So, exactly what is this Metabolism stuff all about anyway? Everyday there is a new program or a new supplement hitting the market all promising to speed up your metabolism. But, exactly what is your metabolism and why do you want to speed it up?
Metabolism relates to various processes within the body that convert food and other substances into energy, or fuel. The faster your metabolism runs the greater your body’s ability to burn calories. When you are seeking to lose weight having a fast metabolism can be quite a gift! While this topic is quite involved here are a few basic principles to understand:
The more muscle you have in your body the faster your metabolism will run because muscle burns up to 90 percent more calories than fat. This means even at rest, your body will run faster and burn more calories. A good reason to pickup those dumbbells!
If you eat a very low-calorie diet, your body thinks it’s starving and slows down you also will lose muscle which will slow down your metabolism even more. Your diet should consist of 5 or 6 meals a day. Aim for a 3-2-1 breakdown; 3 parts Carbs with a heavy focus on veggies and fruits rather than grains, 2-parts protein and 1-part fat at each meal. To understand how this translates to your total calorie breakdown, there are 9 calories in 1 gram of fat, 4 calories in 1 gram of protein, and 4 calories in 1 gram of carbohydrates.
After the age of thirty, our bodies gradually begins to lose muscle. If your activity level does not include extra strength training to build that muscle back up and your diet does not include good quality protein to support muscle growth, you’ll gain weight because your metabolism will slow down.
In seeking to maintain a certain base rate of metabolism your body creates what has come to be called your metabolic set point, the average rate at which your metabolism runs. To truly raise your set point you need to engage in a healthy program of nutrition and yes, exercise.
Exercise keeps the metabolic rate up, but what type of exercise should you engage in? In recent months Interval or HiiT (high intensity interval training) has been the newest wonder child promising to raise metabolic rates. A HIIT session consists of a warm up period of exercise, followed by six to ten repetitions of high intensity anerobic exercise, separated by medium intensity aerobic exercise, and ending with a period of cool down exercise. The high intensity exercise should be done at near maximum intensity. The medium exercise should be about half-maximum intensity. The goal is to do at least six cycles. Why does it work? A half hour of HiiT training has been reported to burn 50 percent more calories than just plodding along on a treadmill at a steady pace. The reason that High Intensity Interval Training works better for fat loss is this: When you do a cardio session at the same pace the whole time, your body goes into what is called steady state. This means that your body adjusts to the speed you are going and tries hard to conserve energy (calories). You will be able to avoid this and burn more calories and FAT by doing the interval training.
A study performed by Jeffery W King, of East Tennessee State University, published May 2001 showed that HIIT increases resting metabolic rate for the following twenty-four hours. This means that not only do HIIT workout increase metabolism and help burn fat during the workout, but they continue to do so for twenty-four hours continuing the workout.
So lets talk about supplements. There is an endless array of supplements out on the market promising to raise your metabolic rate. Most of them fall into two categories- those with caffeine or caffeine-like substances such as Guarana or Bitter Orange and those with thermogenic ingredients such as black pepper, cinnamon and ginger which are supposed to heat-up your body and burn more calories. So do they work?
While caffeine will surely speed up your body it actually does something else, it raises your body’s cortisol levels. When your body suddenly speeds up it goes into crisis mode and sends a signal to produce cortisol the stress hormone. The problem is that cortisol is responsible for adding fat to your body, especially in the stomach region. To counter act this response many supplements will add ingredients such as St. John’s Wort known to calm your body down. But in a nutshell you are sending your body in a roller-coaster ride. If you want extra caffeine, why not just have a nice cup of green tea and call it a day?
So lets talk thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is your body’ ability to warm itself up such as shivering when it is cold. When you exercise you produce a type of thermogenesis because your body heats up. While it does raise your metabolism will taking a pill which ingredients such as hot pepper, ginger or cinnamon really going to produce enough of a thermogenic reaction to speed up your metabolism enough for you to lose weight? Well most supplement companies are counting on you not doing your homework and just taking their word for it. Want a thermogenic effect? Move your body and put some hot sauce on your food.
Bottom line on metabolism. To stoke your metabolism your best bets are to eat five to six well balanced meals per day, exercise with a good combination of cardio and strength training and consult a medical professional if these measures are not working to determine if there is a physical reason such as your hormones getting in the way.