Your metabolism is the rate at which your body uses calories. It's influenced by such factors as your body size and composition, gender, genetics and age. Your daily activity level and certain foods also influence the speed of your metabolism, according to MayoClinic.com. If you speed up your metabolism, your body will burn more calories daily, making weight management easier. A faster metabolism also helps offset the inevitable metabolic slowdown that occurs as you age.
Step 1
Perform regular resistance training. Lift weights and perform body weight exercises a minimum of two times a week to gain lean muscle mass. Choose weights that lead to muscle fatigue in eight to 12 repetitions to build muscle. Avoid higher numbers of repetitions with lighter weights; this will only improve muscle endurance and won't elicit a metabolism-boosting response. You may experience a 20 to 40 percent increase in strength after several months of resistance training, according to the American Council on Exercise. Resistance training can result in about a 3 to 7 percent increase in your resting metabolism, or about 100 extra calories burned per day, according to a January 2002 issue of "Shape" magazine. Keep in mind that men tend to gain muscle more quickly and that every body reacts to training differently.
Step 2
Eat small meals often to prevent your metabolism from slowing down from a lack of nutrients, or being suffocated by one large meal. Divide your daily calorie target by five or six to figure out how many calories each meal should contain. For example, if you're consuming 1,800 calories a day, aim for six 300-calorie meals. For example, eat whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a half of a banana for one mini-meal. Have deli turkey with whole grain crackers and low-fat cheese for another small meal. Eating often also helps keep you from becoming overly hungry during the day.
Step 3
Include certain foods in your diet. Drinking green tea habitually encourages better fat metabolism during exercise, reports a March 2010 study in the “Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports." In this study, 12 male athletes were better able to metabolize fat during exercise when ingesting green tea extracts. Eat hot peppers and other spicy foods to cause a slight rise in the calories your body uses to digest food. Drink ginger tea or add it to curries to increase your circulation and spark a slightly higher metabolic effect, recommends the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Tips and Warnings
- If you are seeking to lose weight through a higher metabolism, remember that reducing calories and increasing physical activity are the best methods to achieve results. Taking steps to boost your metabolism cannot hurt, but do not rely on them alone to inspire significant results.
Things You'll Need
- Weight training equipment
References
- Women's Health: Boost Your Metabolism
- MayoClinic.com: Metabolism and Weight Loss: How You Burn Calories
- Shape magazine: Your Muscle, Your Metabolism
- American Council on Exercise: How Women Build Muscle
- Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports: Effect of Endurance Training Supplemented with Green Tea Extract on Substrate Metabolism During Exercise in Humans
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