Best Way to Increase Metabolism?

Anyone here know of ways to increase your metabolism? I heard drinking enough water helps? Exercise Etc... Anything else?

Bump my thread !!! LOL bump bump

I have been on so many fad diets to do things like this, that your head would spin. If you want to live a relatively "normal" life, in terms of eating foods that are different and that you actually like (who wants to eat Lean Cuisine for the rest of their lives), then keep it simple.

My rules:

Eat decent portions of foods, without overeating. What is an appropriate portion? Go by the size of your fist (thank you Body For Life).

Many times when you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. Drink plenty of water. I drink a gallon of water per day.

No smoking. It slows you and your body down, and promotes fat buildup around your abdomen. Plus it isn't the best if you want to start jogging.

Exercise! Just taking a thermogenic supplement is not going to help you that much. Everything you eat needs to be used or expelled, not stored. We are not camels.

In my opinion, it really is just that simple. Don't overeat, but don't undereat. Exercise. When you're sitting at your computer reading a long article, hold a weight in your other hand and work your arms. My biggest belief is that with all of these "fad diets," they work temporarily, but you really need to do something that you can work into your life permanently to live a healthy life!

Physical activity mainly... Also, I think a person's metabolism is by and large in the genes. It seems some families have higher metabolism, higher frequencies (?), than other families do.

I heard that Green tea and or EGCG help increase metabolism. Not that you can just sit around all day and drink green tea, but in conjunction with exercise, and lots of small portions throughout the day could possibly help in losing weight.

High intensity interval training.

Don't oversleep, it slows down your metabloism drastically.

eat a small (healthy) meal every 2-3 hours
High intensity interval training
Gaining more muscle

Originally posted by niteboy82
I have been on so many fad diets to do things like this, that your head would spin. If you want to live a relatively "normal" life, in terms of eating foods that are different and that you actually like (who wants to eat Lean Cuisine for the rest of their lives), then keep it simple.

My rules:

Eat decent portions of foods, without overeating. What is an appropriate portion? Go by the size of your fist (thank you Body For Life).

Many times when you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. Drink plenty of water. I drink a gallon of water per day.

No smoking. It slows you and your body down, and promotes fat buildup around your abdomen. Plus it isn't the best if you want to start jogging.

Exercise! Just taking a thermogenic supplement is not going to help you that much. Everything you eat needs to be used or expelled, not stored. We are not camels.

In my opinion, it really is just that simple. Don't overeat, but don't undereat. Exercise. When you're sitting at your computer reading a long article, hold a weight in your other hand and work your arms. My biggest belief is that with all of these "fad diets," they work temporarily, but you really need to do something that you can work into your life permanently to live a healthy life!

Portion the size of your fist?! Snacks to me are bigger than my fist. Then again I weight train and practice mixed martial arts so Im supposed to eat more than a person should. As for your metabolism goes, I dont know if youre trying to lose weight, gain it or what. If youre trying to increase your muscle mass a lot then maybe eat whatever (dont over do it of course) cause cholestrol will turn into testosterone. Many weight trainers who eat right are usually the weakest because they dont consume enough calories. Again, I dont know if youre trying to lose weight or gain it in muscle mass.

Build muscle. Ask yourself what uses the majority of energy in your body.

Building a little muscular mass is the best way to boost your metabolic rate. The more muscular you are, the more calories you will burn whether you are exercising or not, or even eating right.

A glass of warm water with a slice of lemon first thing in the morning.

Small but regular meals. Eat something wholewheat or vegetable based every 2 hours, rather than 3 main meals a day.

Cardiovascular exercise. Nothing formal but climbing stairs rather than using the lift. Walking one or two miles rather than take the car. sex!

ALWAYS have breakfast. Something like porridge (oatmeal)

HTH

Originally posted by steve22
eat a small (healthy) meal every 2-3 hours
High intensity interval training
Gaining more muscle

Small meal that is mostly protein is better. People generally don't get enough of that.

It's been shown that there's a 'thermogenic effect' that occurs due to eating (body temp and thus basal metabolic rate goes up). So eating several small protein meals will help boost metabolism.

High intensity interval training is good, but it's also been shown that weight training is more effective than endurance activities.

Also been shown that you can get pretty good benefits from doing two to three 20 minute sessions per day of interval training. (I try to do two, am and pm).

Originally posted by Badge01
it's also been shown that weight training is more effective than endurance activities.

More effective for what? Endurance workouts will burn more calories overall, and are better for overall cardiovascular health/performance. Weight lifting will boost your daily metabolism more than endurance workouts, but burns less calories while you're doing it. Also, the majority of people who lift weights aren't doing it with enough intensity to see much benefit in those areas.

Originally posted by Shoktek

Originally posted by Badge01
it's also been shown that weight training is more effective than endurance activities.

More effective for what? Endurance workouts will burn more calories overall, and are better for overall cardiovascular health/performance. Weight lifting will boost your daily metabolism more than endurance workouts, but burns less calories while you're doing it. Also, the majority of people who lift weights aren't doing it with enough intensity to see much benefit in those areas.

Sorry, meant to say for 'boosting metabolism'. The main factor seems to be post-workout metabolic elevation.

According to studies (see PubMed), higher caloric expenditure occurs for about 6-8 hours post-workout, after about 45 min of weight training than with even an hour or two of endurance-type workouts.

I'm not sure anyone is in a position to say how 'most people' lift weights. Perhaps it would be more precise to say weight training with free weights. I'm aware that someone can go to a gym and spend the whole time talking to the lycra-bunnies.

