What is Metabolism?
Some people think metabolism is a kind of organ, or a body part, that influences
digestion.
Actually, the metabolism isn’t a body part.
Metabolism, is the process of turning food (e.g. nutrients) into fuel (e.g. energy).
The body uses this energy to conduct a vast array of essential functions.
In fact, your ability to read this page is driven by your metabolism.
If you had no metabolism you wouldn’t be able to move.
Although we think of our metabolism as a single function, it’s really a catch-all
term for countless functions that are taking place inside the body. Every second
of every minute of every day of your life numerous chemical conversions are
taking place through metabolism, or metabolic functioning.
In a certain light, the metabolism has been referred to as a harmonizing process
that manages to achieve two critical bodily functions that seem to be at odds with
each other.
Metabolism and Weight Loss
Calories
Calories are simply units of measure, not actual things. They are labels like an
inch which really isn’t anything, but it measures the distance between two points.
So what do calories measure?
Energy
Your body creates energy from the food you eat, whether it's healthy food or not.
It creates energy from fruits and vegetables using the same process that it uses
to create energy from chocolate bars and candy.
While you know it's better for your body to get energy from fruit and vegetables,
your body doesn't evaluate the food. It creates energy from whatever you feed it.
Techniques To Boost Your Metabolism
Exercise
Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise is an essential part of boosting your
metabolism. Increasing your heart rate, blood circulation, body temperature, and
oxygen intake/carbon dioxide exchange, all send messages to your metabolic
system to initiate catabolism (breaking down cells and using them for energy
Build More Muscle
There are many people especially women, are very wary about an exercise
program that can lead to muscle building. There is a common perception that
muscle building leads to muscle bulking, and before long, they'll take on the
shape of a body builder.
So Why Should You Focus On Building More Muscle?
It just so happens that a pound of muscle burns more than a pound of fat. So you
can conclude that the more muscle you have the more calories you'll burn.
Interval Exercising
If you can train your body to require more energy, your body will comply by
breaking cells down to deliver it. And the process of metabolism burns calories.
Interval training is simply adding a high-energy burning component to your
exercise plan on an infrequent, or interval, basis.
Giving an example to describe interval training say for instance jog for 20
minutes every other day, you're boosting your metabolism and burning
calories/energy. But you can actually burn disproportionately more calories if,
during that 20 minute jog, you add a 30 second or 1 minute sprint.
Why? Because during this 30 seconds or 1 minute, you give your body a bit of a
jolt.
Not an unhealthy jolt, but enough that your body has to turn things up a bit. And
to make up for your extra energy requirements, the body will burn more calories.
Interval training only works when it’s at intervals. The metabolism-boosting
benefits you enjoy as a result of interval training are primarily due to the fact that
your body suddenly, needs to find more energy.
While it was chugging along and supplying your energy needs during your
cardiovascular exercise, it all of a sudden needs to grab some more for 30
seconds or a minute; and in that period, it will boost your metabolism even
further.
If you decided to extend your 30 second or 1 minute sprint into a 20 minute
sprint, you simply wouldn’t experience all of the benefits.
Yes, your body would use more energy if you extend yourself to the higher range
of your aerobic training zone. But your body won’t necessarily get that jolt that
only comes from interval training.
So remember: your goal with interval training is to give your body a healthy jolt
where it suddenly says to itself:
“Whoa! We need more energy here fast, this person has increased
their heart rate from 180 beats per minute to 190 beats per minute.
Let’s go to any available cell, like those fat cells down at the waist,
and break them down via catabolism so this person can get the
energy that they need.”
Interval training can last longer than 30 seconds or a minute. Some experts
suggest that you can use interval training for 30-40 minutes, depending on your
state of health and what your overall exercise regimen looks like.
The reason we’re focusing on 30 seconds to 1 minute is simply to give you a
clear understanding that interval training is a kind of mini training within a training
program.
And, as always, don’t overdo it with your interval training. Your goal here is to
become healthier and stronger, and lose weight in that process.
You gain nothing if you run so fast or bike so hard during interval training that you
hurt yourself. You will actually undermine your own health, and possibly have to
stop exercising while torn muscles or other ailments heal.
Variety
There are a few easy ways to add variety to your exercise program. In addition
to interval training, you can break up a longer routine into smaller parts.
For example, instead of committing to 1x1 hour workout a day, it can be split into
2x30 minute workouts; or even, 3x20 minute workouts.
You can also work in additional exercise into your daily routine by doing things
like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Or starting your day with a brisk
walk instead of a coffee and the newspaper. Instead of parking close to the
entrance of a building, park as far away as possible and walk.
All of these tips provide two metabolism-boosting benefits.
First, they can make exercising more fun. While it’s important to have an
exercise routine, you don’t want to have a boring exercise routine, because then
your chances of stopping are that much greater.
So adding these new elements to your overall exercise commitment simply helps
encourage you to stick with the program. And since exercising is a core part of
boosting your metabolism, any technique or tip that helps you continue
exercising over the long term is a wise piece of advice.
The second important benefit of variety in your exercise program leads us back
to the interval training concept, discussed above.
When you add variety to your workout, your body cannot get into a groove.
Remember, the body is a remarkable piece of work, and will always strive to do
things efficiently.
Naturally, the overall state of your health, which can be influenced by genetics
and other factors outside of your control, will play a role in how efficiently your
body runs.
But regardless of how your body is put together, it wants to do things as
efficiently as it possibly can. So when you start exercising, your body develops
an expectation of energy output. It’s not doing this to be lazy, it’s doing this
because it's efficient. If your body starts to predict that you need a certain amount
of energy to complete a 20 minute jog, but then you jog for 2 minutes, followed
by 5 minutes of walking, 2 minutes of jogging and 1 minute of sprinting, your
body may require a great deal more energy to help you achieve this.
As a result, you may find yourself very out of breath or tired as your body strives
to meet this increased demand. Naturally, catabolism will be involved and your
body metabolism will increase.
But over time, maybe a month or so, your body will simply become more efficient.
It will become stronger, and will be able to supply your energy needs much more
efficiently. Your health has improved and your body has to work less to provide
you with your energy needs.
Ironically, this can actually obscure your metabolism-boosting efforts, because
you want your body to start the catabolism process, but if your body is efficiently
working, it won’t dig into its reserves (e.g. fat cells) in order to provide you with
the energy you need.
So the trick is to keep variety in your workouts. .
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