At Personal Trainer Gold Coast one of the more common arguments we here in the Fitness Industry is:
“ Strength Training increases muscle tissue, which will increase Resting Metabolic Rate”

Truth: Resting Metabolic Rate does not differ much between people if they are fat or lean.

The heavier you are regardless of muscle to fat ratio, normally the higher your Resting Metabolic Rate [ RMR ].

It’s mass [overall size] that requires energy to be maintained.

We use to think that each pound or 1/2 kilo of muscle that you gain would increase RMR by 50-100 calories per day. New research suggests it’s more likely only 6 calories per pound or approx. 10 calories per kilogram.

There is over 7000 calories per kilo of Fat so it would take 700 days [ 2 years ] to burn off 1 kilo of fat after you built 1 kilo of muscle, and you’d still weigh the same.

Since weight loss is a product of negative energy balance [ less energy consumed, more burned] and

Building Muscle is a product of positive energy balance [more energy consumed than we burn]

Personal Trainer Gold Coast have found no studies that show you can do both simultaneously.

When people lose fat, muscle is exposed giving the appearance of muscle gain.
A leaner body [ fat loss not weight loss ] is the more desired look by most people. Which is exactly what we strive to achieve at Personal Trainer Gold Coast.

When you lose 10% of your body weight, because mass [size / weight of your body] is a more determinant of RMR there will be a 20% reduction in your RMR. In other words, lose 10% of your mass and you’ll drop your Resting Metabolic Rate by 20%.

So if anyone tells you that, you can lose weight, build muscle at the same time which will increase your Metabolic Rate, you’ll know they haven’t thought about it very much or caught up with the latest research.

So how then do you lose weight if the losing of that weight has a negative impact on your metabolism and the building of muscle has a minimal effect.

Most people who go to a gym think they are building muscle, possibly because they are getting stronger. In the early stages, Strength is a product of neurological efficiency, not increase muscle mass. Muscle takes time to build and is difficult to keep, it requires a lot of effort, extra nutrition and a progressive training program over months, consistently week in week out. It would be safe to say most people are maintaining at best.

Commitment to a solid training and nutritional program is what is required for most.

If muscle was as easy to build as most people think, a common overused quote from the gym supervisor:

“Oh that kilo you put on this week must be muscle” would be true and not pure bulldust.

If that comment was true then a few months in the gym and most people would be bigger than the doorway in the gym and they wouldn’t be able to leave. Now you’re all aware this just does not happen even with drugs [ steroids ]

So how does a mature or elderly lady / man lifting a 5 kilo dumbell pack on the beef ?

They don’t. It’s a myth.

The only way to lose weight is to create a negative energy balance through your diet, and do a lot of cardiovascular work.

Do a few / as many as possible, higher intensity workouts where you sweat and breath hard to increase your EPOC [excess post oxygen consumption]

Lift progressively heavier weights over time to reduce muscle tissue loss. [ but whilst you are losing weight you’re still losing some muscle, we’re just trying to reduce the overall loss.]

In layman’s terms “ burn as much energy off as possible with higher intensity workouts and don’t replace the burned off energy with the next meal.

Due to the reduction in your mass, expect a reduction in your metabolic rate, which will contribute to weight regain if you return to your old habits.

It’s nice and positive to be told your losing weight and gaining muscle, who doesn’t like the feeling of success. It doesn’t mean it’s true.

Do it right, think positive, do the hard yards, and do it often and you’ll get real results not some knee jerk response [excuse] you might want to here to why it’s not working.

Bottom line: changes in body shape, composition [fat/muscle ratio] are bloody hard work to achieve and even harder to maintain. That’s why at Personal Trainer Gold Coast we are committed 100% to helping you achieve your goals.
Enthusiasm for life comes from with in and the day to day positive push for a better you.

It doesn’t come from sitting around and waiting to be served.