Why does metabolism slow down?
How many times have you heard someone say, “as soon as you hit 30 your metabolism slows down”? Maybe you’ve said it. I know I hear it all the time and I got tired of hearing it so I did a little research and found that the metabolism does NOT slow down significantly due to aging but DOES due to a lack of muscle. And, you don’t lose muscle quickly due to aging either but due to a decrease or lack of physical stress.
So, the major cause of a slowing metabolism is three fold...
- You lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
- your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but you won’t supply any because you are “dieting” and skipping meals
- Your activity levels tend to decrease as you get older
So now that we know the problem... what’s the solution? Address those 3 issues! I’ve found through years of experience helping hundreds of people, that increasing your metabolism and getting rid of that excess body fat can often times be quite easy! Yet you’ll hear of all these experts telling you how hard it is and why you need to buy their new diet program, supplement, or fitness contraption.
It’s not that hard, it doesn’t have to be confusing, and you don’t need any of that crap! All you need is an understanding of how your body works and the willingness to make some small changes.
Here’s my basic formula for jump starting your metabolism:
Step 1 - Stop the storage of new fat
It doesn't make any sense to start an exercise program if you just end up adding new fat later that day. This is a problem that is very common among people who start an exercise in an attempt to lose weight.
See the problem is this...
We don’t get fat due to a lack of exercise
– we get fat because we supply the body with
more calories than it needs at a given time. So the
solution has nothing to do with exercise – it’s
all about your eating! And I’m not saying you
have to eat low-fat, super clean and healthy diet
consisting of salad and tofu only. You can still eat
the foods you like IF you can give the body just the
amount it needs.
The key is to give the body the energy it needs, but just that amount and not a bunch extra because extra is extra is extra, it doesn’t matter what it’s from. Salad can be stored as fat, celery can be stored as fat – if it results in extra it can be stored as fat. I should also note that not all extra energy is stored in the fat cells and I will touch on that later.
So forget about trying to burn off any fat unless you can first stop storing new fat! Again, you do that by matching your eating to your activity level. This means small, balanced meals or snacks every 2-3 hours and the amount of calories in each feeding should depend on how active you are at that time of day.
Step 2 – Attack the existing fat
This requires a combination approach consisting of stable blood sugar/energy levels, and progressive cardiovascular/aerobic exercise and strength training.
We already talked about how important stable blood sugar and energy levels are and how to match your eating to your activity level so now I’d like to cover the exercise part of the equation.
In order for the exercise to even be worth your time you must be sure it’s progressive. Just because you run on the treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week, that doesn’t mean your body has to burn off that unwanted body fat! You have to force the body to make changes and improvements and the ONLY way to do that is to consistently provide a stimulus or stress that is greater than what the body is used to.
Here are some general guidelines on how you can make your exercise progressive and productive:
Strength training
- Change exercises frequently (every 2-4 weeks)
- Increase resistance
- Perform more reps
- Slower reps
- Advanced techniques
Cardiovascular training
- Increase speed/resistance
- Perform intervals
- Increase distance traveled
- Cross train by performing numerous activities
For more specific techniques please check out the all the great articles on metabolism and fitness in the free resources section of my website here: http://www.achieve-fitness.com/free_resources.htm
I should also say that it is extremely important that you have a well thought out and detailed plan to follow. You can’t just say “ok, now I know what to do” and then try a little of this here and little of that there. You need a roadmap. If you are serious about achieving your weight loss and fitness goals I highly recommend you get the help of a professional. Whether that means one on one, personal fitness training or just a do-it-yourself fitness plan – your chances of success are much greater.
In closing, please remember, it doesn’t have to be confusing. Hopefully this information has shown you how easy it can be if you know what you are doing. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how you can guarantee your fitness success, please visit my website http://www.achieve-fitness.com or you can give me a call at 240-731-3724. While your’e at my website be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter, Fitness Success News – it’s full of great articles, tips, healthy recipes, contests, and more!
>> Click here for Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program (a must have for anyone serious about losing body fat and getting fit!)
