Every added pound of muscle burns fifteen calories per day on the low end of the scale, and fifty calories per day on the high end of the scale. That increase may sound insignificant, but over the long run, the small metabolic boost that comes from added muscle is extremely significant. Using the low end of the scale, adding two pounds of muscle will burn around ten thousand calories in a year, which is enough to either lose three pounds of fat or to prevent three pounds of fat gain. If those three additional pounds of muscle are simply maintained through strength training year after year, three pounds of fat are prevented year after year. But consider the alternative: people who do not strength train to add or maintain muscle will slowly and gradually lose muscle. As they lose muscle, their metabolic rates slow down and they gain weight, even if they never increase the amount of food they eat each day.
Over a lifetime, the average person loses between 30 - 40 percent of his muscle mass, but the reason is decreased activity, not some biological mandate. Because of the decreased muscle mass, metabolism, which has been defined as the number of calories a person burns at any given moment, naturally slows. Even so, many people still believe the myth that metabolism decreases with age. The truth is that metabolism, muscle mass, and exercised muscles are all connected, and that “very few people have metabolic disorders or genetic factors that cause them to be overweight.”
A final consideration for metabolism: while strength training increases it, dieting tends to decrease it. Dieting alone can reduce overall body weight, but it reduces muscle mass as well as fat. Lifting weights paired with a restriction diet will preserve muscle mass and metabolism. Most people pay too much attention to the scale, and if a diet is reducing the number on the scale, they feel that progress is being made. Many times, though, progress is being hurt. Muscle loss always reduces RMR, so muscle loss is a negative factor.
Some people have a history of sporadic exercise, recurring restriction diets, and yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting is a cycle of losing and regaining weight. These people should stop focusing on weight and concentrate on developing a healthy metabolism. A healthy metabolism comes from a consistently healthy diet with an appropriate number of daily calories and a simple strength training program. Even if the initial result is a few additional pounds, do not be alarmed. Remember what Dr. Ben Lerner says: “Allow me to be unequivocal – diets don’t work. Diets may produce some results in the short term, but they have no staying power in the long term.”
Regardless of the situation, never attempt a starvation diet. The idea that eating a minimal amount of food each day will result in great weight loss is a logical one, but the
body does not respond accordingly. When a person consumes fewer than half the number of calories his body needs to maintain its weight, his body fights back by going into starvation mode. In starvation mode, the body reduces its internal thermostat and metabolic rate. So even though a person eats less, his lower metabolic rate means that fewer calories are needed. The energy level and body temperature decreases, and fatigue increases. Then at some point, the person goes back to eating more calories, but his body is still at a reduced metabolic rate. It has a reduced ability to burn calories, so more of what he eats gets stored as body fat. And until his body recovers, he puts on more weight in the form of fat, and ends up in worse shape than he was before, with less energy. Starvation mode is the human body’s attempt to preserve itself during extreme situations, and is not suited to handle normal, daily activity.
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