Anabolic vs Catabolic: Why These Two Words Have Everything To Do With How You Look

Here are two words that everyone should know if they are trying to lose fat and gain muscle mass: ANABOLIC vs CATABOLIC.  It is very important that you have a full understanding of both if you want to reach your body goals. More importantly, it will help you learn which supplements to buy and which supplements to stay away from.  Because God only knows, that practically every single supplement out there tries to market their products as being muscle builders which will make you grow massive muscles while taking them. Though, building muscle and losing fat is a matter of being anabolic vs catabolic.

I’m going to explain these in very basic terms.  If you want the science about being anabolic vs catabolic you can easily Google it.  But I like to stick with the K.I.S.S. method  (keep it simple, stupid!).  First, anabolic.  Being in an anabolic state, means that your body is stimulating protein synthesis which in turn makes your muscle grow. When you are anabolic, your muscles grow.  So it only makes sense that you want your body to be in an anabolic state.

Catabolic is just the opposite of anabolic.  Catabolism is when your body is breaking down molecules and decreasing protein synthesis and most importantly breaking down muscle mass.  When you are losing muscle mass, you are experiencing catabolism.

Anabolism and catabolism go hand in hand like yin and yang.  Everyday, you experience anabolism and catabolism.  It is controllable to some extent.

Let me give you some things that support anabolism in the body.

Anabolic vs catabolic

Anabolism

  1. testosterone increase
  2. using anabolic steroids
  3. consuming more protein
  4. your feelings
  5. lifting weights

Now number 4 I find very interesting.  But research has show that the way you feel can increase testosterone and in turn promote anabolism.

Catabolism

  1. estrogen increase
  2. using catabolic steroids
  3. caffeine
  4. stress
  5. consuming less protein
  6. your feelings
  7. lifting weights
  8. getting sick

If you look at what I listed out, you can see what you can do and what you can avoid increasing your chances of building muscle and losing weight. (anabolic vs catabolic)

The easiest for most people is lifting weights and increasing your protein.  It’s the simple recipe for building muscle.  Anyone from the age of 18 to 30 should easily be able to increase muscle mass because they have three things going for them.

  1. Lifting weights is easy.  you’re in college or school, no kids, you have plenty of time to lift weights
  2. you still live at home with mommy and daddy so you can spend your money on protein powder
  3. your testosterone levels are at the peak of your life & that has a serious impact on anabolism

As you get older, it gets harder to gain muscle mass.  If you are over the age of 30

  1. You have a career, and it is harder to get to the gym and lift weights
  2. You have a house, car, bills, girlfriend/wife, investments, & college loans so you can’t spend your money on protein supplements.  Factor kids into that and that increases ten fold.
  3. Your testosterone levels are beginning to decrease as you get older, and this is one of THE major factors in decreasing your chance for muscle gains

Being in an anabolic condition & building muscle when you are young is very easy.  The older you get, though, the harder it is to be anabolic and much easier for the body to be catabolic.  So if you’re over 30 and reading this you now know what you need to do to gain muscle, divorce the wife & put your kids up for adoption!!  Just kidding of course….

Here is what I would recommend to be anabolic vs catabolic.

1)  Testosterone.  It is the key without a doubt.  Increasing your testosterone will equate to muscle gains.  No, I don’t recommend steroids.  They are a path to nowhere and at the end of steroid use you are worse off than when you started, and you cannot use steroids for the rest of your life…you’ll eventually get cancer in my opinion.  So how do you increase testosterone without using steroids?  I hate to say it but you can’t really, but you CAN make attempts.  Here are some of the BEST attempts.  The first: dietary supplements.  There are a few dietary supplements that are quite good at increasing testosterone.  The one that I feel stands out the most is a product called LJ100.  It has the best research behind it.  It is a branded ingredient, so don’t be fooled by the supplement companies.  And remember what I talked about when it comes to under dosing on ingredients as well…supplement companies are notorious for dusting in branded ingredients.  The second testosterone increasing supplement is Tribulus.  Now you have to be extremely careful with Tribulus.  Only two companies in the world make legitimate Tribulus.  I’m working with one right now to try to bring it to America, but the freakin’ red tape and the FDA is a pain in my ass….but we will get there eventually.  At this point in time, I do NOT recommend buying any Tribulus as 99.9% of it being sold today is coming outta China, which is SHIT! I sell a Testosterone supplement: Unleashed. Unleashed has been on the market for 15 years, and our customers love it and re-order it.

