What is anabolic?
The word "anabolic" is largely misunderstood. This is understandable because every time it makes the news the word "steroids" is attached to it. It's actual meaning is "build up/repair" in that when your body is in an anabolic state of being, you are feeling healthy and vital. You are also probably in good hormonal health when your body is anabolic. Anabolic steroids are known for their ability to exponentiate this effect, thus creating a greater level of build up/repair. The problem with anabolic steroids is that when the person goes off of them, which is inevitable, the lack of anabolic hormones can create a catabolic state where the muscle begins to atrophy away. Thus, it's possible to see all of the muscle you have worked so hard to develop while utilizing steroids, whither away into nothing when you quit using them.
The signs of a healthy, anabolic metabolism
If you are in an anabolic, or healthy metabolism, there are certain things that you can expect to experience within your body.
You can expect:
1) To have a healthy libido(your sex drive is active).
2) To be able to lose weight if you exercise.
3) To be able to digest food with relative ease.
4) To be able to recover from minor injuries, and perhaps major ones in a short amount of time.
5) To be relatively pain free concerning most of the joints in your body.
6) To be able to fall asleep at night, and stay asleep.
7) To wake in the morning feeling well rested.
8) To have good skin tone and healthy hair(a bit of luster to both).
9) To have energy to get through the day.
10) To experience a general sense of well being, emotionally.
11) To experience muscle and strength gains if you workout with weights.
How do I know if I have a catabolic metabolism?
Conversely, you can expect to experience virtually the opposite of the above mentioned signs and symptoms if your body is in a state of catabolic breakdown.
Some of the signs include:
1) Lack of sex drive, unhealthy libido.
2) Difficulty losing weight, even if you workout regularly.
3) Feel tired a good portion of the time.
4) Feel out of breath going up a set of stairs.
5) Aches and pains in your body, ie; knees, lower back, neck, shoulders, wrists.
6) Difficulty digesting sugars and carbs(rice, pasta, bread, fruit juice). These items create instant water retention for someone in catabolic metabolism.
7) Difficulty sleeping, or falling back asleep if you wake up. Do not feel well rested in the morning even if you slept.
8) Difficulty building lean muscle mass when you workout with weights.
9) Feel lethargic or have chronic fatigue.
10) Overall sense of unease and nervousness.
11) Potential to have constipation.
12) Unhealthy or dry skin and hair loss, vellus hair.
The causes of catabolic breakdown/metabolism
The causes of catabolic breakdown are pretty straight forward. Generally speaking, it's anything that causes the buildup of cortisol in your system. Your adrenal glands are these little life giving balls of flesh located on the tips of your kidneys. They are responsible for most of the hormones in your body, including DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogen, and indirectly for Growth Hormone. But they also secrete Cortisol as well.
Cortisol has it's benefits, it helps to prepare your body for action-fight or flight. However, most people are not in need of fight or flight all of the time. If anything, most people need to relax and breathe a little more. But what happens if someone is in fight or flight all of the time? The answer is that the adrenal glands are triggered to secrete more and more cortisol into the blood stream until the body is flooded with this accelerated aging hormone.
The primary causes of catabolic breakdown in order of likelihood to your daily life:
1) Coffee
2) Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
3) Lack of sleep(explained below)
4) alcohol(yes, even red wine and microbrewed beer)
5) Stress over deadlines and finances
6) Poor solid food diet(too many sugars, fats, and carbs-not enough leafy greens)
7) Overworked body, physically speaking
8) Neurosis(although this is usually caused by one of the above)
Many of these items are interrelated with one another, such as it makes it difficult to pinpoint the beginning of the cycle. However, in general whatever is causing you physical and emotional stress is what is causing your catabolic breakdown.
Sleep, the anti-aging miracle
One thing is certain, that you can do some pretty horrendous things to your body and still be healthy as long as you always get good quality sleep. Such is the healing and restorative power of the deepest level of sleep that it can, by itself, reverse catabolic breakdown. However, most people(even those that think they are getting 'enough' sleep) do not get the quality sleep that they need to reverse this process.
For starters, if you are drinking coffee(and I don't care how much), there is a very high degree of likelihood that you do not get the quality of sleep you really need. You may even achieve 8 hours of sleep, but not get the deepest level of rest that your body needs. One of the most important anti-aging things happens at night when you sleep, your adrenals trigger your pituitary to secrete GH or growth hormone. This hormone occurs in small levels within your blood stream throughout the day, but is secreted in greater amounts when you sleep at night. It's supposed to, but often times does not get secreted because your body has to be in deep sleep for this to happen.
Growth Hormone
Growth hormone is the body's primary anti-aging hormone. Without growth hormone, life becomes increasingly difficult and unfun. This is because GH actively fights the aging process and keeps you vital, full of life. Without it, your body starts to become unable to repair and re-energize itself. You will also become glucose intolerant with the lack of sleep and GH. This means that you will begin having trouble digesting sugars of all kinds and the biggest symptom of this is instant water retention upon consumption of the afore mentioned.
To get proper GH secretion into your blood stream you need good quality sleep. To get good quality sleep you need to quit or reduce your caffeine intake. And, reduce your overall stress level.
The ways to combat catabolic breakdown and promote anabolic metabolism
1) Quit drinking coffee, perhaps switch to green tea(although this has caffeine too-but is better for you).
2) Quit drinking diet coke or diet pepsi. Sorry, but this is a catabolic nightmare.
3) Reduce alcohol consumption. Generally, it's the hard alcohol that really interferes with sleep and anabolic metabolism. But, people can abuse wine and beer as well and induce catabolic metabolism.
4) Prioritize your sleep. Period. Your sleep is how you recharge and repair your adrenal glands. Without them, you will accelerate your aging process. Also, you need deep sleep to secrete GH. GH has been referred to as "the elixir of life".
5) Begin to exercise regularly. Regular exercise has been proven to increase GH levels in your blood as well as reduce cortisol. The only exception is obsessive/compulsive exercising hours a day, every day. This has a reverse effect.
6) Clean your diet up. Less or no chocolate, less or not saturated fat, less or no sugar. Eat more greens, less breads, pastas, rices.
7) If you have done all of the above and still have trouble, then I recommend meditation. Proper meditation has been proven to effectively induce anti-aging.
A new lease on life
This process very well may require you to revamp your priorities in life. What is your health and well being worth? As an author and trainer I have had to address this question with myself as well. At one point, I was drinking large amounts of coffee and eating a lot of garbage. I just sort of banked on my regular exercise and incredible metabolism to carry me through. But, with enough abuse, anybody can go into catabolic breakdown. Studies have shown that all you need is to not get enough sleep for 4 nights in a row to reduce the regular production of GH in your blood stream. This shows me that sleep is all important and that anything that hinders your sleep should be eliminated from your daily routine.
If you execute the above mentioned items, you will assuredly experience a positive shift in your physical body. It may take some time, but you will eventually experience more energy, easier weight loss, an increased sex drive, and a new feeling of well being. Begin now to make the necessary, life giving changes that you deserve.
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