I have seen exaggerated statements pro and con regarding the question of metabolic process and strength training. Some authors imply that if you pump iron for a week or Go Now even two you’ll be able to bang down an additional Big Mac as well as quart of ice cream per day.

The most cynical authors declare that there is hardly any increase in metabolism from strength training. In the middle the statement that gaining an additional pound of muscle mass boosts metabolism by about fifty calories per day is often made. So who is right?

The fifty calorie every single day thought comes out of looking at studies that way by Campbell, et al [Campbell, 1994], which confirmed approximately a 7 % increased amount of metabolims amongst people in a twelve week resistance training course.

This requires around 150 calories per day, and the participants gained normally about 3 pounds of muscle, therefore it would seem that every pound of muscle boosted metabolism by fifty calories every single day. results that are Similar have been completely found in other studies, e.g. [Pratley, 1995].

On the opposite hand, the caloric consumption of muscle has long been directly measured and seen to be aproximatelly six calories a pound every day[McClave, 2001]. Additionally, each pound of extra fat uses two calories every single day, so in case you lose a pound of fat and get a pound of muscle there should only be a total increase in your metabolic process of four calories every single day, as one author place it, perhaps sufficient for any celery stick.

According to this particular result, science writer Gina Kolata in her book reported that strength training doesn’t boost metabolism Ultimate Fitness [Kolata, 2003], and related thought was utilized in an article in Runner’s World by known running writer Amby Burfoot.

The two results, both from careful scientific tests, appear to present a paradox. But it turns out the fifty calorie per day argument is a misinterpretation of the Campbell benefits. It is not that three additional pounds of muscle boosted the participants metabolism 7 %, instead the strength training revved up almost all the muscle of theirs, triggering a significant surge in resting metabolic rate (RMR).

This was stated by the writers of the Campbell review, who have never made the 50 calorie per pound per day claim: “The expansion in RMR is a result of a rise in the metabolic activity of lean tissue rather than a growth in the amount of lean tissue mass”. [Campbell, 1994]. Various elements could cause the increase, including repair of tissue damage, improved protein synthesis, etc. Using the 6 calorie per pound each day result as justification that there is almost no increased amount of metabolism is also a misinterpretation, once again dependant upon the incorrect presumption that it’s the extra pounds of muscle mass that matter.