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How To Maximize Your Metabolism

By Clint Howard

Although your genetics does play a role in your metabolism, there are several very effective ways to maximize your metabolism. According to Webster's, metabolism is the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities. In other words, our metabolism is what gives us our energy. It is the engine that keeps us running. As with a car, proper gas and regular maintenance is required to keep the engine running smoothly. This same effect goes for our metabolism. Your diet and exercise habits are essential to keep your engine maximized. A higher metabolism means you are expending more energy and therefore burning more calories.

First, let's talk about exercise. Exercise is a must to increase your metabolism. There are no magic pills or potions. There are two components to exercise that are crucial to boosting and then maintaining your metabolism. These two components include strength training and high-intensity cardiovascular exercise. Strength training is essential to build muscle. The more muscle tissue you have, the more active your metabolism is. Muscle is metabolically active, so it requires calories even at rest. In fact, adding just one pound of muscle can burn an extra 30-40 calories per day. Just think if you add 10 pounds of muscle, you could be burning an extra 300-400 calories a day a rest. You are also burning calories during your strength training session as well as up to 4 hours after your workout. All of this extra calorie burning for only 30-45 minutes of weight training 3-5 times a week, is well worth it. In addition to boosting metabolism, strength training will make weight control easier as we get older, decrease body fat, and increase lean muscle tissue. Metabolism begins to slow slightly after age 25 for men and women. It declines around 4 percent per year if you are active compared to 10 percent if you are sedentary. In women, there can be a notable drop in metabolism due to a decrease in estrogen around 40-50. Following the recommended 3-5 cardio sessions per week and 3 strength training sessions, will help slow this effect tremendously.

The second component of exercise that is essential to boosting metabolism is high-intensity cardio. Like strength training, cardiovascular exercise, preferably high-intense cardio, not only burns calories during exercise as well as allowing your body to burn calories for several hours after exercising. The combination of high-intensity cardio intervals and a strength training routine gives your body an even bigger post-work-out metabolic boost. Interval cardio training is very effective for maximizing metabolism, so make sure to alternate the intensity of your cardio program. This prevents your body from adapting to the same exercise routine and keeps your muscles tuned to taking on different workloads. Of course, the hour you spend in the gym is not the only time you should be moving. Make a constant effort to stay active throughout the day by walking whenever possible, doing yard work, playing with children, etc.

Although exercise is crucial, attention must be paid to diet and nutrition. That does not mean to "go on a diet". The word "diet" often implies cutting back on calories. This can actually backfire on people in two ways. First people cut back too much and that sets them up to binge the next day, which can damage your metabolism. The second problem with cutting back calories is that your body reacts to this decrease in calories by slowing its metabolism in order to conserve energy stores. The key to a diet that will increase your metabolism is to determine how many calories you should be consuming and then pay attention to the type of calories consumed. Despite what many nutritionists think, all calories are not created equal. The calorie-is-a-calories theory only takes in to account the total energy in food, and does not account for the energy that is required to process it. For example, up to 30 percent of calories from protein are burned through the digestive process, compared to just 8 percent of carbohydrates, and 2 percent of fats. This is known as the thermic effect of food. The key is to eat complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It takes more energy for the body to digest and process calories and nutrients from healthy foods than sugary and refined foods. By eating a low-fat healthy diet, you are asking the body to work harder and burn more calories to turn food into energy, the process of metabolism. Avoid processed and refined foods, as they are the culprit to our obesity epidemic. Just remember that processed food has already been processed and that does not leave any work for your body and metabolism, and so they are just stored as fat almost immediately unless they are burned off.

It is nor only important to eat the right type of foods, but also at the right time. To start the day, it is essential that you eat breakfast. This gets your engine started for the day and without breakfast, your metabolism will be in slow motion all day. Throughout the day, it is essential you eat small meals every 3-4 hours. Eating three large meals a day is terrible for your metabolism because you have three peaks in your blood sugar/insulin response and the rest of the time you are in a valley that is not good for your insulin response. The key is to make sure each meal is well balanced and contains the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and a small amount of fat. It is also essential to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water everyday, possibly more if you work out intensely and/or drink caffeinated beverages. My final recommendation that is crucial for maximizing your metabolism is to get enough sleep. Only you know how much sleep your body requires, but not getting enough sleep will drain you and in turn slow your metabolism.

As you can see, the ways to increase metabolism is through diet and exercise. Just like an engine, the better we take care of our metabolic engine through proper diet and exercise, the better our metabolism will run; keeping us healthy and looking good.

About the Author:

Clint Howard is a certified personal trainer in Tulsa, OK. He is the owner of Fitness Together in Bixby and Jenks/Riverside. He has been helping Oklahomans achieve their fitness and weight loss goal for over 9 years. He is certified with the American College of Sports Medicine(ACSM) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). His website is www.personaltrainertulsa.com