You’ve likely heard the terms “slow metabolism,” “fast metabolism,” and “starvation mode” among others being used in the fitness industry before, and it probably has confused you a bit. So what do people mean when they use these terms and are they actually real things that occur within our metabolisms?

So to start off, metabolisms are described as either being “efficiently adaptive” or “poorly adaptive.”

In definition, adaptive thermogenesis has been defined as the change in energy expenditure following acute and/or long-term overfeeding (eating too much) and underfeeding (eating too little).

A metabolism that is efficiently adaptive is considered a metabolism that can conserve energy and adapt to the conditions around it. As humans, our “ideal” metabolism is one that is meant to adapt to our current availability to food. Over time food has become more accessible due to modern agriculture and farming, but previously our ancestors relied on having efficiently adaptive metabolisms that helped their bodies adapt to famine, food shortages, or the many changes in weather that affected food availability among other factors. 

The efficiency in adapting to the changing availability of food meant that our ancestors’ bodies were able to slow down the rate at which they burned calories over time as they were exposed to eating f calories. This makes for an “efficient metabolism” also known today as a “slow metabolism.” The ability to preserve energy, store fat for long periods of time, and “slow down” our internal clock to sustain long periods of under-eating is what allowed our ancestors to survive periods of time w food was not readily available to them.

Now in the modern world, our access to food has changed but our metabolisms have not. We still have efficiently adaptive metabolisms that adapt to our activity levels and function to store excess calories consumed in the form of fat just in case a period of time where food isn’t available comes along. Unfortunately for us, this means that as a population without many food shortages, our bodies just continue to accumulate fat endlessly when we consume more calories than what we need to meet our TDEE.

On the opposite spectrum, we have the “poorly adaptive” metabolisms also known as “fast metabolisms.” In previous ages, someone with a poorly adaptive metabolism would be someone who during famine or any kind of food shortage, would lose weight rapidly and likely die as a result of this, due to the inability of their body to adapt to the new set of calorie intake available to them. This is not currently the case, since our food access has changed. Instead, people with poorly adaptive metabolisms have actually been able to benefit, as they can easily manipulate their diet and loose body fat quickly while maintaining muscle mass, unlike those with highly adaptive metabolisms.

So is a metabolism slow or fast? They’re neither. They just are more or less adaptive. Once you understand that metabolisms adapt, it will be easier to stay more concentrated on a set plan instead of instantly feeling defeated because of your “fast or slow” metabolism. 

Depending on where on the spectrum you fall, you will then decide what goal you have in mind to reach and you will then adjust your activity and food intake to better suit how adaptive your metabolism is and the results will come. 

SIGNS OF HIGHLY ADAPTIVE METABOLISMS:

-GAINS WEIGHT EASILY

-GAINS MUSCLE EASILY

-BODY WEIGHT FLUCTUATES DEPENDING ON CHANGING FOOD INTAKES

-CAN LOSE WEIGHT STEADILY AS CALORIES GRADUALLY DECREASE (CALORIE DEFICIT)

-CAN GAIN WEIGHT STEADILY AS CALORIES GRADUALLY INCREASE

WHAT TO DO:

-FOCUS ON CONSISTENCY

Having a highly adaptive metabolism means that your body will adapt to new conditions as they change over time, so this means that you can reach any goal you desire and maintain it as long as you do the same things gradually and consistently.

-FOCUS ON ONE GOAL AT A TIME

Since your metabolism is highly adaptive it means that you have to focus on being consistent in order to get results. So if you’re frequently dieting and bulking you will see conflicting changes happen all of the time. Focus on one goal and keep on consistently following all of the steps to achieve it.

SIGNS OF POORLY ADAPTIVE METABOLISMS:

-DOES NOT GAIN WEIGHT EASILY

-DOES NOT GAIN MUSCLE EASILY

-BODY WEIGHT FLUCTUATES DEPENDING ON CHANGING FOOD INTAKES VERY DRASTICALLY WHEN IN A DEFICIT

-CAN LOSE WEIGHT RAPIDLY AS CALORIES GRADUALLY DECREASE (CALORIE DEFICIT)

-HAS A HARD TIME WITH WEIGHT GAIN AS CALORIES GRADUALLY INCREASE

WHAT TO DO:

-FOCUS ON CONSISTENCY

Having a highly adaptive metabolism means that your body will adapt to new conditions as they change over time so this means that you can reach any goal you reach and maintain it as long as you do the same things gradually and consistently.

-FOCUS ON ONE GOAL AT A TIME

Since your metabolism is highly adaptive it means that you have to focus on being consistent in order to get results. So if you’re frequently dieting and bulking you will see conflicting changes happen all of the time. Focus on one goal and keep on consistently following all of the steps to achieve it.