Calories and weight training

introduction

Strength training is used to sculpt the perfect body to lose weight and gain muscle mass. For the strenuous movements during strength training, the organism needs energy that it gets from food. Food, in turn, consists of three major nutrient groups: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They are also known as macronutrients and provide the body with the calories it needs. There are also micronutrients such as trace elements, minerals and vitamins. The energy (kJ) of food is also expressed in calories (kcal). However, the amount of calories is different for the three macronutrients. One gram of fat contains around 9.3 calories, while one gram of carbohydrates or protein has only around 4.2 calories.

Read more on the topic: Muscle building and nutrition.

How many calories a person ultimately needs each day depends on several factors such as Age, gender, his professional and sports activity, digestion and Muscle percentage in the tissue. When doing strength training, it is definitely important that the athlete consume enough calories. If the calorie intake is insufficient, the organism would rather break down muscle mass, especially during intensive training.

Similar to endurance training, strength training burns a lot of calories. The calorie consumption can be at an hour of strength training up to 600 kilocalories depending on the body stature, the breaks during training, the type of training, the weights used and the training intensity. A man who is 1.80 meters tall and weighs 100 kg has a calorie consumption of around 150 calories during strength training if he lifts light weights for an hour. With heavy weights and intensive training, the value can increase to up to 300 calories.

Calorie consumption

Many sports studios and internet portals offer Consumption calculator which is designed to calculate the calories burned during weight training. It makes perfect sense to determine this around the ideal calorie intake to calculate. In this way, the athlete can be sure that he is consuming neither too much nor too little energy with food. Besides the factors gender and size is also the current one Weight decisive for the calculation of the calorie consumption. The more body mass a person has, the more calories they can burn through exercise.

In In later life, the calorie consumption slowly decreases, this also applies to Strength training to. This is because from the age of 25 the muscle percentage of the Total body mass becomes smaller and thus less energy is burned. Regardless of this, the decides Strength training intensity about calorie consumption. According to estimates, around 600 kcal are consumed in one hour of intensive, strenuous strength training. In some cases it is more than with endurance sports how jogging or swimming can be achieved.

At the most effective is strength training with several large muscle groups. They consume a lot of energy during physical activity. But not just during strength training, but even at rest the muscles burn calories. People with a very high muscle percentage therefore also have an increased muscle Basal metabolic rate - this is the amount of calories that you need for the daily "operation" of the body without any particular stress. In addition, strength training is a particularly high so-called Afterburn effect attributed. Also after training is the Energy demand yet elevated, there Carbohydrate stores filled will and Waste materials broken down and Muscles built Need to become. This process can be achieved through light, protein-rich food still be supported after training.

Afterburn effect

The easiest way to burn calories is through intensive full-body training, in which all major muscle groups are used and trained. Strength training also creates a so-called afterburn effect. This is greater with strength training than with endurance training. After a workout, the body remains in an elevated metabolic state for quite a while. The stress level is increased and breathing, heart rate and the entire metabolism are still slightly above normal. The afterburn effect takes place in three phases.

1) The first phase lasts up to an hour after strength training. The body looks for still existing energy reserves that are needed for the recovery phase. In order to slow down heart rate, breathing and metabolism, additional calories are required and burned.

2) In the second phase, the several hours can last, the regeneration of the muscles is in the foreground. A lot of proteins are needed to rebuild and regenerate the muscles. These proteins are produced by the body in a preparation process, for which the body in turn needs energy. More calories are consumed.

3) Depending on the intensity of the training session, the muscles are still standing some days after the session under tension, which manifests itself as sore muscles. The energy requirement is still higher because the muscles have to continue to regenerate. Days after strength training, this can lead to increased calorie burning. In short, this means that even though the body is at rest again, it still burns a higher amount of calories than at rest before a workout. You can actively support this effect by not eating for 45 minutes after a workout and only then continue with a light protein-rich diet.

It is also known that it is not the amount of training but the training intensity that is a decisive factor for how high the afterburn effect is. The more strenuous and intense a strength training session is, the greater the afterburn effect and the more calories are burned. Strength training is therefore also best suited in the morning hours, as the body then has an increased need for calories throughout the day due to the afterburning effect.

Read more on the topic: Strength training - tips about training.

How can I calculate the calorie consumption during strength training?

