Why Exercise Is The Magic Bullet For Boosting Your Metabolism

There’s a lot of talk about enchanted pills, smoothies, and diets that can amp up your metabolism but believe it or not, exercise is the magic bullet for boosting your metabolism. Think of your metabolism as a powerhouse that converts your food into energy and propels it from one minute to the next without missing a beat.

Factors that Affect Your Metabolism

Multiple factors may affect how well your metabolism operates. Let’s take a moment to examine a few of the things that may get in the way of our bodies functioning at optimal levels.

Age

Studies show that with age, our metabolism begins to decline. This change often leads to extra pounds that are difficult to shed. We lose anywhere from three to five percent of our muscle mass, and we are less active. These two things combined make it easier for the pounds to begin accumulating, especially around the waistline area. Blame it on a slower metabolism. To counteract the effects of ageing, we should burn 30 to 50 percent of our calories through exercise.

Gender

Females tend to have a slower metabolism than men due to various factors, including estrogen levels and a lower resting metabolic rate which helps to determine our overall total daily energy release and plays a vital role in the regulation of our energy balance.

Hormones

Hormones can wreak havoc on your metabolism. Too much cortisol can lead to weight gain and increase our risk of heart disease and diabetes. Working out before consuming a meal can help to drop those cortisol levels and improve your metabolic functions.

Testosterone levels also decrease and can trigger a bit of weight gain and leave us feeling fatigued. Daily workout regimens can help keep your testosterone levels healthy and stable and allow for a healthy metabolism.

Estrogen is another hormone that triggers metabolism malfunction. An imbalance in this hormone can cause your weight to increase rapidly, giving testimony to metabolism that may not be operating most beneficially.

Finally, thyroid hormone imbalances can disrupt the overall effectiveness of your metabolism. Thyroid hormone helps control metabolic processes in the body that are necessary for growth, development, and metabolism.

Hyperthyroidism or a thyroid in a hypermetabolic state can cause your metabolism to go into overdrive, leading to weight loss and excessive use of your resting energy. On the other hand, an underperforming thyroid caused by hypometabolism can create a reduced resting energy expenditure and cause weight gain.

Exercise and Your Metabolism

Figuring out all the ways to regain control of your metabolism can be overwhelming, but there is one thing you can do to move the needle, and that is to exercise. Working out helps your muscles to use a fair amount of energy and burn calories. The great thing about exercise is that even after the workout is over, your muscles can continue to burn fat and helps to keep your metabolism functioning at optimal levels.

Which Exercise is Best for Your Metabolism?

Is there one single exercise that works best for a healthy metabolism? The short answer is ‘no,’ but there are a couple of activities that, when paired together, can do wonders help get to put your metabolism into overdrive.

Lift Weights to Burn Fat

Lifting weights is a fantastic approach to helping you not only build muscles but burn fat as well. Muscles use more calories at rest than fat cells. Don’t worry about becoming a gym rat. You only need two days a week to perform two sets of repetitions (12-15) working on those major muscle groups (back, arms, legs, and abs).

Aerobic Activity

Aerobic activity is another must-have ingredient for boosting your metabolism. Interval training is beneficial and yields positive results. Walking, swimming, kickboxing, jogging, or even Zumba are excellent options for enhancing your metabolism.

In summary, there may be a few options you cannot control when it comes to your metabolism, but exercise is the magic bullet. Your mind, body, and spirit will thank you.

Accountability & Mentoring

Above are reasons why exercise is good for you.

Now that you know you need to do some, do you need help and encouragement to get you motivated to do some exercise?  I offer in-person and online accountability sessions for those that need strict discipline in their lives to get them moving.

I will not hesitate to spank those that are lazy.