I'd agree, citing only my own experience, that an hour of jogging on hilly terrain at an 8min/mile pace is a very effective metabolism booster, and I'd usually be giving off steam for an hour post-run, and would be feeling hot indoors for several hours.

So it depends.

Originally posted by Badge01
I'm not sure anyone is in a position to say how 'most people' lift weights. Perhaps it would be more precise to say weight training with free weights. I'm aware that someone can go to a gym and spend the whole time talking to the lycra-bunnies.

I'd agree, citing only my own experience, that an hour of jogging on hilly terrain at an 8min/mile pace is a very effective metabolism booster, and I'd usually be giving off steam for an hour post-run, and would be feeling hot indoors for several hours.

Well, I've spent enough time lifting at the gym to notice how most people "work out" with weights...bench press, barbell curls, maybe some calf raises, then spend 20 minutes on abs and that's it.

I definitely know lifting is a great exercise, good for overall health. It certainly boosts the metabolism, as I can tell for the rest of the day, and I always feel starving and depleted after lifting, which is why I down a very caloric protein/carb shake to counteract any calories I might burn. It increases muscular strength, lowers blood pressure overall (though more than doubles it during an intense workout), increases bone density, tendon/ligament strength, etc. Although I do work out with more intensity than most people when I lift...still, I would rather do 45 minutes of lifting than 30 minutes of HIIT on the exercise bike, that stuff really kills if you go hard.

Originally posted by Shoktek

Well, I've spent enough time lifting at the gym to notice how most people "work out" with weights...bench press, barbell curls, maybe some calf raises, then spend 20 minutes on abs and that's it.

I definitely know lifting is a great exercise, good for overall health. It certainly boosts the metabolism, as I can tell for the rest of the day, and I always feel starving and depleted after lifting, which is why I down a very caloric protein/carb shake to counteract any calories I might burn. It increases muscular strength, lowers blood pressure overall (though more than doubles it during an intense workout), increases bone density, tendon/ligament strength, etc. Although I do work out with more intensity than most people when I lift...still, I would rather do 45 minutes of lifting than 30 minutes of HIIT on the exercise bike, that stuff really kills if you go hard.

Tell me about it. I try to generate 200 watts for 30 minutes, in addition to intervals. It's much harder on the RPE scale than most of my lifting. Do you do squats? Try doing 20-rep breathing squats. Make sure there's a trash can nearby. LOL.

As far as the boost to metabolism, I'm just relating what the research seems to show, and intensity can certainly make a difference. I've never found anything to cause as much of a boost as running for 45' to an hour, and back in the day, I'd often spend 90 minutes in the gym lifting, resting only about 30 seconds between sets, super and giant-setting.

I do seem to bounce back more quickly from hard intervals on the bike than I do from 60-90 min of bone crushing work with weights. About 20 minutes after finishing my intervals I feel pretty normal. But you feel a deep (and satisfying) depletion from a hard weight workout.

I think the newest research shows that there's even more of a boost if you do some endurance work at 60% of your HRMax and then about 30 min later, repeat that. There's definitely an elevation in the rate and amount of fat burning.

You know the Kenyans do a regime where they get up and run first thing in basically a fasting state and then go eat and about two hours later go and run again. This is now considered the elite method of training cardio - a fasting run early followed by a 30 min power nap and then another hard road run (or ride) in the early afternoon.

Good training to you!

Yes I do squats, just did them about a half hour ago actually...the most I go is about 8 reps though, as I train for maximum strength/power...and also hate high rep squats. I do full squats though, basically going as low as I possibly can with a slight pause at the bottom and back up. I've noticed that most people at the gym don't even go 3/4 of the way to parallel, if they hit squats (or legs even) at all.

The idea of doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is one that I've heard a lot...that will get your heart rate up well for the whole day, and is a very good way to lose weight/fat. Wake up and immediately run a few miles or do HIIT, then eat afterwards.

[edit on 3-3-2007 by Shoktek]

Originally posted by Shoktek
Yes I do squats, just did them about a half hour ago actually...the most I go is about 8 reps though, as I train for maximum strength/power...and also hate high rep squats. I do full squats though, basically going as low as I possibly can with a slight pause at the bottom and back up. I've noticed that most people at the gym don't even go 3/4 of the way to parallel, if they hit squats (or legs even) at all.

The idea of doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is one that I've heard a lot...that will get your heart rate up well for the whole day, and is a very good way to lose weight/fat. Wake up and immediately run a few miles or do HIIT, then eat afterwards.

[edit on 3-3-2007 by Shoktek]

Ah I need to do squats, but my workout room is so damn clustered I dont have enough room to do it. What protein shake do you drink? I know what you mean by starving after you work out, I always eat a meal before I work out then I eat a bigger meal afterward.

The one I usually make is:

3/4-1 cup skim milk
1 cup oatmeal (just plain quaker oats)
1.5-2 scoops of chocolate Optimum 100% natural whey protein powder
1-2 tbsp. natural organic peanut butter
Several ice cubes

Then blend

I also throw in some chocolate bits or chocolate powder or something to add to the taste...if it is post workout, then I use a bit more protein powder, no peanut butter (as it slows down protein absorption), and instead add in some sugary milk-chocolate pieces/powder or something similar.

If you are trying to gain weight/muscle, add 2-3 of those shakes in to each day, along with some good hearty meals.

[edit on 6-3-2007 by Shoktek]