People often want to know how to increase metabolism without exercise. But then again, we all know that it is an exercise to increase metabolism naturally that truly takes weight loss warriors to the finish line.
How to Increase Metabolism
What causes fast metabolism?
Metabolism refers to the group of processes that influence how we burn energy, move efficiently, and generally use the resources available to us in the body.
Proper metabolism ensures a healthy and fit body, while problematic metabolism can lead to chronic and degenerative conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Over time, long-term bad lifestyle choices can lead to defective or slow metabolism. Usually, people experience near-constant fatigue, and they are unable to burn calories and fat stores efficiently, leading to obesity.
Metabolic issues can also result in leptin deficiency, which can make the body burn off protein stores in the muscles rather than fat stores. People with eating disorders often experience deficiencies related to hormones responsible for normal metabolism, and this causes many medical issues, including heart problems, muscle wastage, fluid retention, and abnormal fat retention despite less than the ideal weight.
Can you increase your metabolism to lose weight?
There are two schools of thought here that often intersect, but never truly converge. On the one hand, some people believe that metabolism can be increased or even boosted by eating the right kinds of food – tea, coffee, lean cuts of meat, and so on. These are the people who believe in the scientific data that shows that certain components in food interact with hormones and genes in the body that are associated with growing lean muscle and burning off fat.
The second school of thought regarding metabolism believes that it is in the right exercises that you can boost your metabolism fast. This school of thought states that the more you engage in physical fitness, the more your metabolism speeds up.
The way we see it, these two schools of thought are complementary, and there is no harm in applying principles from both sides. We know that some foods can mess with the body’s natural rhythm, such as sugar, so high sugar food items and beverages should be avoided as much as possible if you are trying to improve your metabolism and control your weight. Of course, people who do a lot of exercises may have more leeway when it comes to consuming calories because they perform more exercise daily. Professional cyclists, for example, can burn thousands of calories in their daily training runs.
They require energy so badly that they even consume what is known as energy gels, which are sports energy supplements in a gel form that once consumed, can instantly be used by the body for fuel. It’s different for each person because each person has his/her level of fitness and physical activity.
Can you speed up your metabolism?
If you are just starting with your weight loss journey, know that wherever you may look, it is an aerobic activity that provides the most gains to people when they are trying to speed up their metabolism. Aerobic activity also speeds up the improvement of the various pathways that allow a person to do more physically.
For example, if you engage in aerobic exercises and activities like running and swimming, you will be able to increase your stamina, endurance, cardiac output, and lung capacity after weeks and months.
As your body improves, your capacity to do more exercise also increases, and you will be able to exercise more and lose more weight in the process. All of your efforts in increasing your metabolism will eventually reward you in the end – just keep pushing.
What about HIIT, kettlebell training, and other fitness methods?
We recommend that you try them all because you wouldn’t know if something might work for you if you don’t try. Russian kettlebells, for example, are better for people who have strong frames that can swing weights in a ballistic manner. Kettlebells are also used for physiotherapy and for strengthening people’s abdominal muscles while working on another major muscle group.
HIIT is a fast method of increasing your caloric burn rate by raising your cardiac rate and challenging multiple major muscle groups all at once. High-intensity interval training alternates slow and fast movements over some time to bring the body into fat-burning mode more quickly.
Foods that Increase Metabolism
While doctors and sports expert are always cautious about recommending specific foods for increasing your metabolism, here are some nutritional guidelines that are backed by science and medicine:
- Keep yourself hydrated, because as you exercise and burn off fats, your body has to regulate itself more and filter impurities as a result of constant physical movement. If you don’t want to buy sports drinks, there’s no need for these as the body needs pure water, mainly to recover.
However, if you feel nauseous and fatigued, you may be suffering from depleted electrolytes, so feel free to mix a tall glass of cold water and a small pinch of salt to control the water loss, during and after a good workout. - Spicy foods appear to have a positive effect on metabolism. You can either eat spicy food or add chilies to your favorite meals. Capsaicin found in chilies appears to increase the body’s capacity to burn calories. There’s no harm in trying.
- Eat fruits and vegetables that are rich in potassium and essential nutrients. Potassium, specifically, is heart-protective and reduces tissue inflammation. Eating bananas, which are naturally rich in potassium, can help not only with strengthening the heart during workouts, but it can also reduce pain and inflammation after a workout.
- Drink green tea and coffee. Green tea and coffee possess caffeine, which has been shown to increase human metabolism by as much as 11%. There is also evidence that green tea naturally promotes burning fat stores in the body.
