Performance turnover

Of the Performance turnover is the total energy consumption of a person within 24 hours minus their basal metabolic rate, which corresponds to the maintenance requirement soberly at rest. The metabolic rate is mainly dependent on activity and weight and, like the basal metabolic rate, is given in kilocalories or kilojoules.

Since a direct measurement involves a great deal of effort in most activities, the performance conversion is approximately determined by multiplying the basal conversion with the dimensionless factor PAL (Physical Activity Level).

What is the service turnover?

The power conversion corresponds to the total energy consumption of a person within 24 hours, which goes beyond the maintenance of the basic physical functions (basal metabolic rate).

Basal metabolic rate is the daily energy consumption of a person when completely at rest, on an empty stomach and at an ambient temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, at which the body does not have to provide any additional effort to maintain body temperature.

Like the basal metabolic rate, the performance metabolism is specified in kilojoules or kilocalories. A direct measurement of the total turnover (basal turnover plus performance turnover) encounters technical difficulties in many physical activities and would be associated with considerable effort. That is why one is usually satisfied with the approximate calculation of the total turnover using the PAL factor (Physical Activity Level), by which the basal turnover is multiplied.

For physically demanding activities, such as high-performance sports, a PAL of 2.0 to 2.4 is used. This means that for an adult man of normal weight with a basal metabolic rate of 8,100 kilojoules per day, a total turnover of 8,100 kJ x 2.4 = 19,440 is estimated for very heavy physical work. In this case, the power turnover is 19,440 kJ (total turnover) minus 8,100 kJ (basic turnover) = 11,340 kJ. This corresponds to a performance turnover of 2,708 kilocalories. In the case of well-trained people, the total turnover can in extreme cases rise to around 50,000 kJ, corresponding to 11,900 kcal.

Function & task

The main benefit, which results from the estimation of the performance turnover or the total turnover, lies in the dietetics in the possibility of achieving a balanced energy balance through the diet. A balanced energy balance means that the energy supply via food and the total consumption are balanced.

A sustainable excess energy supply is a positive and an insufficient energy supply compared to consumption is a negative energy balance. For the approximate estimation of the individual basal metabolic rate, several formulas are available that take into account not only body mass but also gender, age and body size. However, it must be noted that the basal metabolic rate can be subject to considerable fluctuations depending on the hormone and metabolic status, so that the calculation of the total turnover using the PAL factor is only a rough estimate and approximation.

For predominantly sitting desk or screen work with little exercise, the PAL is 1.2 to 1.5. For running sport, the performance requirement can also be estimated directly, depending on body weight and running distance. As an approximation, the energy requirement is assumed to be 4 kJ per kg of body mass and per km of distance. This means that an adult man with a body mass of 80 kg burns 4 kJ x 80 kg x 10 km = 3,200 kilojoules, equivalent to 764 kilocalories, on a running distance of 10 km. Strictly speaking, the approximate formulas for energy consumption only apply to a metabolism that is in the individual normal mode.

Humans have a hunger or emergency metabolism to which they switch when a negative energy balance of more than 500 kcal is reached in three consecutive days. It is a genetically fixed hunger metabolism program in which physiological processes are greatly slowed down and the basal metabolic rate can be reduced by up to around 50%. In terms of development history, the emergency program was probably relevant for being able to survive times with scarce food supplies better and longer.

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Illnesses & ailments

The output is not only dependent on the absolute work that the body or muscles perform over a unit of time, but also on the efficiency with which the individual body metabolism uses the available energy in the form of digestible carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

In healthy people with a stable cardiovascular system and a metabolic program that is in normal mode, the differences in the performance expenditure for the same activity are relatively small, so that good approximations for the performance expenditure can be achieved with PAL values.

The switching of the body's metabolism to the starvation metabolism, which ensures longer survival in the case of permanently low food supply, has a major influence on the performance in terms of increasing efficiency. The performance of the muscles is a little reduced, but the use of energy in the body's reserves is as efficient as possible. For work performed the same, the performance metabolism - similar to the basal metabolic rate - is reduced.

A consciously induced deterioration in the efficiency of the basic and performance metabolism can be achieved by consuming very spicy dishes. Above all, the capsaicin, which is contained in chilli, curry, hot peppers and cayenne pepper, among other things, leads to an acceleration of the metabolism with a reduction in efficiency, and thus to a significant increase in the basic and output metabolism.This also explains the slimming effect of spicy dishes, which with the same amount of energy in the form of digestible carbohydrates, fats and proteins offer fewer opportunities for the formation and storage of fat reserves.

A number of diseases that affect the hormonal balance have an impact on performance and basal metabolic rate in the sense of dampening or accelerating effects. An example of this is hypothyroidism, the underactive thyroid, which contains insufficient thyroxine release.

Menopausal women experience similar hormonal cuts. The changed hormonal balance leads to a lower basic metabolic rate and performance, so that women often experience unwanted weight gain with unchanged eating behavior. A number of antidepressants have similar effects in the form of undesirable side effects.