Faster Metabolism, More Energy, and Better Sleep

Exercise variety has greatly expanded in the last few years, yet there is one thing that has not been touched on; the frequency of your daily exercise and activity. By this, we do not mean how often you exercise per week, but how often per day. Exercise is one of the primary ways we control bodyweight. The correct exercise patterns taught by Dynamics of Motion boost the metabolism, build strength, flexibility, and agility, while poor or outdated exercise patters cause injury, chronic problems, and will never teach the body to release its fat stores.

When dealing with more energy and a better ability to control weight, our main focus is going to be on the metabolism. Your metabolism is basically a barometer for how fast your body burns calories. The faster your metabolism, the more efficient your body is at processing calories, and the easier it is for you to either shed or maintain your weight. So how can people with a sluggish metabolism begin to kick it into high gear? To answer this question, first let us look at good dietary habits.

It is now pretty much common knowledge that we should hardly ever eat very large meals. Stuffing ourselves to the point of lethargy is obviously not the way to go if our desire is to lose weight and boost our energy. Learning from the animal kingdom, of which we are a part, we now know that the body functions optimally if we eat several smaller meals throughout the day, rather than one or two gigantic ones. The reason for this is three-fold. First, the body has a much easier time breaking down and digesting small amounts of food because less energy is used. Second, eating small amounts of healthy food throughout the day allows the body to get a continuous supply of fuel. Lastly, eating large meals with huge gaps of time in between tells the body that there is not enough food to go around. This throws the body into starvation mode and slows the metabolism down so that calories may be conserved. If smaller meals are eaten at frequent intervals, the signal is clear to the body that there is plenty of food to go around, thus no calorie hording is needed. It is clear that good dietary habits are a key to boosting the metabolism.

Following the same line of thought regarding dietary habits, we can learn to look at exercise in a similar way. Up to this point, almost everyone that works out does so once a day, or once every other day. This is a great start. However, our bodies are designed to move, and simply exercising for an hour 3 to 4 times a week still keeps us in that sedentary lifestyle.

Hard, intense workouts are exactly what are needed to kick growth hormones into high gear and help the body get into that coveted “fat burning zone”. This prolonged high intensity workout puts the body into fight or flight mode, elevating the metabolism while releasing fat stores and hormones for fuel. But, something else is needed to teach the body to remain in this elevated, high energy state.

Just as we eat several small meals each day to keep the metabolism at high levels, we can utilize the same principal with exercise. In addition to your regular workout, try this idea for a week or two and watch what happens to your energy levels, your weight maintenance, and your quality of sleep.

• 
  Several times a day, preferably 4 to 5 times throughout your workday, get up and take a 3-5 minute break. Pick an exercise that you can easily do in your environment, or simply step out for a minute. Depending on where you are, it could be squats, push-ups (any type you choose), lunges, sprints, burpies, jump rope, jumping jacks, or pull-ups, just to name a few. Pick only one! Do it with all out intensity from 1 to 2 minutes. Remember, the key is all out intensity. This will boost your metabolism, get your blood flowing again, and keep your energy levels high. Instead of coffee, try to get the body moving. You will be amazed at the results you can achieve.

We all complain about never having the time to exercise, but anyone can take 1 to 2 minutes a few times a day. Many people take smoke breaks, so just think of this as your health break. A 5 to 7 minute investment