Can strength training improve metabolism?

The answer is yes, but the extent and duration of improvement are not as exaggerated as the "you can lose weight by lying down" uploaded on the Internet. Most of the current academic disputes focus on these two dimensions.

In the first half year of my systematic strength training, my body fat dropped from 22% to 16%, and my muscle mass actually increased by 4 kilograms. At that time, I felt hungry very quickly at night in the winter. I couldn't get through the morning without eating a boiled egg and half a corn before going to bed. I went to the physical testing center to measure my resting metabolism. It was indeed 120 calories higher than before I started training, which is almost the same as half a cup of unsweetened milk tea.

However, when I checked the literature related to exercise physiology before, I also saw very different conclusions: Some studies have calculated that for every 1 kilogram of muscle gain, only 6-10 more calories will be consumed per day. Based on this calculation, if I gain 4 kilograms of muscle, I will burn 40 more calories at most, which is almost three times different from my actual measured data. Later, I asked friends who were doing related research and found out that most of the subjects of this type of research were veteran bodybuilders with more than 3 years of training experience. The marginal effect of muscle growth is already very low. However, when the muscle mass of novices increases rapidly during the welfare period, the extent of metabolic improvement will indeed be more obvious.

Moreover, when many people calculate metabolic gains, they only calculate muscle energy consumption in the resting state, missing the core excess oxygen consumption stage after strength training - which is what we often call the window for continuous fat burning after exercise. I finished my heavy leg press last time, and in the second I was paralyzed at home for a day, and the total consumption calculated by the exercise bracelet I wore was almost 200 calories higher than my usual consumption of sitting in the office and fishing without training. To put it bluntly, my body was busy repairing torn muscle fibers and replenishing consumed glycogen, and it couldn't take any time off.

But don’t take this effect too seriously. I once had a student who thought he could eat whatever he wanted after practicing strength. As a result, he would show off a hamburger and fried chicken every time after training, and his weight increased by three kilograms in a month. After all, the extra one or two hundred calories consumed could be replenished with one bite of juicy chicken steak. If you really want to control your weight, you still have to keep up with your diet.

Speaking of this, there is another detail that is easily overlooked. After many people practice strength, their daily unconscious consumption will become higher. People who used to be out of breath for half a day when going upstairs will want to take two more steps after practicing for two months, and they are not afraid of moving heavy express. The total consumption of these scattered activities is actually more than the increase in resting metabolism, and it is also part of the metabolic improvement driven by strength training.

There is really no need to worry about the gap of tens or hundreds of calories. If you have no exercise habit in the first place, it is better to start moving by lifting irons than lying down and scrolling through your mobile phone. Even if your metabolism does not increase much, your muscles will become firmer and you will look better in clothes.