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Sports

Catabolic vs. Anabolic: What State is Your Body In?

Brian explains that being in an anabolic state is achieved through three major factors: training, diet and rest.

Your body is in one of two states throughout the day. You’re either in an anabolic state or a catabolic state.

So what does this mean? If you’re in an anabolic state, that is a good thing. It has nothing to do with steroids and everything to do with growing in a positive way.

Catabolism is your body basically wasting away. Three factors contribute to a catabolic state. Not working out. Not eating enough good food. Not getting sufficient rest. In a catabolic state you run the risk of your body cannibalizing muscle.

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Being in an anabolic state is achieved through three major factors: training, diet and rest. You have to train hard, but smart. There is no reason to spend three hours in the gym. You want to stimulate, not annihilate. Not every time you workout anyway. It’s ok to work a set to failure, but not every set and not every exercise.

The diet part is of remaining in an anabolic state is making sure you get enough good carbs and protein throughout the day. This is why I always tell people to eat healthy and frequently. I’ve said in several articles that you should shoot for five to six healthy meals a day, keep the portions under control.

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The rest part is very important and something a lot of exercisers tend to struggle with (along with diet). When you train, you stimulate muscle growth. You’re basically breaking down the muscle fibers in your body. The nutrition and rest is what allows the muscles to repair themselves and grow. You have to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep at night and enough recovery time between workouts.

If your abs are still sore from working them two days ago, then don’t work them again today. They haven’t quite healed yet. That goes for any muscle group. If you’re always sore for several days you need to look at your recovery plan. Drink more water and stretch. Look into protein supplements and also glutamine which is a great amino acid that aids in the recovery of muscle.

It’s hard to keep an anabolic state all of the time but you can do little things to try. Plan ahead for the next day’s food intake. Don’t completely avoid eating after 6pm or 7pm or whatever people tell you. You constantly burn calories, even while you sleep. This is how you avoid cannibalizing muscle. This doesn’t mean eating a whole pizza before bed, but something small and healthy won’t hurt your or your goals, it will help.

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