Catabolism: A metabolic pathway where the breakdown of one substance into another through a chemical reaction. Examples include amino acids, carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Anabolic: A metabolic pathway where the synthesis of new substances or cell growth occurs through a chemical reaction. Examples include hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, steroids, insulin, human growth hormone (HGH), epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin).
The Bottom Line:
In order to lose fat, your body needs to burn calories. When you eat food, it burns those calories for energy. If you want to gain muscle mass, however, you need to get rid of some of those extra calories from your diet so that your body will use them for energy instead.
You do this by burning fat as fuel.
Fat is the most efficient form of fuel because it contains all the essential nutrients needed to sustain life. Fat also provides a healthy source of energy when burned. However, if you don’t exercise regularly, then your body will begin storing excess fat as well as using up other types of fuels such as sugar and carbs.
Eventually, your body begins to become unable to burn fat anymore and eventually becomes overweight due to being out of balance with its energy requirements.
When you start a regular exercise routine, you begin to regularly burn fat for energy. During this process, the body begins to break down fat cells into energy. This process is known as catabolism and is the opposite of anabolism, which is the process by which your body builds up muscle mass.
You can increase the rate at which you burn fat cells by engaging in anabolic exercises. These are usually weight-based exercises that increase the rate of your metabolism.
Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns nutrients for energy. It can be increased through exercise and slowed by a poor diet. A healthy diet, regular exercise and enough sleep will help to keep your metabolism in balance, keeping you at a healthy weight.
Ultimately, you can lose fat and gain muscle mass at the same time. You can achieve this by burning more fat than you eat. The more you exercise, the more fat you burn.
However, if you eat more calories than you burn, then you will gain weight regardless of whether those calories come from fat or carbs.
Eating more than you burn leads to weight gain, while eating less than you burn leads to weight loss. It is that simple. Most people understand this concept.
The hard part is actually doing it.
A lot of people struggle to lose weight because they simply don’t understand nutrition and exercise. Some even struggle with issues like thyroid issues, hormonal problems, or other health problems that may be preventing them from reaching their goals. If you are struggling to lose weight, then you may want to consult a doctor first before trying any at-home remedies or diets.
Sometimes, your struggles with weight are beyond your control due to an underlying health issue.
Staying healthy is the best way to achieve all of your fitness goals. A proper diet and adequate exercise routine will ensure that you have enough energy, strength, and stamina to enjoy all of the things that life has to offer. You don’t have to spend hours at the gym or starving yourself to achieve your fitness goals, but you do need to put in a regular effort over a long period of time.
Achieving your fitness goals doesn’t just benefit you. It can also benefit those around you, such as friends and family. Keeping active with your kids or sharing a hobby with a friend is a great way to strengthen your relationships with them.
Achieving your goals is a rewarding experience in its own right, but it can also be beneficial to your psychological health. Feeling positive and emotionally connected to those around you will help to reduce stress and prevent feelings of depression, anxiety, or loneliness. All of these factors work together to create a long, healthy, and happy life.
How to Lose Belly Fat With Exercise
Losing belly fat is a little bit different from losing weight in general. The key is burning fat while preserving your muscle mass. This is especially important for men as they age, since burning muscle mass reduces your metabolism and renders the effort you put into dieting useless.
The first thing you need to do is find out your body fat percentage. This will indicate if you have too much fat and where you have it stored. There are a few different methods you can use to find this out, the most common being the body mass index (BMI) test and the waist-to-hip ratio.
The easiest is to just google “body fat calculator” and follow the instructions on one of the many available calculators online.
After you have your number, you can start employing a variety of strategies to reach your goals. One method is to start by hitting the gym 3-4 times per week for an hour or two. This will burn fat while building muscle at the same time.
Make sure to focus on cardiovascular exercise and weight training, as both are important for overall health and fitness.
Another method is to simply go for a run. Jogging is one of the best forms of exercise for overall health. It’s low impact, which means it won’t damage your joints, and it works just about every muscle in your body.
Find a quiet road or path and just start running. You can listen to music or podcasts if you find yourself getting bored. Running outside is always best, but a treadmill is better than nothing.
If you don’t like the idea of running, or if the cold weather is preventing you from doing so, you can simply walk instead. Walking is almost as good as running when it comes to staying fit. It’s also a great way to relieve stress, which is important as well.
So take a brisk walk for half an hour a day and see how much of a difference it makes in your level of fitness.
Of course, weightlifting is an important aspect of fitness as well. In order to gain muscle mass, you’re going to have to spend some time working out with free weights or weight machines at the gym. Make sure to get a trainer if you’re a beginner, and always warm up before starting your workout.
If possible, have a partner check your form to make sure you’re doing everything correctly while lifting.
Sources & references used in this article:
Abscisic acid biosynthesis and catabolism by E Nambara, A Marion-Poll – Annu. Rev. Plant Biol., 2005 – annualreviews.org
Intestinal mucosal amino acid catabolism by G Wu – The Journal of nutrition, 1998 – academic.oup.com
Modulation of tryptophan catabolism by regulatory T cells by F Fallarino, U Grohmann, KW Hwang, C Orabona… – Nature …, 2003 – nature.com
Prevention of allogeneic fetal rejection by tryptophan catabolism by DH Munn, M Zhou, JT Attwood, I Bondarev… – …, 1998 – science.sciencemag.org
Biosynthesis and catabolism of monoterpenoids by R Croteau – Chemical Reviews, 1987 – ACS Publications
