You get out of bed, do your business, and try not to look at the scale glaring accusingly at you from the bathroom corner. Fate compels you to climb on and you wince as the numbers climb higher and higher, hoping that by some miracle, the number is lower than it was yesterday. Whether you weigh more or less, it doesn’t really matter, because that number may be telling you a lie.
Keeping tabs on the numbers on the scale alone is great, however, it's all about body composition, and having adequate lean mass cannot be understated. The largest singular contributor to people’s inability to maintain weight loss long-term is the fact that many of them are not necessarily over-fat, but under-muscled. Let me explain.
Skinny Doesn't Mean Healthy
In my practice I see “sarcopenic obesity.” or “skinny-fat” people all the time and, it looks nothing like the picture your mind generates when you hear the term obesity. Sarcopenia is the normal age-related decrease in muscle mass with time, which can happen at any time of life. This term merely defines a person with a skinny phenotype (how they look), but an atrocious body composition i.e. they are fat!
One example of this is the classic over-exercisers who, if walking down the street would turn heads with their stealth appearance, but, if their body composition were measured, would be 40 to 50 percent body fat. Their problem isn’t that they are fat but have too little muscle. Muscle benefits are not just for bodybuilders, beyond any aesthetic or even brute strength, muscle gain is the silver bullet for weight loss. Let me explain.
The Calorie Equation
To understand muscles' secret weapon, here is a crash course on how your body uses energy, that is, calories.
Energy imbalance over a prolonged period of time, when the energy in (eating) exceeds energy out (exercise) is a major contributor to obesity. “energy out” breaks down even further.
Your total calorie/energy outflow is the sum of the thermic effect of food (TEF) + the energy used related to exercise (TEE) + Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) + resting energy expenditure (REE). ( Remember this last one. It has a twist.)
The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) or “food tax” is the number of calories used to process the food you just ate. In other words, it takes energy to break down, digest, and process food.
An easier way to understand this is in terms of calories used:
If I gave you 100 calories of carbohydrate to eat, you would use about 5 of those calories to ingest the other 95 calories, giving carbohydrates a 5% food tax or TEF.
If I gave you 100 calories of fat to eat, you would use about 3 of those calories to ingest the other 97 calories, giving fat a 3% food tax or TEF.
If I gave you 100 calories of protein to eat, you would use about 15–25 of those calories to ingest the other 75–80 calories, giving protein a 15–25% food tax or TEF. (Eating protein is by far the best dietary “workout.” )
The Thermic Effect of Exercise (TEE) is the energy or calories you use while doing the specific, planned, movements to purposefully burn calories. Most people try to find their silver weight loss bullet here, but remember: Your “calories out” or energy expenditure can never match the calories you put in your mouth. Surprised?
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is the physical movement required in your everyday schedule. Maybe you cycle to work or your occupation like mine requires physical labor. If it happens on a regular basis, then it doesn’t play greatly into your weight loss per se but is vital to understand for weight loss maintenance.
Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) is the number of calories/energy your body uses to keep you alive. It provides the fuel for your heart to beat, your brain to function, your liver to process chemical reactions, etc. It comprises the greatest amount of energy use, estimated at around 60 to 70 percent of your daily total.
REE increases as your size increases, (contrary to popular belief, most large people’s metabolisms are actually higher than those of people of smaller size),
It can shift based on your general activity level,
And it can be modified to some extent with the amount of muscle you have.
Under most circumstances, Resting Energy (REE) is the largest component of your total energy expenditure, and it’s keeping a secret.
The Magic In Muscle
What does my resting energy have to do with muscle mass?
Whether you’re eating or sleeping, your REE is working to synthesize and break down protein from muscle mass. Muscle protein synthesis ranges from 0.23 to 0.90 kg/d, once again, dependent on the amount of muscle present.
Four mol (short for mole — a unit of amount of substance) of ATP are utilized per mole of amino acids incorporated into protein and the hydrolysis of 1 mol ATP releases 20 kcals of energy. This means that the energy released per day as a result of muscle protein synthesis may be as high as 500 kcal/d in a young man with 55 kg of lean mass.
The science here is vital, for a true understanding of how your body works, this will help you better understand how to feed and train yourself. This means that the energy released per day as a result of muscle protein synthesis may be as high as 500 kcal/d in a young man with 55 kg of lean mass.
A difference in REE of 500 kcals would equate to (on the low end) a gain or loss of 1.9 kilograms of fat a month. In a nutshell: The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn by simply existing.
How awesome is that?
Medium to Long Term Benefits of Higher Muscle Mass
Increased muscle mass, not only burns calories while resting but boosts your metabolism, thanks to protein’s high “food tax.”
Having an increased muscle mass prevents lifestyle-related diseases such as insulin resistance, diabetes, and even osteoporosis: maintenance of adequate bone density and strength is decidedly dependent on adequate muscle mass and function and encourages long-term weight-loss success, by addressing your metabolism, you enable the maintenance of fat loss by, once again, increasing metabolism and maintaining it. Incredible, a positive cycle!
Question Your Reflection
Don’t let the mirror alone tell you how healthy you are. You won’t have the full picture if you look fit, but feel funky, the problem might be with your muscle mass. Strong bodies are for everyone, Springboks and weekend warriors, now that you know the science secrets behind those biceps, you can engage in strength & conditioning with confidence.
Get Help From a Certified Personal Trainer
My name is Aubrey, I am a Certified Personal Trainer and founder of Tiger Athletic, a modern, private, appointment-only gym in Bryanston, Johannesburg. We use a rigorous, scientific, results-focused training methodology. We are passionate about helping you be the healthiest version of yourself, so you can lead a more fulfilling personal and professional life.
Our sessions are strictly 1 on 1 just you and your trainer. There is nobody else in the gym and all equipment used is sanitized at the end of each session for the safety of all my clients.
Very informative article - thanks Aubrey for taking the time to write it 👊