Your metabolism is the total amount of energy required by all your bodily functions for one day. It’s imperative to understand that in order to make a positive change whether thar is fat-loss or a muscle-gain, your body requires a certain metabolic (expenditure) and caloric (consumption) combination in order for that change to occur.
Basal Metabolism
The basal metabolism supports your bodily functions that occur without conscious awareness. This includes the heartbeat, breathing, maintenance of body temperature and the sending of nerve and hormonal messages to direct these activities. They are the basal processes that maintain life.
The amount of energy required to maintain the these functions is called the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The basal metabolic rate is the minimum amount of calories needed to sustain the vital functions of the body during a relaxed, reclined and waking state. BMR is proportional to the body size, lean mass and surface area of an individual. The BMR is surprisingly fast.
A person whose total energy needs are 2,000 calories a day, spends as many as 1,200 to 1,400 of them to support basal metabolism.
You cannot directly change your BMR, today. You can, however, change the second component – voluntary activities – and spend more calories today. By increasing your daily voluntary activities day after day, it will ultimately change your BMR.
Voluntary Activities
In order to make favorable changes in your body, one of your primary goals is to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate. You can increase your BMR by making exercise a daily habit. This will increase your body-composition toward lean. Lean tissue is more metabolically active than fat, so. your basal energy output also will increase.
The amount of energy you spend in exercise depends on your personal lifestyle and exercise preferences. For example, the larger the muscle groups you use in your activity, and the more time you consistently invest, the more calories you spend.
Voluntary activity of exercise is the most immediate change you can make to help increase daily caloric expenditure. Whether you are interested in fat-loss or muscle gain, increasing energy expenditure through consistent daily aerobic exercise will ensure that weight-loss is due to fat-loss rather than muscle tissue.
Now that you understand the two basic expenditures of metabolism; basal metabolic rate and voluntary exercise expenditure: let’s explore the necessary conditions for change to occur.
