metabolism and muscle

Hi Dan

I've been meaning to ask this because I've always understood that they do relate just unsure on how.

I've always heard and understood that increasing muscle mass helps increase metabolism.

Then after reading your "for gaining mass" article I read where you said muscle basically is metabolism.

I know that metabolism is defined as the rate your body uses its energy - and I know energy or calories converted to energy is determined by the speed of heart rate, the faster the heart beats the more calories it uses and that the heart is a muscle but I'm unsure if that is what makes them relate.

So how exactly does increasing muscle mass increase metabolism? Would increasing cardiovascular performance ie - running which I've read to allow blood to flow through the body more efficiently, would that be better or just as good in improving metabolism?

Thanks.

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant 

Muscle is a site in the body where energy is consumed.
More active muscle = more calories needing to be consumed.
If you don't have enough calories, you break muscle down to reduce demand and to meet the demand.

Metabolism is the sum energy expenditure of all processes in the body.

Heart rate is not the determining factor for converting calories to energy.
Without going in to it now...though I may post a series on this later to outline how to tweak it...
Proteins, fat, and carbs eventually enter the Krebs cycle/Tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) through various pathways including glycolysis, beta-oxidation, gluconeogenesis, etc.

For this portion of energy creation, water is a key factor and oxygen is the main key factor...if we overlook all the enzymatic processes and the substrates required that are involved.

For that, circulation plays a role, however the heart rate that participates in this is subject to stroke volume and your bodies level of fitness overall.  Some people are more efficient at oxygen cycling than others.  The more fit you are, the less heart rate correlates.

Going forward...(or backward) another energy system, utilized by muscle quite a bit, is anaerobic energy production.  This does not require oxygen.  This is the energy you consume/produce all the time and significantly when you resistance train or do ANY form of fast movement...standing up, reaching for a book...etc...

This energy system breaks glucose/glycogen (from carbs or even protein)...without oxygen... and energy is produced (more than normally reported in books!)  directly and indirectly.

More muscle means more volume of processes are occuring all the time when you move.

Move 1 pound of bicept muscle to get a fork to your mouth from a plate and you may require the turnover of 1,000 units of energy.

Move 2 pounds of bicept muscle to get a fork to your mouth from a plate and you may require the turnover of 2,000 units of energy.

Make sense?
I tried to stay general to avoid too much detail.
Questions for clarification?

More detailed explanation to follow, some time.

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OH!

Would increasing cardiovascular performance ie - running which I've read to allow blood to flow through the body more efficiently, would that be better or just as good in improving metabolism?

Though it may seem odd, this has the effect of making the body more efficient and require fewer calories.

Runners (more than a mile) want to be MORE efficient and burn fewer calories when they run.  So they run more to become more efficient.

However, there is a point where cardiovascular performance can be a limiting factor.  SO there is a point where a cardiovascular "base" of fitness can be created and this will allow everything to work better. 

Training beyond that "base" makes the body more energy efficient overall.
It does other things as well...hormonal, chemical, etc...but I will cover those later.

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Try this thought out...

Which burns more energy per unit of time?
Running 5 miles at a moderate pace (75-80% heart rate)
Squatting for 12 reps to near failure

The first is mostly aerobic energy (glycolysis, crebs cycle, electron transport...with oxygen)
The second is mostly anaerobic energy (Phosphocreatine and Fast glycolysis...both without oxygen)

Which one makes you breath harder?
Which one makes your heart rate go higher?
Which one takes longer for your heart rate to return to pre-training/resting levels?

Interesting isn't it.

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A lot of interesting detail in here that I knew absolutely nothing about.. thanks for the info Dan!

Would the squatting 12 reps to near failure burn more energy per unit of time?

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant 

Yes it does. 

And it also takes longer for your heart rate to return to pre-training/resting levels after a normal bout of squat training compared to a 5 mile run.

This means that other energy intensive processes are going on, even though you are training in a manner that is not oxygen intensive.

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Thanks, Dan.

So if I were to begin cutting - would high repetition exercises and/or bodyweight movements with loads of rest and little reps between sets be overall more effective than running everyday?

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant 

I would prefer some type of interval training like HIIT training at a different time than your resistance training.

Naturally, if you were going to cut...implying maintain muscle and lose fat...you have to keep training to gain muscle.  Breaking up your recovery with guerrilla training between sets is fine, but it will cut in to your training.

Also, post training cardio at a lower rate is ok at that point.  Then you tap into fat burning at a lower rate but a larger %.

Keep in mind that cardio has to be progressive in nature to be optimally effective.  We adapt to it very quickly.  I give an idea of ongoing progression in cardio in my losing fat thread....concerning  variations in... intensity, duration, type, frequency...

I would not like to see total combined cadio/resistance go over 70-90 minutes in a single session!

There is the diet aspect to consider as well as pre and post workout nutrition for optimal cutting as well.

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