The secret to speeding up your metabolism.
What is metabolism?
Metabolism is a chemical process, just like photosynthesis or digestion. If you start with this fact, it will be easier to understand and accept that you can do something about your "slow" metabolism. By understanding the role that muscles play, you can learn how to speed up your metabolism and change it for the better.
Metabolism is a chemical process that converts the food you eat into energy that you burn during the day. Calories are a unit of energy.
If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. Although it is, in fact, much more complicated.
Calories are burned not only in movement. In addition to the calories you burn while running, cycling, and swimming, you also have a "resting metabolic rate." This is the burning of calories that occurs when you sit at a desk and work, watch TV from the couch, or when you sleep. Even when you are resting, your body needs energy for all its hidden functions, such as breathing, blood circulation, maintaining body temperature, regulating hormone levels, and cell growth and repair. There are several factors that can affect your metabolism:
* Body size and Composition: If you weigh more or have more muscle mass, you burn more calories even at rest. In people who weigh more, the metabolic rate is higher, not slower, because part of the excess weight is accounted for by muscle tissue.
* Gender: If you are a man, you have less fat and more muscle mass than a woman of the same age, so you burn more calories.
* Age: As you age, your muscle mass decreases, which slows down the rate at which you burn calories.
The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns during the day. Muscle burns three to five times as many calories as fat. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even when you stay perfectly still.
Unfortunately, after the age of 35, you start to lose about 0.5 kg of muscle per year if you do not actively maintain them.
Increasing your muscle mass will help boost your metabolism and keep you in shape.
Strength training to boost your metabolism
Now that you know the importance of strength training, where do you start? Do you have to go to the gym and be surrounded by grumbling men lifting giant barbells? The good news is that lifting weights is just one of many ways to do strength training. Take a look at a few others.
* Dumbbells or barbells: The most commonly used weight training equipment, dumbbells or barbells come in all sizes from very light to very heavy. This makes them suitable for all levels of training. It is advisable to hire a trainer (for at least one class) to show you the correct technique and get started. If that's not an option, there are online workouts and apps that can teach you what you need to know.
* Body Weight: If you are new to strength training, your own weight will suit you. Using your own body weight for push-ups, lunges, squats, or pull-ups does not require equipment, but will give you a good workout.
* Gym equipment: Gym equipment can be more comfortable than dumbbells if you are new to strength training. Most simulators have instructions and photos right on the front panel, making it easy to understand what you should do. They are also a bit safer, as they are fixed.
* Group Workouts: If you are a member of a health club, try classes that include strength training. Getting instructions from a professional teacher is a great way to learn several different movements for different body parts. In addition, a group setting can be very interesting.
* DVDs, online courses, or apps: Train from the comfort of your home. The videos allow you to follow the teacher as they give you a workout, providing not only instructions, but also some friendly company and motivation. There are online workout streaming services and apps that allow you to train with your favorite fitness professional from anywhere, anytime.
Result
With all these options, a great workout is just a few steps away from you. Take this step today and start speeding up your metabolism right now!