2) Increase your protein intake.  You gotta.  It is a must.  Eat at least 30 grams for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Being anti-catabolic is just as important as being anabolic.  Remember when you are catabolic your muscles are being torn down.

Here is what I recommend for staying anabolic vs catabolic state.  It really is the biggest mistake people make that I see.

  1. Caffeine: Avoid it like the plague.  If I said it once, I’d say it again.  Caffeine increases cortisol levels in the body.  Cortisol is a catabolic hormone.  Why the f*** would anyone consume this product if they are trying to build muscle? It is beyond me.  Why the f*** would any supplement company that sells a muscle building supplement include it in their product? It is beyond me. (Actually, I do know because they want you to “feel” like the product is working…it’s a marketing trick).  So why the f*** are people who are bodybuilding use caffeine? It drives me nuts!  Even worse, using caffeine increases cortisol in your body. Cortisol helps you maintain FAT around your abdominal area!  OMG.  And women, listen to me good.  Stay away from caffeine…consuming caffeine by females is even worse!
  2. Soy.  You really gotta be careful when it comes to soy.  Soy is in a lot of food, and it does contain estrogen-like compounds.  Look at the ingredients of the food products you buy and make sure they do not contain soy.

Now let’s talk reality.  Everyday, you have to try to keep anabolic vs catabolic.  Most people, including myself, can’t do it.  Every six months for example when the FDA comes inspecting my facility it stresses me the f*** out.  No way am I avoiding catabolism.  I’m freakin catabolic for a month straight!  The best thing to do and what I find the easiest, is protein supplements and eating lots of protein.  Eggs in the morning, protein during the day, and meat at night.  That’s the easiest.  Avoid caffeine and soy. And there you have it, folks; there is my formula.  I play sports and pump the iron as well, and that is what keeps me in fine shape at the age of 42.

For my readers, I would recommend that you do what I say, and you’ll notice less fat on your body and more muscle. For supplements, there are really NONE that is anabolic directly, if there were they would be drugs, like anabolic steroids.  If you look at the categories of supplements being sold today they are:

  1. protein powders
  2. creatine
  3. amino acids
  4. nitric oxide supplements
  5. fatty acid supplements
  6. fat burners
  7. appetite suppressants
  8. pre workout
  9. weight gainers
  10. testosterone supplements

Out of the ten categories listed above ONLY protein powder has the adequate effectiveness that could put your body in an anabolic state.  That is why I sell so much protein and sell QUALITY protein.  That is why it is my passion. Higher quality protein I feel promotes anabolism.  All the other supplement categories I listed…..none of them are anabolic supplements which maybe, as I mentioned above, the testosterone supplements.  But unfortunately, 99.9% of them are worthless.

In conclusion, be “heads up” during your daily life and be mindful of whether you feel anabolic or catabolic. Think about it…for example; you wake up, don’t eat, rush outta the house, stop off and get coffee before work, the boss yells at you…CATABOLIC. You just put yourself in a catabolic state now for half of the day until you eat a high protein meal and relax. Keep in mind this goes for men and women!   Instead, your day should have gone like this (like mine for example).  Some fun before work, eggs and greens and grains for breakfast, get to work, go to the gym, have a protein shake and some juice all before 2 pm..Big difference than the first example I gave you.  It is a matter of choice and life style.  Notice, I didn’t take any dumb ass pre workout or drink coffee.

Be anabolic vs catabolic people!