5 Ways to boost metabolism

So, your metabolism is the process your body goes through to convert food into energy. The faster your metabolic rate, the greater number of calories are being distributed to the cells for use.

There are many factors which determine your metabolism including age, body fat, lean muscle mass, activity levels and gender. The energy (or calories) we use each day just to stay alive – i.e. to keep your heart beating, brain functioning and other vital organs doing their thing – is referred to as your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which accounts for 50-80% of our total energy consumption.

The good new is that we can increase our BMR. Read on for 5 metabolism-revving solutions to ditching fat for good.

1. Muscle work

1lb of fat burns 2-3 calories per day and 1lb of muscle burns up to 10 calories per day. The greater your muscle mass, the more calories you burn, simple! Think lifting weights, using a suspension trainer, getting down with squats & lunges, anything which pushes your muscles beyond their normal limits.

For an increased burn, work compound exercises – that is exercises using more than one muscle group; squats with an overhead press, lunges with a bicep curl, press-ups, that kind of thing.

2. Eat!

Yep, you read right. If we go too long without eating, we frighten our bodies into starvation mode which puts the brakes on metabolism and forces them to cling on to fat. Eating something (small) every 2-3 hours keeps the fires burning and muscles fed. Studies have shown people eating every 2-3 hours to have more muscle mass and less fat that those only having 2 or 3 meals a day. Eating frequently also stimulates metabolism short-term as we work to digest the food. Beware though, this isn’t an excuse to go all-out with the doughnuts every 2 hours. Think instead of smaller meals with snacks of fruit, veg or nuts in between.

3. Sleeeeep

The less good-quality sleep you have, the slower your metabolism. If you’re a poor sleeper, work on some relaxation techniques to have you slumbering soundly for 7-8 hours a night.

4. Go hard or go home

Increasing the intensity of your workouts can increase the ‘after-burn’, that is the calories you’re torching even after you’ve hit the shower and gone home. Try bursts of 2 minutes moderate effort interspersed with 1 minute of all-out.

5. Be in it for the long run

As we age, our metabolism naturally slows by about 5-10% per decade thanks to a break down in muscle mass. This usually starts at around 25-30 years old. Hang in there though, research shows that people who maintain their activity levels throughout life can expect to see only a 0.3% drop in metabolism per decade.

Stick to these golden rules, and provided you maintain a healthy diet and stay active, you could be well on your way to supercharging your engines and becoming a lean, mean calorie-burning machine.