1. Get up from that chair
A sedentary lifestyle is a metabolism killer. Prolonged sitting has an adverse effect on health, slowing down your metabolism (as a result of lack of physical activity) and making your body pack on the pounds.
Office work is not the only culprit. An average individual in the 21st century only engages in limited non-exercise associated physical activity even outside of work – we drive everywhere, we use smart home solutions and enjoy the ease of accessing virtually any products or services through our mobile phones.
If you want to tweak your metabolism, remember to consciously create opportunities to be physically active in your everyday life, rather than only at the gym. Make an effort to walk everywhere and try to get up as much as you can during the day or even take active breaks from work.
2. HIIT for a better metabolic rate
HIIT – high intensity interval training is pure gold for your metabolism. If the intensity is just right, it will speed up your metabolism not only during the workout, but also for many hours after you are done training.
Tabata is a good example of a HIIT workout. It is an interval training routine where you do an exercise for 4 minutes, alternating between intervals of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest in 8 rounds. Every interval, whether you choose Tabata or a different HIIT style, should be performed at top intensity, and during the work interval your heart rate should be close to 90-95% of your maximum value (HR max).
Read also: “Heart rate zones – what are they and why is it important to know them?”.
3. Build up your muscles
Muscles are the most metabolically active tissue in your body. They consume the greatest amounts of energy during the day and the more calories you burn, the faster (colloquially speaking) your metabolism gets. Naturally, the more muscles you have, the more energy you need to maintain them. If you want to protect your metabolic and overall health, make sure you have the optimum amount of muscle tissue in your body. This is important in terms of future-proofing, because we always lose muscle mass as we grow older. By regularly building up your muscles, you will speed up your metabolism now and for the future.
Strength training is the best option to generate new muscle fibres. You can work with your own body weight or with weight equipment, such as a barbell, dumbbells or kettlebells.
Read also: “12 reasons to start working out at the gym – from the perspective of a personal trainer”.
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4. Eat protein with every meal
Muscles develop not only if you work out, but also if you ensure your body has the right nutrients to create them. Protein is by far the most important building block for your muscles. It is not only a muscle builder, but also the macronutrient with the greatest impact on improving metabolism, driving up post-prandial thermogenesis, i.e. the energy expenditure related to digestion. In addition, protein increases the feeling of satiety much more than carbohydrates or fat, which supports maintaining a healthy body weight.
You can find protein in a range of products, such as fish, meat, dairy, eggs or pulses. You should plan to have at least one serving of these foods with each of your meals during the day.
5. Drink coffee and green tea
Although their effects are not spectacular, drinking coffee of tea may help to boost your metabolic rate. This is due to its caffeine content, which stimulates the mind and the body alike.
Bear in mind that for green tea or coffee to have this effect, you should take them without any additions, such as sugar, milk or cream. The maximum recommended caffeine dose is 400 mg or 4-5 cups of coffee.
6. Eat spicy food
Most products and dishes owe their spicy taste to capsaicin, a substance found in hot peppers. It makes food more tasty and also enhances your metabolism to boot. Although in itself the effect is not spectacular (just like in the case of coffee or green tea), it may still effectively support a lifestyle promoting better metabolism. Regular consumption may be linked to a slight but steady decrease in body weight.
7. Sleep well
Lack of sleep slows down the metabolic rate and carries an elevated risk of obesity. This is due to the dysregulation of the hunger and satiety hormones (ghrelin and leptin, respectively). Owing to sleep deprivation, the two hormones are thrown off balance and no longer respond to the stimuli reaching the brain from the digestive tract, and they start working disproportionately to how hungry or full you really are. Insufficient sleep reduces the level of leptin and increases the amount of ghrelin in the body, which means your appetite grows.
This explains why you feel like having fatty and sweet foods after a sleepless night. Therefore, to ensure your metabolic health, eat well, exercise and – last but not least – get plenty of sleep.
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Sources:
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