subject: Metabolism - Know How to Make Your Body Work FOR You and Burn That Fat! [print this page] Metabolism - Know How to Make Your Body Work FOR You and Burn That Fat!
How can you burn the most calories and make the most out of your activities every day? People follow hundreds of different exercise routines and diet strategies, but how do you get the most out of what you do? No matter what type of exercising you do, whether it be circuit training, weight lifting, running, biking, P90X or any others, you need to understand why you are doing what you do, in order to make it work for you. Understand how what you eat and do all day long can work for you, instead of against you!
One of the first things to understand is metabolism. Your metabolic rate is the rate at which you burn calories. In order to lose weight or burn fat, your body needs to burn more energy than it takes in during the day in the form of calories. You take in energy through eating and drinking, so how do you expend it? Well through our metabolism, we expend energy all day long, during any activity, and even at rest. So how do you get your body to burn more energy during the day and work FOR you?
Exercise can increase your metabolic rate for up to 4-8 hours even after you stop exercising. The other way exercise improves your metabolism is by increasing your lean muscle mass. Remember, the bottom line is that muscle is an active tissue that burns calories all day long. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism is going to be and the more calories you are going to burn, during activity, and even at rest. If two people weigh the same amount, the one that has a lower body fat percentage and more lean muscle mass is going to burn more calories than someone with less lean muscle mass. Muscle always burns more calories than fat!! Also, the more muscle groups you are using at once, the higher your metabolic rate is going to be and the more calories you are going to burn. This is the main selling point to a circuit training type routine, using dynamic movements, such as the exercises we demonstrate on FreakinFit. This type of workout incorporates:
Strength and resistance training exerciseswhich increase your lean muscle mass
Dynamicexercises thatuse multiple muscle groups at once; The more musclesthat arefiring at once,the morecalories are burned
Dynamic exercises, which increaseyour heart rate; Keepingyour heart rate up in the proper zone gives you an aerobic workout, which directly increases your metabolism
So outside of exercising and increasing your muscle mass, how else can you improve your metabolism and make it work for you? For one, understand that your metabolism slows down when it is deprived of nutrients during the day. First thing in the morning your metabolism is slowed, as it has not been given any nutrients during the night. This is why breakfast is so important when trying to lose weight. Eating a healthy breakfast will speed up your metabolism. This is also why it is so important to eat small meals throughout the day. Eating 6 small meals during the day will keep your metabolism up and burning energy all day long. Skipping meals will actually slow your metabolism, causing your cells to work less efficiently and actually store fat. Also, eat your bigger meals earlier in the day when your metabolism is up. Later in the evening your metabolism slows and you will burn less of the calories you take in.
Also, look at the foods you are taking in. Your body easily turns fat from foods into stored body fat, so limit your fatty food intake. In addition, your resting metabolic rate has been found to be 2-3x higher after eating protein, versus after eating carbohydrates or fat. Green vegetables have also been found to increase your metabolism and foods high in fiber burn more calories while being digested. So make sure you are taking in enough protein, vegetables and dietary fiber and limit fatty foods and simple carbohydrates. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water. If you are dehydrated your metabolism will slow, and water also helps your metabolism work more efficiently.
By understanding how your metabolism works, you can make your metabolism work for you and burn the most calories possible at rest as well as with all your regular daily activities!
