Have you ever wondered if there is any correlation between muscle mass and metabolism? You might have pondered about it or not, but people often associate the term metabolism with weight issues. So, let us try to unravel the truth.
Before we delve into the issue, let us first understand metabolism, making it easier to grasp the associated concepts.
You can regard metabolism, in simple terms, as the rate at which your body processes food that you eat.
Now, let us come to the moot question–does more muscle mass mean more metabolism?
You will find two broad divisions of people who view the relationship between muscle gain and metabolism opposingly. While some people believe that metabolism works at a much higher rate and burns more calories while building muscle, some people believe that the reverse–muscle building does not burn that many calories.
So, let us proceed to extract the truth.
Before exploring the relationship between muscle building and metabolism, let us differentiate the metabolic benefits of having muscle and building muscle.
When you work out in the gym, adding 10 pounds of muscle to your body can take years. And you will only burn about 60 extra calories per day. However, it means that the effort you put into building and maintaining that muscle will bring positive changes to your body and metabolism.
During weight training sessions in a fitness center, you burn more calories. And undergoing resistance training can keep your metabolism active for up to 48 hours after you finish the workout.
Interestingly, you burn around 90 percent of the calories only after finishing your workout due to the ‘afterburn’ effect. However, it does not mean that people do not burn while working out at health clubs.
Research has shown that an eight-minute high-intensity workout can burn up to 250 calories.
When your muscle grows, it needs more food because the growing muscle needs the energy to repair, maintain, and grow.
If you are undergoing personal training to shed weight and have realized that your metabolism is slow, you can boost it.
During your weight-loss program, you are likely to reach a stage where you cannot lose more weight. The stage is referred to as hitting a plateau. And boosting your metabolism is an effective way to overcome the plateau.
So, does Increasing Muscle Mass Enhance Metabolism? The answer is: yes, it does.