Metabolism is Vital

Do  you know what metabolism is?  We for sure mention the word a lot  currently, however what actually is it?  Why is a higher metabolism  beneficial?  With all of the new workout programs and diets around, by now you have overheard the word metabolism being tossed around.  Super high  metabolism, low metabolism, ectomorph and endomorph body types.  Maybe you have heard about BMR or basal metabolic rate, maybe not.  It can be overwhelming at times needless to say conflicting.  A person ought to consume five or six times a day or is it eat when you're starving?  Metabolism and bmr can easily be defined, getting it might be another matter.  I can't remember what I used to think metabolism was, but it was not right.  I believe I thought it was akin to a pre-set amount energy/reaction time/life speed that everyone had.  And everybody's was different based upon  your genes, diet, exercise, etc.  Comparing metabolism to a house is another way to view it.
What is metabolism?  Think of metabolism as life.  It is energy, a function of  chemical reactions, processes, all of it.  I do not know if this technically fits in this case but remember that old law that energy can not be created nor destroyed only altered in form?  Technically metabolism is the sum of all of those different energies.  They can be physical or chemical, and might include the production, destruction, or maintenance of the organic matter in an organism.  Typically metabolism can be split into two processes, one of which is catabolism and the other is anabolism.  Catabolism is the breaking apart of more complex compounds into more basic ones, a conversion of energy.  Maybe think digestion for a basic picture.  Anabolism is the opposite, it is the creation or building of more complex substances from basic ones.  For this one, imagine laying the foundation for protein building blocks, building muscle.
So why is metabolism such a heated discussion topic?  It probably shouldn't  be.  I think the word is just more convenient to use than bmr.  Basal metabolic rate is the actual amount of energy consumed by the body simply in order to maintain life.  Everything we do consumes calories, which when broken down, provides fuel or energy.  In another post we discuss calories and what they are.  In that same article, caloric intake is compared to a financial budget.  As you should be able to imagine see, here is where the calories represent.  Using that as a reference, calories are much like deposits into your Bank of Metabolism.  Since I have truly zero idea how researchers quantify bmr, let's just give it a random, arbitrary  number, to a random, arbitrary individual, Mark.  This will be his bmr, 3000.  That might seem like it has something to do with calories but it was what popped into my head, probably due to of calories.  Everything Phil digests is a deposit, everything he emits, a withdrawal.  There should be a much simpler way to get a grasp on what metabolism actually is.
Let's go to the Bank of Metabolism for a much more simple example.  You are the president of the bank (seriously though the bank is your body) and you make the decisions.  Banks are not open on Sunday's and when you close shop on Saturday afternoon, you close everything down.  This saves you on energy expenses but still doesn't completely cut them out.  Federal law mandates that buildings maintain a certain amount of lights on always for emergency exit so your bank still uses a tiny bit of electricity.  And in case there's a fire you still have water to your fire sprinkler.   This would be like getting just enough calories to do nothing else but just sit there and respirate.  But when Monday morning comes around and the bank is in full swing business mode, the requirements to operate your business change drastically.  Turn on additional lights, turn on the a/c so people are comfortable, you have to pay the cleaning crew.  Remembering that this is just a comparison of your body's metabolism to the operating budget of a building, this hustle and bustle of activity or expenditures could be looked at like all of a sudden you are exercising profusely or eating way more than average.
So would we want a high metabolism/bmr or a low?  Ideally you'd want to  maintain a higher bmr.  Having a higher rate demonstrates you are using more  energy, expending more calories than a person with a decreased consumption  rate, simply to just exist.  Everything you do enters into this formula, every function that your cells go through.  How do we obtain a higher metabolic rate?  One way to get a higher metabolic rate is to raise your lean muscle mass.  By having a greater amount of lean muscle on  your frame, your body has to toil harder just to maintain it.  Your skeletal muscles will be required to work even harder to support that added weight.   A healthy body with lean muscle is more dense therefore harder to swim,  harder to lift.  Your body has to work double time with all of its maintenance and healing.  You can obtain this by pumping iron,  eating properly, and even seeing if a supplement such as creatine or whey  protein contributes.
Metabolism is a series of energy processes and chemical reactions that happen at  the cellular level.  Basal metabolic rate or bmr is the minimum rate required in order to maintain existence.  Tying in metabolism with calories, we ought to be able to examine how they're interconnected.   Just like calories are part of your budget, metabolism is similar to the operating  costs.  Having an increased mass of lean muscle would necessitate a person to have a consequential increase in their bmr as well as your body needs more calories to maintain its new, improved digs.