If you want to do your strength training even more efficiently, you can calculate the calories consumed and consumed. Especially when building muscle, it is important to provide the body with more calories than it consumes. When it comes to losing weight, the opposite is true.
The so-called energy balance should be positive in weight training or muscle building training. Many different formulas are circulating on the Internet to calculate the calorie requirement of a strength athlete. Some are more complex, others are quite easy to carry out and calculate. First of all, your own basal metabolic rate must be calculated, which provides information about the body's calorie requirement. The basal metabolic rate refers to the daily calorie consumption of the body at rest.
To calculate the resting metabolic rate, you need the body weight of the athlete, which is multiplied by 24 (hours). For women, the value is also multiplied by 0.9, since women have a lower resting metabolic rate than men. An average man who weighs 75 kg, for example, consumes 75 (kg) x 24 (h) = 1800 kilocalories at rest.
In addition to the resting metabolic rate, the performance metabolic rate is also required. This is made up of work and leisure sales. To calculate this value, you need a variable that defines the physical energy consumption during different loads.

The so-called PAL value is used for this. Different values ​​are given for the different activity levels:

• Sleep: 1.0
• Mainly seated or lying down: 1,2
• Desk work: 1.3 to 1.4
• Partly standing, mostly sitting: 1.6 to 1.7
• Predominantly standing work: 1.8 to 1.9
• Physically strenuous work: 2.0 to 2.4

These PAL values ​​indicate physical activity in everyday life. If you do sport, the PAL value increases by a further ten percent for every hour of sport per day. The service turnover results from PAL (sport) + PAL (leisure). Our example person mainly exercises standing activities (PAL value 1.8). This value increases again by ten percent, since one hour of sport is done every day. This results in a PAL value (for 60 minutes of sport) of 0.1. The performance turnover is calculated as follows: performance turnover = PAL leisure time (1.8) + PAL sport (0.1) = 1.9.
Another variable is digestive loss, which is the amount of energy lost through digestion. The digestive loss is usually given as around ten percent. Now all values ​​can be included in the calculation and the calorie consumption for people who do strength training can be calculated. The example person for the calculation has a resting metabolic rate of 1800 calories. According to the example calculation above, the value of the service turnover is 1.9. The digestive turnover is now added to this value (0.1), resulting in a PAL value of 2.0. Therefore, the example person needs an average of 1800 calories x 2.0 = 3600 calories. The example person should now consume 3600 calories a day in order not to gain or lose weight. If muscle building is to take place through strength training, then more than 3600 calories should be consumed.

Read more on the topic: The right nutrition for strength training and Muscle building nutrition plan.

Calorie intake

The ideal calorie intake in strength training is not just about the number of calories, but also the distribution of nutrients. Each of the macronutrients has its own important function in the body.

Proteins are particularly important for building muscle, as the muscles largely consist of proteins. Carbohydrates provide quick energy that is brought into cells. Fats are long-term energy suppliers and therefore very important. In the case of purely fat-reduced diets, there is a low calorie intake, but these diets are also difficult to stick to and especially unsaturated fatty acids are also very healthy for the body. Another important factor in proper calorie intake is continuity. This means that a healthy, balanced diet for strength athletes must be consistently maintained. Crash diets and hunger cures are just as unsuitable as "eating attacks" for cravings.

In order to lose weight with strength training, a high calorie consumption through exercise and a lower calorie intake are usually aimed for. This creates a so-called calorie deficit. How high this should be depends on factors such as size, weight, etc. Most experts recommend a calorie deficit of around 250 kcal per day for healthy weight loss.

It makes sense to ensure that you do not consume any “empty calories”. They are mostly found in ready-made foods, which often have a high sugar content and a high number of calories, but are not long-term nourishing and filling. The high amount of sugar goes into the blood quickly and gives a brief feeling of satiety. However, the insulin level also rises rapidly, which can lead to cravings after a short time. Therefore, the form in which the calories are absorbed is particularly important for healthy weight loss and strength training.

Importance of muscle mass

As is known, strength training ensures muscle building. The more muscle mass someone owns the higher be rising Basal metabolic rate and be Calorie consumption. The basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories a resting body needs per day. One kilogram of muscle mass consumes between 25 and 50 calories per day at rest.

The problem with many diets is that low calorie intake can break down muscles as a source of energy. This reduces the body's and the caloric needs Jojo effect is favored. If four kilos of muscle mass have been lost through a diet, care must be taken in the diet that approx. 100-200 calories less should be consumed in order not to gain weight.

The Anabolic diet is a diet that paid particular attention to reducing weight in the form of fat and at the same time building mass in the form of muscles.