Prevention’s metabolism-revving program can help put your body’s fat-burning engines on autopilot, so your body’s working around the clock to slim you. With the right kind of weight loss workout, you could burn up to 200 extra calories a day, many of them while doing nothing more challenging than watching your favorite movie, eating dinner, or, yes, sleeping. The result: You could lose up to 20 lbs of weight in a year—without eating less. Our metabolism-revving plan can help you burn more calories every day, lose fat, boost your energy, feel stronger and more fit, and look and feel years younger.
Managing Your Metabolism
The metabolism meltdown Metabolism is all the work your body does that requires calories (energy): staying alive, thinking, breathing, and moving your muscles. Obviously, it plays a major role in how much you weigh, especially with each passing birthday. Sometime in your 30s, your metabolism starts slowing down by about 5% every decade. That means if you eat about 1,800 calories a day and fit into size 10s when you’re 35, you’ll be shopping for 12s when you’re 45, even if you’re eating the same number of calories. By the time you’re 55, well, you get the idea. The culprit behind this decline in calorie-burn is muscle loss, says Steve Farrell, PhD, associate director of The Cooper Institute in Dallas. Every pound of muscle you lose can decrease the number of calories you burn by as many as 30 a day. During perimenopause, you start losing about 1/2 lb of muscle a year, a loss that can double once you hit menopause (blame it on lack of activity and just plain aging). If you’re not careful, by the time you’re 65, it’s possible to have lost half of your muscle mass and see your metabolism slowed by 200 to 300 calories. More from Prevention: 8 Effective Exercises You’re Not Doing [pagebreak]Firm and burn! To keep your metabolism chugging in high gear, you need strength training. If you work your major muscle groups twice a week, you can expect to replace 5 to 10 years’ worth of muscle loss in just a few months. Lifting weights can literally reverse the aging process, so you look and feel years, maybe even decades, younger. Lifting weights increases your calorie-burn in other ways, too. In one study, 15 sedentary people in their 60s and 70s who strength trained 3 days a week for 6 months increased their daily calorie-burn by more than 230 calories. Almost one-third of the increase was from a boost in their metabolism due to the muscle they gained. The remaining calories were burned as a result of their workouts, their increased daily activity, and something called “afterburn,” which is an added attraction of strength training exercise. Depending on how hard you work out, explains study author Gary R. Hunter, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, your metabolism can stay elevated for up to 48 hours after you’ve finished lifting. “As a bonus, strength training builds bone,” says Farrell. “Though we tend to think of bones as ‘dead,’ they are very alive and highly active. Strong bones use more nutrients, and ultimately, they burn more calories than weak bones do.” Stay away from the scale When you first start lifting weights, the best way to measure progress is by how your clothes fit notby pounds of weight loss, says Louis J. Aronne, MD, associate professor of medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. Muscle is heavier than fat. So, when you begin, the scale may not budge, or it may even go up a few pounds. Don’t panic! Muscle takes up less space than fat, making you look smaller. The first changes you’ll probably see will be in your waistline and clothing sizes. The scale will catch up. More from Prevention: Losing Weight After 40 Metabolism Boosters Kick your cardio into high gear. Your metabolism may stay revved up to five times longer after a vigorous aerobic workout than after an easy one. Spicy food. A few small studies from Japan have shown that eating a fiery red pepper-spiced meal may boost metabolism up to 30%. One downside: They used a lot of red pepper—between 5 and 6 teaspoons per meal. Sip green tea. In a study from Switzerland, 6 out of 10 men who took a green tea supplement (the equivalent of 1 cup of green tea) three times a day with their meals, burned about 80 more calories during the following 24 hours than those who took a caffeine pill or a dummy pill. The researchers believe that flavonoids in the tea were responsible for the metabolism boost. (Check out 5 Steps To A Perfect Cup Of Tea.) Have a cup of java. The amount of caffeine (about 135 mg) in an 8-oz cup of brewed coffee is enough to raise your metabolism for more than 2 hours. Drinking it before a workout may give you an extra kick. Caffeine may help free stored fat, so your body can burn it for energy as you exercise. (If you have high blood pressure, avoid caffeine before exercise.) More from Prevention: The Workout That Makes Your Metabolism Soar Metabolism Busters Eat too few calories. When you deprive your body, it thinks you’re stuck on Survivor island. The result: Your metabolism slows so you don’t have to resort to eating rats to stay alive. Skip breakfast. According to one study, not eating breakfast may cause your resting metabolic rate to dip by 5%—a small decline, but one that may creep up to a 10-lb weight gain in a year’s time. [pagebreak]
Beginner Workout: Get Shapely Muscles
