Metabolism for Optimum Fat Burning

Weight Loss Boot Camp

Please read this article to learn some of the basic tricks to increase your metabolism.  Anyone can benefit from the tips in this article, doesn’t matter if you want to lose weight or burn off that bit of extra fat on your stomach to show off your sexy abs.  Follow the tips in article and you will definitely see results.

Metabolism is the process by which our bodies combine nutrients with oxygen to produce the energy our body needs in order to maintain normal bodily functions. This energy is measured in calories, and calories are considered fuel to our bodies.

When our main source of energy (glucose) depletes, the process of metabolism turns to fat stores (body fat) for it’s primary energy source. On the other hand when our supply of blood sugar is too high, the process of metabolism stores excess "energy" by converting it into body fat causing the weight scale to move in an upward direction.

If you want to increase your metabolism you should first consider all the factors involved. Sex, age, the amount of muscle tissue on your body, weight, activity level, and current physical condition. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the number of calories you would burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. RMR is the minimum amount of energy required to maintain normal bodily functions (heart beating, breathing, normal body temperature, brain function, kidney function, and so on).

Proper diet will increase and speed up your metabolism. It is important to never skip a meal or go on any type of starvation diet. You should always eat healthy snacks between meals. The idea is to eat frequently to prevent hunger pangs, and to keep your energy levels consistent which in turn will increase and speed up your metabolism.

Our bodies were designed with a survival mechanism just in case there is a time of famine. Because of this mechanism, it is easier for the body to store fat. If we go on any calorie deficit diet or some type of starvation diet you can forget about increasing your metabolism because our body's metabolism decreases in order to conserve energy. In this mode, it is much easier for the body to store what we eat as body fat and burn energy from muscle tissue. Since muscle tissue burns a higher amount of calories, the less we have the lower our metabolism will be.

Increase metabolism by eating several smaller meals per day.  The idea is to never let yourself get hungry.  One way to accomplish this would be to eat three healthy nutritious meals and eat healthy nutritious snacks in between those meals to keep yourself satisfied throughout the day.

It will be very important that the snacks are healthy and rich in lean protein, and that the meal sizes are reduced to compensate for the additional calories the snacks provide to prevent weight gain.

So many people try to lose weight on their own, without the assistance of a nutrition professional and unfortunately suffer the consequences by negatively altering their metabolism, thyroid, and hormonal function. When this occurs weight loss becomes impossible unless you know exactly what to do to reverse the damage. Why play with your health when you can get professional support.  So if you want to lose weight the right way it is very important to work with a knowledgeable fitness and nutrition expert, to avoid making series mistakes that could jeopardize your results or your health.

How to Increase Metabolism Through Exercise:

When we exercise, our bodies require more energy and our metabolism increases in order to supply it. However, most of the time we are not all that active, which is the reason people want to increase their metabolism. The idea is to burn more calories when doing very little, like sitting around or even sleeping.

Metabolism: "Chemical changes that utilize energy and result in tissue and compound building (anabolism) or breakdown of substrates and release of energy (catabolism)." The preceding definition of metabolism was taken from the Dictionary of Sport and Exercise Sciences (1). From this definition one will be able to understand how strength training can influence metabolism.

There are three ways strength training can increase metabolism.

The Workout Session: Muscles contracting under heavy loads require energy. They also produce heat which is a by-product of muscular contraction. How much strength training will increase metabolism will vary depending upon the amount of muscle tissue involved in an exercise and the level of resistance weight that is used. For example, doing squats using your leg muscles will require far more energy than doing bicep curl's using your arms. 

The metabolic rate or energy expenditure has been estimated to vary from five to ten calories per minute, depending on whether large or small muscle groups were involved in the exercise. For those who are interested in body composition changes such as weigh loss they should train at 60 to 80 percent of their one rep max weight. The metabolic rate is higher at increased loads, thus causing a greater number of calories utilized.

It has been proven time and time again that properly performed high intensity strength training stimulates the development of muscle mass which in turn will alter metabolism in two different ways. First, resting metabolic rate is increased when one gains muscle mass. While the energy expenditure per pound of lean body mass does not change, the addition of more muscle mass means higher energy expenditure or increased metabolism at rest.

Second, the more muscle mass an individual has the greater the post exercise oxygen consumption. When strength trained individuals were compared to non-trained individuals, there was no difference in post exercise oxygen consumption per pound of muscle. However, since the strength training individuals have more muscle mass, they burn more calories during the post exercise period.

There are several factors which influence the excess post exercise oxygen consumption (resynthesis of creatine phosphate in muscle, lactate removal, restoration of muscle and blood oxygen stores, elevated body temperature, post exercise elevation of heart rate and breathing, elevated hormones). In one study researchers examined the post-exercise oxygen consumption of strength training exercise to increase metabolism. Metabolic rate was measured for nine subjects after 40 minutes of cycling (80 percent of maximal heart rate), 40 minutes of circuit training (50% of individuals' 1 RM x 15 repetitions for 4 sets), 40 minutes of heavy resistance lifting (80-90% of 1 RM x 3-8 repetitions x 3 sets), and a control interval. All forms of exercise increased the metabolic rate immediately after exertion. For circuit training and heavy resistance lifting, the metabolism increase was also significant 30 minutes after exertion. The absolute total increment in caloric use after exertion was comparable among circuit training, heavy lifting, and cycling. However, cycling alone was far less than both forms of weight training.

In any case when one actually examines the energy cost or calories burned during the post-exercise period it is relatively small. Some researchers have commented that the post-exercise effect is sufficiently small and that it does not have a major role in the control of weight loss by itself. However, if you combine the entire exercise session with proper diet, weight loss and an increase in metabolism can be substantial.   

The other factor to consider with the post-exercise is the fuel which is utilized. Strength training exercise tends to burn/utilize carbohydrate during the actual training session. However, after a workout more fat is burned to meet the energy demands of your body. The more carbohydrate burned during an exercise period, the more fat burned after exercise. The higher the exercise intensity, proportionately more fat will be burned during the recovery (resting) phase.

Recent research at Colorado State University examined the effect of a resistance training session on post-exercise energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate, concluding that strenuous strength training can elevate metabolic rate for extended periods, and that this increased metabolism is due to the oxidation of body fat.

Strength training increases energy expenditure during a training session. The high intensity or anaerobic nature of strength training indicates a higher utilization of carbohydrates during a training session. During the post-exercise recovery period, energy expenditure is elevated for a period ranging from two to fifteen hours. The increased energy demands are obtained by burning more calories and a good portion of those calories are coming from stored fat.

The addition of muscle mass on an individual will cause an increase in the number of calories that are utilized at rest. So it is comforting to know while one is exerting themselves through a high intensity workout that the hard work will result in an increase in metabolism that continues to burn calories hours after a workout.