This is a post for the ladies, but fellas- listen closey
I seem to be being asked one question a lot at the moment:
“Why does my husband burn more calories than me when we train together?”
Quick answer: Because he’s bigger than you.
Geeky answer: Because his basal metabolic rate is higher due to greater body mass and consequently his energy consumption when exercising at an equal intensity is higher than yours.
Translation: Think of him as a BMW X5 with a 3.2 litre engine that gets about 29miles to the gallon. Think of yourself as a nippy little Gold GTi 1.6 litre. 48 miles to the gallon and a lot more mobile.
Even sat at traffic lights doing nothing, the larger engine burns more fuel.
When it comes to dishing out dinner this is where it really sucks: he probably needs more than you.
The good news is:
He’s not really working harder than you, no matter what he says.
Also:
It’s not just about the calories you burn in the workout. You’ll have heard me talk about EPOC and resting metabolic rate before. Or maybe you haven’t. The harder you work during your workout, the more calories you’ll be burning for hours afterwards.
This goes back to my rant about treadmill walking, but the further you get from homeostasis (the body’s equivalent of watching TV with nothing troubling it), the more calories you’ll burn in order to return you to that state of equilibrium. But you know that already.
So despite the larger engine (your husband) displaying a higher fuel cost at the end of 60 minutes work, the way to justify equal portions at dinner is to make sure you’ve revved your resting metabolism up to the point where you’re burning just as much fuel at the lights as he is.
So on that bombshell,
I’m out.
Alex “Train hard- eat more” Backhouse
