Understanding metabolism to stay energised for longer

Your body is a beautiful machine, and if you treat it right, it will look after you in terms of wellness, energy levels and sports performance.

To become a good model athlete, you need to understand what metabolism is.

This is a chemical reaction in the body’s cells that change food into energy to maintain homeostasis.

Energy is critical for cellular functioning, such as breathing, thinking, moving, repairing, digesting, and growing.

Everyone has a basal metabolic rate (BMR); the minimum amount of energy your body requires to carry these daily functions.

BMR accounts for 80% of your body’s daily energy requirement considering age, gender, genes, body type and lifestyle.

To calculate, don’t worry about working out a formula; simply go to thecalculatorsite.com, type in the BMR calculator, fill in the data, and it will work out your base rate in relation to your activity level.

It will also give a guideline to how many calories you should be consuming daily.

It is important to note that it is an estimate for the general population, so if you are a competing athlete, it will be best to get tested to give you a higher degree of understanding.

Your sports performance at higher levels depends on getting your calories-to-intake correct for sustained performance and recovery.

Everyone should know what their rate of metabolism is. Picture: iStock

When you become a professional athlete and compete in endurance sports like cycling, MTB, marathons, triathlons, and ultras, you can’t afford to under or over-consume the wrong calories.

It is often a misconception that to decrease excess body weight for your sport and position, you need to find a way to increase your metabolic rate.

It is the same misconception believing the fatter you are, the slower your metabolic rate is.

It is quite the opposite – larger people need more energy for basic metabolic functioning on a day-to-day level.

The more they move, the more energy is necessary for functioning.

The problem comes when larger people don’t move and are stuck behind a pc all day and consume more calories than they need.

The body stores all excess calories as fat because this was a primal survival need the body developed to survive times of famine.

In a modern society where abundance is available at every petrol garage or take-out restaurant, you don’t have to look too far to understand why people and athletes battle more in this era with their weight.

If this is a debunked myth, how does a triathlete reduce his body weight to the ideal size and frame?

The answer lies in understanding his or her body type and sporting demands.

You get three “body types”:

Ectomorph – low level of body fat, narrow shoulders, flat chest and long thin limbs, battle to gain weight and size, eg: elite marathon runners.

Mesomorph – athletic build, low level of fat, shoulders slightly wider than hips, medium or large bones, eg: Ronaldo.

Endomorph – higher levels of body fat, larger bone structure, soft and round body, more challenging to lose weight, eg: pro’ wrestler Brock Lesnar.

It is not impossible but incredibly more difficult for endomorphs to be marathon runners.

To run long distances fast, muscle mass, body weight and fat work against you in the sense of you running with a weight jacket on.

It is harder on your tendons and joints, and you will suffer fatigue quicker.

There is a reason why Springboks are not elite runners or cyclists.

Their sport requires muscle mass for short, explosive movements and to handle impact forces.

Springbok players’ size and mass are not efficient over a long distance, and this is why your size, sport, and position play a critical role in developing it.

Bigger and stronger is not the basic ideology for all sportsmen. Relatively stronger, leaner, and fitter for your sport is more the narrative.

Athletes looking to shed some weight after a holiday break should not starve themselves or go on crash diets, but instead, look to good nutrition and eat.

Eating requires energy, but if you are eating the right foods, you are not left with the storage fat, but instead gain the nutrients needed for cellular activities, performance, and recovery.

To improve calorie burn, become stronger in the gym because muscle requires more energy to maintain.

The stronger you are for your sport, the more efficient you will be, in turn, food to fuel and burn it.

On a final note, it is not that you might think you have a low metabolism; instead, it’s because you are not active enough daily for your personal and physical needs.