Your body’s muscle cells are very active, even when you’re not exercising. When you’re moving around during the day going about your regular activities and/or exercising, your muscles have a very high demand for fuel to keep them going. When you’re resting, your muscle cells are still at work burning calories. This contributes to your metabolism.
Am I Stuck With My Slow Metabolism?
Your metabolism is simply the rate at which you burn calories. Everyone has a different metabolic rate. Some have a very high metabolism while others have a slower one. While some factors that influence metabolism are genetic, you’re not exactly stuck with the metabolic rate you have right now.
The Reason Metabolism Slows Down as You Get Older
Use It or Lose It: Muscle Wasting
When your muscles are used less and less, they don’t stay the same size. They actually gradually get smaller over time. This is called atrophy or wasting. Anyone that has ever been confined to a bed during illness has surely noticed this.
People who go on yo-yo diets experience something similar. When they don’t eat enough calories, the body breaks down muscle tissue (protein) to use as fuel. Yes, you can eat yourself if you don’t eat right. Doing this sabotages the weight loss effort because the dieter has decreased their metabolism because they have lost muscle. To make matters worse, this causes weight to be gained back as fat.
How to Increase Your Metabolism: What Science Says
According to a 1994 study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition[1], older adults increased their metabolism by 7% after 12 weeks of strength exercises. A similar 1994 study[2] in 50 to 65 year-old men reported that their resting metabolism was increased almost 8% after doing strength exercises.
Not only does science say that strength training increases your resting metabolism. A 1993 research study[3] showed that metabolism is instantly increased by 12% right after strength training for about two hours.
What If I Don’t Want to Join a Gym or Spend Money?
You don’t need money or a gym to do strength exercises. You can quickly and easily do them in your living room or in the office at work. You can do strength exercises even if you can’t stand or get out of bed. Some examples of exercises you can do at home or work are push-ups, lunges, calf raises (standing on your toes) and squats.
If you’re new to exercise, there are ways to make these exercises easier for you. For example, if you have trouble lying down, getting off the floor or you just aren’t very strong, you can simply do what works for you. You can do push-ups while standing by leaning against and wall with your hands flat and pushing away from the wall. For more of a challenge, you can lean against the side of a sturdy desk and push away.
How Much Fat You Can Lose Each Week
Putting on 10 pounds of muscle weight through resistance exercises will increase the resting metabolism by about 500 calories. [4] To lose 1 pound of fat, you’ll have to burn 3,500 calories, or about 500 calories per day. That means that adding 10 pounds of muscle will help your body burn 1 pound of fat each week when you’re NOT even exercising.
If you haven’t been doing any strength training exercises then you may be losing muscle little by little as time goes on. After you’ve lost 10 pounds of muscle, you will have lowered your resting metabolism by 500 calories per day. This means in theory, you could be eating exactly the same things but gaining a pound per week.
The bottom line is that you MUST do some sort of strength training exercise at least twice per week to keep your metabolism high and lose weight. This is true even if you only have very little time and even if you have heart disease.
Is It Safe to Exercise With My Heart Condition?
If you have heart disease, you may be wondering if it’s even safe for you to exercise with your heart condition. The answer to this question completely depends on what condition you have and whether your doctor has cleared you for exercise. It is very important to get an okay from your doctor before you begin any exercise program.
The most important thing you need to know is that increasing your metabolism through exercise is not only helpful for losing weight, it can also be very healthy for your heart and other health conditions. This is because so many of your health conditions are related to your weight.
Do You Have High Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, or Diabetes?
Losing just 5% or 10% of your weight could help you reduce or totally get rid of your disease symptoms. As a matter of fact, after you start to see the pounds come off, revisit your doctor to have your numbers checked again. He may be able to reduce your medication dosages. Please note that only your doctor should make that decision. Stick to your prescriptions as you’re directed until your doctor changes them.
With that said, here are the specific questions you want to write down (or print from the computer) to ask your doctor the next time you visit him.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before You Exercise
(Print and take with you to your appointment. Record his answers on this page so you can remember them.)
1. Is it safe for me to exercise?
2. If so, what kinds of exercise are okay for me? Can I do cardio exercise that gets my heart rate up? Can I do strength training exercises (examples: push-ups, lunges)?
3. How high can I allow my heart rate to go when I exercise? Do any of my medications affect my heart rate (example: beta blockers)?
4. How often should I do cardio exercise? How often should I do strength exercises?
5. What kinds of positions or exercises should I avoid?
6. What symptoms should I look out for during exercise that will tell me to stop or slow down?
References:
- Pratley, R., Nicklas, B., Rubin, M., Miller, J., Smith, A., M., Hurley, B., and A. Goldberg. (1994) Strength training increases resting metabolic rate and norepinephrine levels in healthy 50 to 65 year-old men. Journal of Applied Physiology 76: 133-137.
- Melby, C., Scholl, C., Edwards, G., and R. Bullough (1993). Effect of acute resistance exercise on postexercise energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate. Journal of Applied Physiology 75 (4): 1847-1853
- Paffenbarger, R., and E. Olsen (1996) Life fit: An effective exercise program for optimal health and a longer life.
