You Don’t Need to “Recover” or “Improve” Your Metabolism

See the Original Quora Question Here

“This word, ‘Metabolism,’ I do not think it means, what you think it means…”

~ Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

OK so not really…he said that about the word ‘inconceivable.’

I discussed this concept in a much more thorough blog post last year:

How Do I Increase My Metabolism?

However, this question is a stark example of a perpetuating myth about metabolism. That yours is somehow broken, needs fixing and needs to be ‘improved.’ Admittedly a few, well there is no nice way to say this, ‘stupid’ people in the fitness industry tend to perpetuate this myth, as a marketing gimmick. Basically they are preying on ignorance. Metabolism is a buzzword in the fitness marketing world.

How would you even know it’s damaged, if you probably don’t really know what it is or how to measure it?

Let me explain…

Metabolism:

Is the sum of all the reactions that take place within the body to build it up and break it down.

Basically all the energy you utilize in a day in ton of physiological processes. Things like:

• Cellular Respiration
• Breathing
• Exercise (muscle contraction, movement)
• Eating (Digestion, mastication)
• Glycogen-Glucose Breakdown/Storage
• Fat-Fatty Acid Breakdown/Storage
• Protein-Amino Acid Breakdown/Storage
• AND A WHOLE LOT MORE…

It has three big generalized components:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is how much energy your body utilizes to stay alive at complete rest (after 12 hours of fasting, and sleeping usually is the standard). This is very similar to Resting Metabolism (or Resting Metabolic Rate — RMR) but recording that is less stringent, so this generally permits for leftover food to digest and low levels of activity. The two often get uses simultaneously, but RMR will generally be slightly higher than BMR as a result. BMR is unconsciously regulated, meaning it’s not under your direct control.
2. Physical Activity Energy Cost — This is more than just exercise, but also what is called non-exercise activity thermogenesis (or NEAT for short).
3. Specific dynamic action AKA Thermic Effect of Food (or TEF) — Basically the energy required to breakdown the food you eat each day.

Here’s a breakdown of how that energy gets dispersed for the ‘average’ person:

1. BMR = 60–70% of Total Metabolism
2. Physical Activity and NEAT Factors = 25–35% of Total Metabolism
3. TEF = 5–10% of Total Metabolism

So… if you want to improve your metabolism (whatever that actually means, let’s assume you mean ‘increase’) all you have to do is eat more, or exercise more.

Really…

Actually making yourself bigger in general will also increase metabolism.

Realistically speaking, I’m not entirely sure how this helps you, which is why I don’t understand why people even really discuss metabolism as something you can ‘recover’ or ‘improve.’

Let’s assume for a moment then, that what you really mean is BMR/RMR…

You can theoretically damage or alter how your body maintains BMR through things like:

• Disease (Hypothyroidism for instance would slow metabolism, Hyperthyroidism would increase it, but there are a ton of diseases that affect BMR/RMR)
• Obesity (Contrary to popular opinion, that obese people have slow metabolisms, they actually have faster metabolisms than average folks — Fat stores actually increase BMR, but also fat helps modulate hormones)
• Crash Dieting and severe changes in caloric intake (why it is commonly recommended not to drop below 1200 kcal as a daily average for extended periods of time)

However, these things are typically easy to fix…

• Disease — See a medical professional, get tested/assessed, and recieve the proper treatment.
• Obesity — Lose fat, but as indicated, avoid crash dieting. 1–2 lbs a week is generally considered safe/manageable weight loss.
• Crash Dieting — Avoid it, change your lifestyle, habits, behaviors and adopt new skills to achieve aesthetic results.

The reality I think here is that you probably don’t need to ‘fix’ or ‘improve’ your metabolism, you need to first understand what it is and how you can utilize it to achieve whatever your real objective is.

For most people, I assume that real objective is looking better. That’s really all about energy balance, not necessarily just ‘calories’ but ‘true’ energy balance and then building a little muscle so you can see it underneath your now thin looking skin.

I wouldn’t worry too much about metabolism, focus on the things you can control.

Originally published at www.quora.com by Darren Beattie, Founder of Fitnack, Coach and Blogger at Skill Based Fitness.