[Newsletter] The Smartest Coach in the Room

Does muscle mass speed up metabolism? Every Saturday, The Smartest Coach in the Room delivers helpful takeaways on the hottest nutrition and health topics and the world’s most effective coaching techniques. (Did some amazing friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( Does adding muscle “boost” your metabolism? Many clients want to build muscle for aesthetic reasons. Maybe they like the “pop” of a well developed lateral deltoid. Maybe they also know that “muscle burns more calories than fat,” and think that packing on more muscle will turn them into a calorie furnace, helping them achieve a “cut” look more easily. But how much does muscle affect metabolism, really? The big dogs aren’t who you think The real MVPs in terms of energy consumption don’t include muscle. Instead, it’s these four major organs that use over half (about 55 percent) of your resting energy expenditure: 🏆 The brain 🏆 The heart 🏆 The kidneys 🏆 The liver Comparatively, skeletal muscle (the primary type of muscle you build through intentional resistance training) uses very little energy. (As the graph below shows.) [This chart shows energy demand relative to tissue weight. Skeletal muscle and fat mass outweigh those four organs, so their total energy demand is higher than you might guess from this graph. Skeletal muscle accounts for about 20 percent of resting energy expenditure overall.] This chart shows energy demand relative to tissue weight. Muscle and fat outweigh these four organs, so their total energy demand is higher than this graph might imply. Skeletal muscle accounts for about 20 percent of resting energy expenditure overall. As you might guess, heart, kidney, brain, and liver size can’t really be manipulated much once we reach adulthood. You can’t hypertrophy your brain or liver in order to boost your resting metabolic rate. (Though you can boost these organs’ use of energy through certain kinds of activity, like exercise, or even intense studying.) You can, however, manipulate your muscle mass. How much does it matter though? On average, 1 kg of muscle burns about 13 Calories per day. (Or about 6 Calories/lb/day.) Therefore, adding 10 kg (22 lb) of muscle mass will increase your daily energy needs by about 130 Calories. That’s about the equivalent of a large banana. Of course, if you add exercise, more muscle further increases energy needs, as moving a heavier body requires additional calories over and above the resting energy requirements. But still, packing on even a significant amount of muscle doesn’t dramatically change your metabolic rate (though it does help). It won’t automatically turn you into one of those “I can eat anything I want and still have a six-pack” people, especially if you weren’t that person when you had less muscle. But there are other reasons muscle mass benefits metabolism. Although it’s often focused on the most, muscle’s ability to burn more calories (at rest and during exercise) is probably the least interesting thing it can do for improving metabolic health (and overall health). Muscles also… ✅ Improve insulin sensitivity. Muscle tissue can take up glucose directly, and increases the body’s capacity for glycogen (the storage form of glucose). It can also improve insulin signaling, improving cells’ ability to respond to insulin. ✅ Reduce disease risk. Increased muscle mass can help reduce the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome (which is a cluster of symptoms including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol). ✅ Increase mitochondrial number and function. Mitochondria drive energy production in the cells, and more muscle increases both the number and efficiency of mitochondria, which is linked to all kinds of positive health outcomes. ✅ Enhance hormonal health. The act of building muscle through resistance training and other forms of exercise can stimulate the production of hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, which further aid muscle growth and repair. (Don’t you love a virtuous cycle?) ✅ Help you move well. Whether it’s the strong core you need to play “horsey” with your five year old, or the stabilizing muscles in your legs that prevent you from falling, muscle mass tends to make the world a little more accessible, and a lot safer. There are so many cool reasons to “market” muscles to your clients, and probably one to match any goal. If your clients are stuck on the “muscles equal fast metabolism” narrative, add some extra benefits with the above. And if you want to go deeper, be sure to check out our [Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification](. There, you’ll learn the science of nutrition, along with the art of coaching, so you can help any client reach their goal—regardless if they’re trying to achieve deep, overall health, or just look jacked at the beach. [Become a Certified Nutrition Coach - Join the presale list for the #1 rated PN Level 1 Nutrition Certification]( Take care, Alex :) --------------------------------------------------------------- Alex Picot-Annand, PN2, Holistic Nutritionist Editorial Director Precision Nutrition Home of the world’s top nutrition coaches --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think of this email? Precision Nutrition Business Insider's #1 Choice for Nutrition Certifications in 2022 --- To view this email as a web page, click [here.]( Precision Nutrition Inc. 18 King Street East, Suite 1400 Toronto, ON, M5C 1C4, Canada Finally, nutrition makes sense. 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