If you’ve ever wondered why some people carry weight in a different way to others, you’re actually wondering about metabolism and body types.
Everyone has a metabolism, though the way in works in each individual is different. Metabolic type can vary vastly from person to person.
Some people have a very fast metabolism - we all know that one person who can eat huge portions of fast food and regular treats without putting on any weight!
On the other hand, we all know someone with a slow metabolism - someone who really struggles to keep the weight off even when they are following the principles of weight loss.
Understanding your own metabolism and body type will help you better understand your personal fitness and ability to lose and gain weight.
While your body type and metabolism does not actually impact how you do things (the training and nutrition principles are the same for everyone), it can help you understand what to expect in terms of results.
Let’s delve in to the topic of metabolism and body types!
What is Metabolism?
Metabolism, also referred to as your basal metabolic rate, is the term given to the bodily process of converting food into energy. Food and drink directly fuels our metabolism, which then goes on to fuel our body.
While this is an easy process to explain, it is actually a rather complex process that takes place in the body.
Many chemical processes take place in order to release the energy our body needs for various movements, from walking, talking, and breathing, to hormone production, growing, and blood circulation.
To put it simply, our metabolism is one of the main factors that keeps our body functioning and working as it should!
Your basal metabolic rate refers to the number of calories your body uses to carry out the above mentioned bodily functions as well as many other functions. There are a number of factors which can influence how your metabolism works, which include:
- Sex: Men tend to burn more calories (have faster metabolisms) than women due to typically having less body fat and more muscle mass.
- Age: Children have a lot of energy for a reason - your metabolism works much faster the younger you are. As you age, your metabolism slows down due to typical muscle loss and fat gain, which slows down the process of burning calories.
- Body size and composition: Larger individuals and those with more muscle mass are prone to burning more calories, even at rest. However, older and larger people who have excess body fat tend to have slower metabolisms.
- Physical activity: How much you move (the energy you burn) can greatly influence your metabolic rate. Movement = energy burn, especially any movement outdoors!
How Does Metabolism Affect Weight?
Weight loss and weight gain are much more complex than just being associated to your metabolism. There are many factors that influence your weight, such as:
- Genetics
- Diet
- Hormones
- Lifestyle - including how you manage stress, how much sleep you get, and how much you exercise
Weight gain occurs when there is something in your environment that your metabolism isn’t efficient enough to allocate its resources. Though, some people link their size directly to their metabolism.
As previously mentioned, we all know someone who is thin but eats like an elephant, and we know someone on the flip side of this, someone who struggles to lose weight despite not eating much.
Though, however common these instances seem, it’s not really the norm. If someone wants to lose weight, they must get to the bottom of what’s affecting their physiological symphony in your body that’s responsible for your metabolism.
Your Metabolic Type
There are various tests which you can undergo that provide you with an estimation of your BMR or basal metabolic rate. However, using BMR formula is a more common method of estimating your daily energy expenditure.
These formulas take into account your age, sex, weight, height, and activity levels to determine how many calories you burn on a daily basis.
From this, you can then begin tracking calories or using this number as a guideline for the quantity of food you consume. This is essentially how we can manipulate our weight.
Eating consistently less than our daily energy expenditure would result in weight loss, and eating more than your daily energy expenditure will result in weight gain.
Obviously, it’s not as straightforward as this. While this is the principle of weight management, the habits and behaviors needed to make these dietary changes to align with your desired energy balance is the more difficult part of the journey.
So, how does our body type affect this process?
A Quick Note on Body Types
There are 3 body types:
1) Ectomorph: A small frame, thin, lean muscle mass, and fast metabolism.
Ectomorphs have faster metabolisms, which makes it a bit harder for them to put on weight.
2) Mesomorph: Athletic, lean, and rectangle body shape.
Mesomorphs typically gain weight and muscle easily, a common bodybuilder's body type.
3) Endomorph: soft and round body, gains fat easily, and stocky build.
Endomorphs are naturally strong but tend to gain fat easily.
While there is speculation around the benefit of knowing body types and if it’s really necessary, it’s still good to understand from the viewpoint of what to expect out of your weight management results.
The Takeaway
No matter what body type you feel you fit into best, or how you feel your metabolism works, the training and nutrition principles remain the same for everybody.
The only difference would be is that someone may find it harder or easier than someone else to either gain or lose weight, depending on typical metabolism and body composition!
