How Exercise Can Increase Your Metabolism
If your metabolism isn’t working at its full capacity, you can forget about losing weight. But how do you make it kick into action?
There are lots of things in life that can slow your metabolism, such as the aging process. This explains why most people gain weight as they get older and find it very difficult to lose it.
Other factors that can affect your metabolism include stress, poor eating habits, not getting enough sleep, lack of exercise, certain medications and medical conditions.
You can try diet pills that claim to turn your metabolism into a fat burning machine, but their effect is restricted, and with prolonged use, they can actually slow your metabolism down even further.
The best method to get your speed up your metabolism is to get moving yourself. Exercise is the fastest way to a better metabolism, and the effects from work out keep your metabolism burning at a higher rate than any other thing you can try.
However, while any exercise is a good thing, there are some activities you can do that will give your metabolism an extra push.
The best exercise for boosting metabolism is strength training because it increases muscle – which really gets the metabolism moving.
Every pound of muscle translates to burning an extra 50 calories an hour.
Some people, especially women, worry about relying on strength training too much. They don’t want to look big and ripped. But, you can get the benefits without the biceps.
Use light weights and do many repetitions instead of fewer repetitions with heavier weights. Eating a diet that is lighter in protein will also prevent large muscle building.
You don’t even have to join a gym to get the weight training started. All you need is a set of light weight dumb bells that you can buy for a few dollars at any discount store. Then, find a plan that works for you that combines sets of reps working your arms, legs, waist, shoulders, and so on.
You should aim to do between 2 to 5 sets of reps for any given activity. No need to get fancy – arm curls, squats and lunges while holding your weights is all you need to get that muscle building. To keep a long, lean look, as you grow stronger, increase your sets of reps instead of increasing the weight of your dumbbells.
When you couple strength training with cardio exercise, this formula takes your metabolism through the roof. You just need 10 minutes of cardio routines. As a matter of fact, going as hard as you can at cardio for ten minutes is the best metabolic boost – far better than 2 hours at an easy pace.
One way to maximize the benefits of both cardio and weight training is to combine then with circuit training. Do a minute of weight lifting exercises, then a minute of hard cardio, and so on for 20 minutes, and you will burn more calories than if you spent 2 hours doing cardio alone.