other hand, if you understand this basic context, you will be able to design your own diet without much difficulty. Even if you don't explicitly count your calorie intake and consumption, it can help to weigh the calories you consume.knowledge of metabolism, for example, in knowing that if you decide to burn most of yourbut at the same time want to protect your muscles from catabolism, they mustyou must increase your protein intake, which protects muscle tissue from breakdown. Therefore, you need to focus not only on the simple mathematics behind caloric intake and the amount ofbut also on the qualitative aspect of food and, above all, its nutritional composition.
Does everyone have the same metabolism?
The answer to the question of whether everyone has the same metabolism is probably something most of you intuitively know. Who doesn't have that one person in their circle who can eat whatever comes to hand but doesn't gain an ounce? As I alluded to in the paragraph on basal metabolism, each of us is unique in this regard. Metabolic rate is affected by the factors mentioned above, including age, gender, weight, temperature, and so on. However, the ratio of fat to muscle tissue, diet, movement during the day and last but not least genetics are also important factors. As a rule, the metabolism of a young sportsman with a high protein diet will be much faster than the metabolism of an older woman who has minimal exercise and whose diet is based mainly on fats and carbohydrates.
Women generally have a slower metabolism than men, partly due to the hormone oestrogen. This is compounded by the fact that, compared to men, women generally have a higher percentage of fat, which also contributes to a slower metabolism. Similarly, after about the age of 30, metabolism begins to slow down gradually, so that older people do not have as fast a metabolism as they were used to when they were young. A lot of exercise is good for the metabolic rate, as the body needs to process all the nutrients needed to keep the body running faster. We must not forget about food and its thermal effect, which greatly influences the metabolic rate. In the end, therefore, the metabolic rate depends on factors that you can't do much about (age, gender) but also on factors that you can easily influence (diet, exercise, muscle to fat ratio).
How to speed up metabolism?
To lose weight and burn fat, it is advisable to try to speed up your metabolism as much as possible. A slow metabolism makes it easier to gain weight and not get rid of excess pounds. But how to achieve this? We've already touched on some of the factors that affect your metabolic rate, but we haven't mentioned others yet. So let's take a look at an overview of them.
Be active
Movement activities are absolutely essential for speeding up your metabolism. Ultimately, it doesn't matter so much if you prefer endurance aerobic activity or if you prefer strength or speed (anaerobic) sports. Movement simply helps the body to digest food faster and convert it into much needed energy. At the same time, you create room for greater caloric intake, which allows you to to eat more during the day, which, as we'll see in a moment, is also good for your metabolic rate.
Don't be afraid to eat
When losing weight, many people make one fundamental mistake - they avoid eating. While this may seem like a logical step at first glance, because after all, you will be reducing your caloric intake by doing so, this is actually not the case. In addition to being completely unsustainable in the long run, you are inadvertently slowing down your metabolism. When the body is short of food, it doesn't go anywhere too fast with digestion and instead tries to save the nutrients it gets as much as possible. The key to weight loss is therefore not starvation, but a regular diet based on calorie-balanced meals. This is not only more enjoyable, but also sustainable in the long term, and it is morec promotes a faster metabolism, which makes your body burn the fat you're trying so hard to get rid of faster.
For more information on how to make a diet plan and what principles to follow, check out our article Weight Loss in the New Year: The Complete Beginner's Guide.
Include protein in your diet
We've already covered the thermic effect of protein, so at this point I'll just point out that whiteProtein is an indispensable part of the diet both for muscle gain and weight loss purposes. If you do not consume enough of them in a state of caloric deficit, you run the risk that, in addition to fats, your body will also draw energy from muscles. If you want to lose weight, include protein in your diet not only for its thermic effect, but also to protect muscle mass.
Don't forget to hydrate
You may have come across the claim in the past that a glass of water with lemon will help jump-start your metabolism first thing in the morning, replenish necessary electrolytes and prepare you for the day. Although most such claims are based on speculation and in practice often turn out to be nonsense, the role of water on metabolic rate has been investigated by many scientific studies. It turns out that adequate hydration can indeed help with speeding up metabolism. Considering how important water is in our body's processes, it is perhaps not surprising that having enough of it is essential for proper metabolic functioning. So if you're neglecting your drinking regime, you should work on it.
In the long run, to speed up your metabolism, it is also advisable to target a higher ratio of muscle mass to adipose tissue, as this factor also influences metabolic rate. However, if you focus on the above points, it is quite likely that you will achieve better physical fitness through them, among other things.
What slows down metabolism?
Factors that speed up metabolism are also closely related to things that slow it down. In the first place, it can be said that it is slowed down, for example, by not following the rules mentioned in the previous part of the article. But other factors are also responsible for slowing down metabolism. What are they?
Insufficient sleep
Just as quality and sufficient sleep has countless health benefits, lack of it goes hand in hand with a large number of healthof health problems, which we've covered in our article 9+ Long and Short Term Negative Consequences of Sleep Deprivation. One of these problems is also a slowing of metabolism. Therefore, poor quality sleep negatively affects not only your performance, but also how your body works with the food you eat. As a result, poor sleep can therefore result in unnecessary pounds on top.
Stress
Similar to sleep deprivation, stress negatively affects human health on multiple fronts. One of the adverse effects of stress is a slowdown in metabolism. We discussed other consequences of excessive stress in the article Stress: How to fight it and what supplements to use?
We could go on listing factors that slow down metabolism, but for the most part we would only be repeating what has already been said about factors that, on the contrary, speed up metabolism. These are, of course, two sides of the same coin. Equally, if you make sure you get a good night's sleep and try to avoid unnecessary stress, you may notice an increase in your metabolism.
Final summary
Metabolism is a concept that encompasses the myriad chemical processes in the body that process theThe body uses ingested food to create energy, or to build muscle tissue or fat stores. The individual processes can then be divided into metabolism and energy metabolism. Within metabolism we also distinguish between catabolism and anabolism, which is also closely related to caloric surplus and caloric deficit. Although we cannot change many of the factors that influence metabolic rate (age, gender, genetics), many of them are completely under our control (exercise, diet, sleep quality). Understanding metabolism is key to being able to reliably create your own dietand tailor it to your needs and, most importantly, to your sporting and other goals.
As of this article, that's all from us at the moment. However, if you have any questions on the topic of metabolism, feel free to contact us in the comments below the article.
Why can you trust us?
Sport has been my lifelong passion, I have been close to it since I was a child. For a long time I was primarily involved in athletics, which also eventually led me to the gym. Every good sprinter knows that to get one tenth of a start, he must therefore sacrifice hundreds of hours in training. And it was this toil behind the curtain, which no one sees, that was my greatest passion.
Every kilo in the gym helped me to move a little closer to my goal and I fell in love with the gym very quickly. Even though I don't race anymore, nothing has changed in my relationship with uncompromising training.