Individuals putting in the work at the gym and restricting their diet but still feeling like they can’t seem to reach those weight loss goals should consider their metabolism. Even with healthy lifestyle habits, if a person’s metabolism isn’t running optimally, it can be hard to make serious strides toward achieving a leaner body composition. Fortunately, there are ways an individual can speed up their metabolism to get better results from their workouts and nutrition efforts. Keep reading to learn more about the different methods for speeding up metabolism and taking back control of getting into shape.
Doing a High-Intensity Workout
Speeding up metabolism can help an individual to burn more calories, improve energy production and decrease fat storage. One potent way to do this is by engaging in high-intensity workouts, which cause the body to work much harder than typical moderate-intensity exercises and produce a higher metabolic rate. High-intensity workouts involve running, swimming, strength, or circuit training and ideally should be done at least three times a week for 20-30 minutes each session. Incorporating these workouts into a routine can have an enduring impact on increasing your metabolism.
Drinking Green Tea
Drinking green tea has long been associated with aiding digestion, and its role in increasing metabolism is only further evidence of its herbal efficacies. Green tea is naturally high in caffeine, which can temporarily speed up a person’s heart rate and help them burn more calories, leading to increased metabolism over a short period.
Furthermore, green tea also contains an antioxidant called EGCG which can slow the activity of fat-storage hormones. This ultimately helps the body burn more fat as energy. Therefore, having a daily cup of green tea has been proven to be one of the easiest and most natural ways of speeding up metabolism.
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Human bodies naturally have metabolic timing cycles throughout the day, and sleeping regularly allows these cycles to work correctly. Getting enough sleep will give people the energy to complete daily activities and stay focused. Adequate sleep also helps individuals to regulate hormone levels, cortisol, and insulin, which can directly affect metabolism.
Even though it may be hard to take time away from other tasks, it is essential for optimizing metabolism that an individual does not compromise on their sleep because, with too little rest, hormones responsible for keeping the metabolism running smoothly will be unbalanced. Achieving a decent balance in sleep hours can do wonders for metabolic health.
Weight Training
Weight training is an incredible way to build muscle and boost metabolism. This exercise forces the body to use more energy when it rebuilds muscle than when compared to cardio workouts, producing a higher metabolic rate in the long run. Moreover, having more muscle helps speed metabolism because muscles require energy due to their contractile properties. As a result, fueling a workout with proper nutrition before and after weight training will optimize the effects of increased metabolic rate.
Drinking more water
The human body is composed of about 60% water, so it’s no surprise that water is involved in some of the essential processes in the human body, including metabolism. Drinking more water has been shown to boost metabolism, and there are a few theories as to why this is. One approach is that drinking more water helps the body to absorb nutrients better, which are necessary for metabolism. Another approach is that drinking more water helps to break down fat stores in the body, making them available for energy production. Whatever the mechanism, drinking more water can undoubtedly help increase the metabolic rate.
The key to speeding up metabolism is eating the right foods, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. Taking time to be mindful of nutrition and lifestyle choices can go a long way toward optimizing an individual’s metabolic rate. Supporting the body with vitamins and minerals, as well as eating foods that are rich in fiber and healthy fats, will also help speed up metabolism.