Boost Your Metabolism and Build Muscle
Boosting your metabolism can seem like an impossible task if you aren’t sure what you’re doing. There are so many myths and misunderstandings surrounding this word, that in can be difficult to understand how it actually works. So what exactly is your metabolism? What is the best way to boost your metabolism?
Your metabolism is the sum of everything your body does. Each time you eat, enzymes in your body’s cells break down the food and turn it into energy that keeps your heart beating, your mind thinking, and your legs churning during a grueling workout. A fast metabolism means more calories burned. The more you burn, the easier it is to drop pounds. And get this — you can increase your metabolism so it works harder.
#1: Add Strength Training
Strength training helps you build and maintain muscle, which is crucial when it comes to boosting your metabolism. When you lift weights, your muscles become stressed and breakdown. After you breakdown your muscles, your body begins to rebuild them and make them stronger. You see, you build muscle during the recovery process not the actual training.
Muscle burns three times more calories than fat cells, even when they are at rest. So strength is a major part of boosting your metabolism, but what if you already lift weights? Well there are a few ways to jazz up your routine a bit and make it more metabolically intense. Add:
- Drop sets
- Super sets
- Negatives
- Compound sets
- Circuits
- Change your rep
These techniques will put additional stress on your muscles, forcing them to use more energy. This added stress will also help to boost your metabolism.
#2: Add Intensity to Your Cardio
When you see someone doing cardio, most of the time they are adhering to the long and slow method. Basically they set the treadmill to a lit and steady pace, then work on it for about an hour. While this does burn fat, it honestly isn’t the most efficient way to do so.
Many studies have shown that shorter, more intense workouts do more to boost your metabolism. The results are multiplied when you do short and intense workouts in bursts. For example, you would do 10 high-intensity, 30- to 60-second sprints with 30- to 60-second rests at a slower pace in between. Not only with this seriously cut down your workout time, but it will boost your metabolism and fat burning.
#3: Have a Clean and Healthy Diet
Nutrition is vital when it comes to boosting your metabolism. Not only that, healthy eating helps improve your overall health and quality of life. When you fuel your body with proper nutrients, it allows it to build more muscle and burn more fat. The best way to boost your metabolism is to munch on five to six small healthy meals a day. This keeps your metabolism going throughout the day, which means it will burn calories faster and more efficiently.
However, eating throughout the day isn’t the only step. What you eat matters just as much as how often you eat. When it comes to boosting your metabolism, protein is key. Proteins take a lot more effort and calories to burn than carbohydrates and fats. The more effort your body needs to digest something, the more calories you burn. So keep eating those skinless chicken breasts and egg whites, they do your body a lot of good.
#4: Don’t Forget to Rest
Your rest days are just as important as your gym days when it comes to boosting your metabolism. Your body uses those rest days to recover and repair itself. During this recovery period, you build more muscle and boost your metabolic rate even higher. If you skip out on those rest days, you can over train which eats away all the muscle you have been building. So take at least one full day off from training per week. Don’t skip your rest days!
The Takeaway
When it comes to boosting your metabolism, muscle and a healthy diet are everything. So add some strength training, more intense cardio, and a healthy diet if you want maximum results. And remember not to skip your rest days!
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