Your Metabolism and How to Speed it Up

There are many fallacies about what metabolism is and what affects it. Metabolism is the rate of how fast the human body uses calories and carbohydrates. If your metabolism is slow then calories would not be used by your body right away but would be stored for later use in the form of fat.

What can have an affect on your metabolism? The main cause of a slow metabolism is the ratio of fat to lean muscle. The more lean muscle you have the faster your metabolism. Muscle uses more calories just to exist and stay healthy. On the other hand if you have a high percentage of body fat then your metabolism is slow. Another factor of metabolism is your thyroid. If your thyroid is under active then it can slow down your metabolism rate. The only way to know if your thyroid is the cause is by a blood test that your doctor has to perform. How do I know all that? From my own experience with an under active thyroid and the guidance and education from my family doctor and dietitian.

Now that you know it is the ratio of fat to lean muscle that affects your metabolism rate then the key to speeding up your metabolism rate is to increase your muscle mass. Weightlifting is one of the fastest ways to increase your metabolism. For women working the large thigh and leg muscles to increase their lean mass will do wonders in ridding the body of excess fat. Men can work their upper body to help loose their extra body fat. Why do I mention lower body exercises for women and upper body exercises for men? For women it is easier and faster to develop lean muscle mass in the thighs and legs. For men it is easier and fast to develop lean muscle mass in the upper body.

Since muscle mass is what you are aiming for then keep in mind that aerobic exercises will have little affect on your metabolism rate. Aerobic exercises are great for your cardio vascular system but will not increase your muscle ratio by very much. Use aerobic exercises such as jumping rope, bicycling, swimming, running or speed walking as a warm up for your weightlifting routine.

You will find that as your muscle mass increases so will your need for a higher intake of calories. It is not unusual for people with very little body fat to be able to consume 4000 calories a day with little or no body weight gain.

There are no herbs, miracle foods or beverages that will increase your metabolism rate. You can save your money and not buy any of the latest claims of "increase your metabolism today" types of products.

Increasing your own metabolism is very simple, it just takes work. There are no short cuts to a healthy body but the good news is, the sooner you start the faster you will get in great shape.