While all movement of your body is good movement, if your goal is to speed up your metabolism, there are certain types of exercise that can really stoke your internal fire.
Of course, everyone’s body is different and, as we’ll get into below, the speed of your metabolism depends on various factors that are unique to you. However, experts agree that there are at least five effective ways to increase the rate of your metabolism through exercise, the most important of which is building muscle through strength training.
Here’s what you need to know about how the metabolic process works, along with recommendations for how to tailor your workout routine so you can maximize it.
The Lowdown on Boosting Your Metabolism
Before digging into how you could potentially rev up your metabolism, it’s important to understand how it works in the first place. Metabolism is essentially the process by which your body converts what you ingest into energy. A person’s basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories a body at rest uses to perform basic functions like breathing and cell repair, depends on a number of factors, including muscle mass, body size, age, sex, how much activity a person does, and how a person’s body digests food.
If you’re looking to speed up this process, research shows that exercise can influence metabolism, particularly through workouts that increase muscle. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that resistance training, like lifting weights, can significantly increase a person’s basal metabolic rate. (A combination of endurance and resistance training can also do this, but to a lesser extent.)
A healthy level of muscle is necessary to maintain an efficient metabolism. As certified personal trainer Mark Bohannon at Ultimate Performance explains, muscle is always in an active state of burning energy, even if you’re on the couch watching Abbott Elementary. “The more muscle you have, the more active your metabolism is going to be,” he tells DailyOM. “Plus, in order to lift weights, you need to expend a lot of muscle energy. That increase in energy will raise your metabolism for the next 24 to 48 hours, so you will continue to burn fat even after you’ve left the gym floor.”
Performing the right types of exercise and eating enough food to fuel your muscles are both key components to speeding up your metabolism.
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5 Exercises to Speed Up Your Metabolism
To rev up that internal fire, try the following types of exercise vouched for by experts.
1. Strength Training
The best way to get your metabolism going is through resistance training, either through lifting weights or using body weight, Bohannon says. This is especially important as people age.
“Age-related muscle loss is the significant factor in the slowing down of the metabolic rate as we grow older,” he explains. “Due to decreasing activity levels after age 30, we lose an average of 5 to 10 pounds of lean body mass — muscle — for every decade that follows. The average person who does nothing about this loses 25 percent of their lean body mass by the age of 65. This equates to a daily drop in metabolic rate of 500 calories, which puts a severe dent into the ability to stay in shape.”
A commitment to building muscle by strength training can reverse this, Bohannon says, suggesting that people strength-train two to three times a week for 45 minutes a session. (If you don’t have that much time, shorter sessions can still be beneficial!)
“Work with weights that present a minor, but not insurmountable, challenge for sets of 10 to 15 repetitions,” he advises. “Try to get progressively stronger by lifting a little bit more weight each time you perform a certain exercise.”
2. Interval Training
This type of exercise involves alternating periods of high-intensity activity — like mountain climbers or squats — with periods of rest. According to Dev Batra, MD, a dual-board certified vascular and interventional radiologist, interval training helps to increase your overall calorie burn and keeps your metabolism going for hours after your workout. “If you’re looking for an exercise that will help you burn more calories both during and after your workout, interval training is a great option,” he says.
Bohannon adds that interval training can be an effective complement to a predominately strength-training-based regime. “With lower-intensity interval training, you can really focus on performing exercises with perfect form,” he says. “You can also do these routines daily if you wish.”
3. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
HIIT workouts are a specific type of interval training in which periods of all-out effort are alternated with periods of what’s called “active recovery,” where you are performing less intense exercises (like marching in place).
“HIIT is the most bang-for-your-buck method of cardio, particularly if you’re short on time. It’s quick, efficient, and extremely tough, and can definitely raise your metabolism,” Bohannon says. “Your metabolic rate is raised for some time after a tough HIIT session, so you’ll be burning more calories after you finish.”
However, he cautions against doing this kind of exercise every day, as you need sufficient recovery between sessions. If you’re a newbie to the gym, he suggests adding one 20-minute HIIT workout weekly on top of your strength training. If you’re more experienced, you can work in two sessions per week.
“The key thing here is to always listen to your body,” he says. “If you feel sluggish or tired, or you’re not sleeping well, or the quality of your gym performances starts diminishing, then consider dropping a HIIT session and prioritize instead getting enough sleep and good quality recovery time.”
4. “Afterburn” Cardiovascular Exercises
Other forms of cardio can also be effective for boosting metabolism if you’re not interested in strength and interval training. According to Matt Claes, head coach and founder of Weight Loss Made Practical, doing activities like running, cycling, or rowing at high intensities can also produce an “afterburn” effect where your body continues to work after your workout ends (similarly to strength training). Claes suggests doing four or five cardio workouts of 20 to 25 minutes a week max, alternating between intervals of high and low speeds.
“Doing these activities intensely enough — but not too intensely — can cause you to burn more calories for a few hours after you stop exercising,” he tells DailyOM. “The afterburn effect typically really starts when you are at 70 to 85 percent of your max heart rate.”
Keep in mind that the effects of cardiovascular exercise on your metabolism are not as long term as strength training; doing too much cardio and not enough strength training can also whittle away muscle mass, Bohannon warns. “Given that we know that increased muscle mass can speed up your metabolism, [overdoing it] with cardio can do more harm than good,” he says.
Always talk to your doctor before trying to hit a certain heart rate in order to take baseline heart measurements and rule out any underlying heart conditions. And to see if you’re increasing your heart rate enough, you can refer to the American Heart Association’s target heart rates chart.
5. Fasted Cardio
Finally, another exercise you could consider is fasted cardio, which is exercising when the digestive system contains no food — about six to eight hours after a meal or snack. According to registered dietitian Trista Best, typically those who engage in fasted cardio exercise first thing in the morning, before eating breakfast.
Best explains that this exercise causes the body to burn fat at a higher rate than it burns stored carbohydrates. “Performance is improved during fasted cardio as well,” she tells DailyOM. “These factors can lead to improvements in weight loss as the body is being pushed further and longer, which ultimately leads to more burned calories.”
Best advises doing fasted cardio for no longer than 30 to 40 minutes at a time and for no more than two nonconsecutive days a week. She also says that this form of exercise may not be safe for everyone. “Those susceptible to low blood sugar or hypoglycemia should not engage in fasted cardio or any form of fasted exercise,” she cautions.
It’s also important to remember that reduced food intake can cause your metabolism to slow down, so be sure to eat enough calories outside of your fasted periods. “Our metabolisms shut down during periods of starvation in order to protect us. Continued restriction of calories and poor exercise choices contribute to turning off the metabolic furnace,” says Bohannon.
Dr. Batra says that eating a healthy, balanced diet is essential for boosting metabolism. “Eating lots of lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs will help to keep your metabolism running strong,” he tells DailyOM.
In the end, speeding up your metabolism is all about balance. As Batra explains it, you want to work hard, but you also need to give your body enough rest.
“If you’re not pushing yourself hard enough, you may not see results,” he says. “However, if you’re working out too often or not giving your body enough time to recover, you could end up overtraining and actually slowing down your metabolism.”
Listen to your body and prioritize what feels right to you over meeting an arbitrary number — whether it’s a specific target heart rate or a benchmark on the scale — in order to find the right balance for your fitness and nutritional needs.