These exercises challenge more than one muscle group at a time. So you’ll build calorie-burning muscle fast! Do 10 to 12 repetitions of each exercise. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds between exercises. Do this workout three times a week, allowing a day of rest in between. For best results, use an amount of weight that will be difficult to lift during your last few reps. Squat: Bending at the knees and hips, lower yourself as though you’re sitting down. Keep your back straight, and make sure you can always see your toes. Stop just shy of touching the chair, then stand back up. Lunge: Standing with your feet together, step back about 2 to 3 feet with your right foot. Bending your left knee, slowly lower yourself. Keep your left knee directly over your ankle. Before your right knee touches the floor, push off with your right foot, and return to the starting position. Repeat with your left leg. Lat pulldown: Hold an exercise band above your head with your arms almost straight and your hands about shoulder-width apart. The band should be taut, but not pulled tight. Bending your left arm, pull your elbow down toward your hip. Slowly release. Repeat with your right arm. (See Blast Off Your Belly In Record Time for more moves with exercise bands.) Chest press: Lying on your back, hold dumbbells just above chest height with your elbows pointing out. Slowly press the dumbbells straight up, extending your arms. Slowly lower. Seated row: With your arms extended in front of you, hold an exercise band so it’s taut, but not pulled tight. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and pull your hands back toward your rib cage. Your elbows should be close to your body and pointing back. Slowly release. Diagonal curl-up: Slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor, twist to the left, and bring your right shoulder toward your left knee. Slowly lower. Repeat, alternating sides. Overhead press: Hold dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing in. Press the dumbbells straight overhead, then slowly lower. Chair dip: Keeping your shoulders down and your back straight, bend your elbows back, and lower your butt toward the floor as far as comfortably possible. Slowly push back up. No time? Instead of skipping your workout, sneak in just four quick moves. These exercises work most of the major muscles, giving you a speedy metabolism boost when you don’t have time for the full routine: squats, chest press, seated row, and diagonal curl-up. [pagebreak]
Advanced Workout: Blast Off A Plateau
Not getting the results you want? This program starts with a move to specifically hone each area. Then it adds the multimuscle exercises from the beginner program. The result: Your muscles have to work harder, and you’ll start to see weight loss improvements again. Do 10 to 12 repetitions of exercise A in the first pair, then immediately do 8 to 10 reps of exercise B in that pair. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds, then move on to the next exercise pair. Do this workout three times a week, allowing a day of rest in between. A. Seated leg lift: Slowly lift your lower left leg until it is in line with your thigh. Slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg. B. Squat: Bending at the knees and hips, lower yourself as though you’re sitting down. Keep your back straight, and make sure you can always see your toes. Stop just shy of touching the chair, then stand back up.
A. Hamstring curl: Bending your left knee, bring your foot toward your butt until your leg is bent at a 90° angle. Keep your hips on the floor and your foot flexed. Slowly lower. Repeat with your right leg. B. Lunge: Standing with your feet together, step back about 2 to 3 feet with your right foot. Bending your left knee, slowly lower yourself. Keep your left knee directly over your ankle. Before your right knee touches the floor, push off with your right foot, and return to the starting position. Repeat with your left leg. A. Pullover: Grasp a dumbbell with both hands, and hold it above your chest. Without bending your elbows, lower it backward over your head as far as comfortably possible. Don’t arch your back. Slowly return to the starting position. B. Lat pulldown: Hold an exercise band above your head with your arms almost straight and your hands about shoulder-width apart. The band should be taut, but not pulled tight. Bending your left arm, pull your elbow down toward your hip. Slowly release. Repeat with your right arm. A. Chest fly: Hold dumbbells above your chest with your palms facing each other and your elbows slightly bent. Slowly lower your arms out to the sides, and then raise them. B. Chest press: Lying on your back, hold dumbbells just above chest height with your elbows pointing out. Slowly press the dumbbells straight up, extending your arms. Slowly lower. A. Biceps curl: Holding dumbbells at your sides, palms facing forward, slowly lift the dumbbells toward your chest, then lower. B. Seated row: With your arms extended in front of you, hold an exercise band so it’s taut, but not pulled tight. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and pull your hands back toward your rib cage. Your elbows should be close to your body and pointing back. Slowly release.
A. Reverse curl: Bend your hips and knees so that your legs are over your midsection and relaxed. Slowly contract your abdominal muscles, lifting your hips about 2 to 4 inches off the floor. Slowly lower. B. Diagonal curl-up: Slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor, twist to the left, and bring your right shoulder toward your left knee. Slowly lower. Repeat, alternating sides. A. Lateral raise: Holding dumbbells at your sides, slowly lift them to almost shoulder height. Keep your elbows slightly bent. Slowly lower. B. Overhead press: Hold dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing in. Press the dumbbells straight overhead, then slowly lower. A. Triceps kickback: Hold a dumbbell with your left arm bent at a 90° angle and your elbow at your side. Lifting the dumbbell backward, extend your arm until it is straight. Don’t move your upper arm or shoulder. Slowly lower. Repeat with your right arm. B. Chair dip: Keeping your shoulders down and your back straight, bend your elbows back, and lower your butt toward the floor as far as comfortably possible. Slowly push back up. More from Prevention: Award-Winning Butt Moves
