Catabolism is the breakdown of large molecules in your body into smaller units of energy. Catabolism is not the problem. Muscle catabolism, or the break down of muscle for the use of energy is the real issue here.
What Causes Catabolism?
Here are the main factors that cause muscle catabolism:
- Poor Recovery – Sleep and Nutrition are important factors in recovery. If you can’t recover from your workouts, then you’re at severe risk for muscle catabolism.
- Remember that the goal of a workout is to break down muscle mass so it rebuilds stronger and bigger. But if you don’t have the nutrients to rebuild this muscle mass, then you’ve lost it forever.
- You’re better off not working out (that’ll probably help tremendously if you’re over training).
- Over Training – Even if you’re eating a lot of food and sleeping 10 hours a day, if you’re in the gym more hours of the day then you’re at home, then you’re still not giving your body enough time to recover.
- Now, over training can mean different things for different people. Advanced and competitive athletes can train more than four hours a day and get away with it.
- But you also need to remember that most advanced athletes have no life outside of the gym. Their paycheck depends on them being in the gym. If that’s not you, then you need to really think about how you’re training.
Diet Strategies to Prevent Catabolism
Make Sure You’re Eating Enough
- Caloric intake is the single most important factor in avoiding catabolism. Most people simply do not eat enough. This is especially true for those trying to lose weight. A common method of weight loss is to restrict calories.
- I advise against severe caloric restriction because muscle is your true long-term fight against fat loss. If you lose muscle mass, you risk the chance of slowing down your metabolic rate, and decreasing Testosterone levels.
- For fat loss, instead of severe caloric restriction, maintain or slightly increase your caloric intake as your workouts increase in intensity. Let me repeat once again that boosting your metabolic rate is what will eventually help you drop the fat and sculpt a lean physique.
- Counting every single calorie you eat and burn off is the wrong approach to weight loss. This is because as your metabolic rate increases, your caloric needs will increase as well.
- So now when 2,000 calories were enough for you, you will need 2,500 calories to be able to recover from you workouts. So, for fat loss, you need to eat enough to recover, but not enough to store fat.
- For muscle mass, you need to eat slightly more than you need to recover. But most trainees eat far more that what is necessary for steady muscle mass and end up gaining a whole bunch fat as well.
Macronutrient Ratios
- I don’t believe there is a magical number or formula to determine how much protein, carbs, or fat you need. I have learned to listen to my body and eat accordingly. My suggestion is to choose the right foods and forget about the numbers.
- If you surround yourself with good sources of protein, carbs, and healthy fats, then you won’t need to worry about meeting your daily energy needs. For carbohydrates, stick to whole grains and fruits.
- Processed bread should be kept to a minimum. In today’s world, it is difficult to avoid bread products. Simple changes such as replacing cereal with oatmeal can help a lot. Protein should come from lean sources.
- For vegetarians, stick to beans and nuts. Consume kidney beans at least once per week and consume nuts all day long. If you are allowed to eat eggs, than you can eat eggs for breakfast to start the day off with protein.
- Meal frequency is not a big issue. I personally eat 2-4 times per day. It depends on how hungry I am and what is available. The idea that eating more often will boost your metabolism is false. Eating more often will just help you get in more calories.
- The amount of protein your body needs is also debatable. But remember what I said about caloric intake. Eat enough to recover. That’s all you need to be aware of. If you’re not recovering from you workouts, then simply eat more. Balance the calories out between protein and carbohydrates.
- If you find yourself losing lean muscle mass, then I would suggest cutting back on your training, and increasing protein intake. You should notice an increase in strength and mass after two weeks of this simple solution.
- Don’t be afraid of fat. Fat is an important component in many of our daily bodily functions. Just make sure the fat you eat is healthy. Stick to nuts and olive oil.
Cardio and Catabolism
Too much cardio is a surefire way to break down lean muscle mass. Here are two cardio rules to prevent muscle catabolism:
- Keep Cardio and Weight Training Separate - Unless you’re doing a metabolic conditioning workout where you incorporate cardio as part of the workout, it’s better to keep steady state cardio and heavy weight training separate.
- Keep Cardio Short and Intense – There is a reason why distance runners are so thin. They run too much. Be like a sprinter and you’ll develop the lean physique of a sprinter. Keep your cardio workouts short and intense.
Training Strategies to Prevent Catabolism:
The main idea here is that you need to train with a high intensity level. With so many conflicting reports, it is difficult to state when exactly muscle catabolism sets in during an actual training period. It would make sense to say that once energy reserves have dried up, the body will seek out alternative energy sources. So what does that mean? Either have a lot of energy stored up in the body, or just keep your training short and intense.
Source by Parth Shah
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