The Importance Of Exercise On Metabolism
Metabolism the simple process of converting food to energy can be increased by adding exercise into your life. Yes, we all know this but have you ever really understood the process and why it works?
If you don’t care about the hows and why’s then just skip this article as you will probably become bored. However, if you want to know why there is a connection between exercise and metabolism so that you can learn how to increase your metabolism - here is all the information and I think that once you understand, you’ll be more apt to keep fitness in your life.
Here it goes
Metabolism is the two-way process of synthesizing complex living tissue from simple nonliving foods and then the breakdown of these living tissues into simpler substances.
The building-up process is called constructive metabolism or anabolism. The breaking down of living tissues to fuel and waste products is known as destructive metabolism or catabolism. In the healthy adult who has attained his maximal growth, anabolism and catabolism proceed at equal rates, although of course in opposite directions. Thus weight remains steady.
In the resting state, metabolism proceeds slowly at a basal or minimal rate (”basal metabolic rate” or BMR) since there are no demands on the body other than to remain alive. But during exercise energy requirements increase and it is obvious that metabolism must accelerate in order to provide the extra fuel or calories necessary to sustain the added work load.
The principle sources of readily available calories in large quantities are glucose and fatty acids. End products of their metabolism are carbon dioxide and water, both of which readily escape via the lungs. Except in exercise sustained for several hours, almost no protein is burned. This is fortunate. The end products of protein breakdown cannot find egress via the lungs but must be excreted by the kidneys. Since the kidneys shut down during exercise, a harmful accumulation of acid would result if protein were a significant fuel.
The Function Of Sweat
Sweating is useful chiefly as a means of losing heat. Because the human organism is only partly efficient, the metabolism of glucose and fatty acids yields work plus heat.
If the body were completely efficient, work and no heat would result. Thus exercise produces an increase in body temperature. After one to two hours of sustained activity, rectal temperatures of 101-103 degrees Fahrenheit are to be expected.
Sweat is an important defense against disastrous rises in temperature which may result in heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Believe it or not, the fit subject sweats better!
In a recent experiment untrained subjects were exercised in a hot environment daily. At the outset they perspired moderately and lost copious amounts of salt. In a few days their sweat glands became acclimatized. They perspired more to get rid of more heat and cut back on salt losses to avoid the hazards of salt depletion.
Training of the mind is as inevitable as training of the body in the fit individual. The sportsman disciplines himself to ignore fatigue and to give forth with his best effort.
Which ever exercise program that you want to begin with remember to start off slow and try avoiding working out during the heat of the day.
