The term "metabolism" refers to the energy required to fuel your body's activities and biological processes. In other words, your metabolism, or metabolic rate, is the process by which your body converts the food and drink you ingest into physical energy. People sometimes speak of a "slow metabolism" as causing weight gain, and wonder how to boost their metabolism to burn more calories and lose weight. According to the Mayo Clinic, metabolism is self-regulating and therefore somewhat out of your control. However, there are steps you can take to burn more calories, enjoy effective weight control, and keep your metabolism running high.
Step 1
Engage in frequent cardiovascular, or aerobic, exercise. Nothing burns calories as substantially as aerobic exercise, which gets your heart pumping hard and takes a lot of energy. The more physical activity you do, the more calories you burn, keeping your metabolism revved up even after you complete your workout. Find an activity you enjoy and engage in it for at least 30 minutes at a time on most days of the week, as advised by the American College of Sports Medicine. Examples of aerobic exercise include bicycling, stair-climbing, vigorous gardening, running, brisk walking, dancing, cross-country skiing, rowing and swimming.
Step 2
Begin strength training two to three times per week. Strengthening exercises help you build and maintain muscle mass, says the Mayo Clinic. Since muscle takes more energy to maintain than fat does, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn. Therefore, strength training increases your overall metabolism, boosting your calorie expenditure not just when you're exercising but all day long. Use weight machines, free weights, resistance bands or your own body weight as resistance to perform strength exercises such as squats, lunges, biceps curls, triceps kickbacks, push-ups, abdominal crunches, shoulder raises, chest presses and dumbbell rows.
Step 3
Increase your overall daily activity. People with fast metabolisms tend to move more than others all day long. Burn more calories by making active choices like walking or bicycling to work or to run errands, taking the stairs whenever possible, accompanying your children on bike rides or hikes, walking your dog more often, shoveling your own snow or mowing your own lawn rather than paying for a service, pacing the floor while on phone calls and parking farther away from the door when you drive to a store or restaurant.
Tips and Warnings
- Instructions for basic strength exercises can be found online, in fitness magazines and workout DVDs or from a certified personal trainer. A registered dietitian can provide you with more information about your metabolic rate and weight control.
- For health and safety reasons, it's best to consult your physician for medical clearance before beginning any new exercise program.
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