How to Speed Up Your Metabolism with Exercise

You probably already know that cardiovascular or aerobic exercise plays an important role in boosting your metabolism. Cardiovascular exercises increase heart rate, circulation, body temperature and oxygen intake - all things that send the body messages to initiate catabolism. Catabolism is the process of breaking down cells and using them for energy. Obviously aerobic exercise is a good place to start for speeding up your metabolism but there is more that you can do to boost the effects of exercise.

The body will always try to use energy in the most efficient way. When you first begin an exercise regimen, your body has to work harder to provide the energy you need. As you repeat your routine, the body learns how to provide this energy faster and easier each time. After a while, you can do the same routine and not even break a sweat.

What has happened is that the body has become so efficient at providing the energy needed, that it no longer has to dip into the energy reserves hiding in those nasty fat cells. You need it to initiate catabolism in order to tap into those reserves. That's why varying your exercise routine is so vital to having a long-term effect on your metabolism. When you add variety, your body can't get into a groove where it's so efficient that it can actually slow your metabolism.

One easy but effective way to vary your routine is to break it up into smaller parts. For example, doing three 20-minute workouts can boost your metabolism more than doing a one hour routine. Another very easy way is to add exercise throughout your day so it's not at set times. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking further away from the store are simple ways to add a few extra unscheduled minutes of exercise.

Interval training is a great way to add a high energy burning component to your exercise regimen in a sporadic manner. This is when you add a higher intensity exercise in short bursts. For example if you jog twenty minutes on a regular basis, inserting a two minute sprint into your routine can really help boost your metabolism. This high intensity interval serves to give your body a little jolt which will make it turn up your catabolism a notch.

Muscle building is a powerful way to boost your metabolism. A pound of muscle burns more calories (energy) than a pound of fat. This means that if you have more muscle anywhere on your body, you will automatically burn more calories as a result. That's even without doing anything since your body is constantly using energy at every moment!

There are many ways to build muscle through a variety of exercise routines. Weight training, strength training, and even stretching exercises all promote lean muscle. Once you start building muscle through any method, your body will itself start burning more calories. The more fat you transform into muscle, the more calories you'll burn just to maintain that muscle.

Any exercise is better than no exercise but the right forms of exercise can really boost the metabolic benefits. Combine variety, interval training, and muscle building to kick your metabolism into high gear. You can turn your body into a calorie-burning catabolic machine!