Want to increase your metabolism? Or at least ensure it doesn’t slow?

Strength training increases the size and the density of your lean muscle mass.

Muscle mass requires more energy than fat, so your energy expenditure or caloric burn goes up for every activity – even sleep.

• Exercising of course burns more calories while you’re doing it – but that’s a small part of the benefit of exercise
• The influence of exercise on your energy expenditure AFTER exercise is next: called the “after burn” or excess post oxygen consumption, this increase in energy needed occurs when your body repairs muscle and tissue damage from exercise, and restores your circulatory and respiratory systems from the work of exercise… Its like the interest paid on a loan. Depending on the exercise that can be higher or lower and last for a few hours or day
• Long term – the increase of lean muscle in turn promotes the reduction of fat tissue so over time it is the last two that are the most impactful on metabolism and body composition:

What you burn all day matters MORE than what you do during a 45–60-minute exercise session

A change in body composition that increases muscle and decreases fat ultimately means more energy expenditure… and more energy to spend.

Why Diets Don’t Work…

And then let’s talk about the elephant in the room. They do. Oh, they do, right? For a period of time. But the roller-coaster ride that nearly every woman has been on at least once in her life, is that a diet will work.. until it doesn’t.

When you eat less. You tell your body to burn less. It does.

You become more tired. Your body is trying to conserve energy. It will tell you more often you’re tired, you’ll lose your motivation*, you’ll become more hungry more often and when you do eat, you won’t eat normal portions potentially.

*A lack of motivation is something that many women in our community ask about. Why they have it, what to do with it, how to stay motivated.

There are biological things going on… fewer receptor sites for neurotransmitters like the “feel good” hormones that used to come from exercise. You’ve heard me talk about c60 and I’ll link to podcasts about it

We’ve forgotten these basic parts of exercise. Even trainers are not focused on them. Often caught up in trying to trump each other with creative and innovative workouts, they’ve forgotten principles of solid science.

Weight lifting with basic movements done enough times to fatigue, repeated at minimum 2 sets, and given adequate recovery between… will allow muscle to respond positively.

And in other good news…

When You Lift, You’ll Need to Eat to Gain Muscle

So, say goodbye to diets. To gain muscle which will help you burn more energy all day, you need to have a surplus of calories.

You can’t starve and even fast, avoiding food for hours a day and not do damage to your thyroid, or your muscle. Refeeding after a fast is crucial to your success of metabolism-boosting muscle as well as bone density. Exercise during a fed state for many women midlife and beyond (as well as younger female athletes) is crucial to optimal health.

We’ve become a society obsessed by fat burning and low fat and thinness. When it happens because of selfcare that’s nature. When you try to attain it by starving, playing games, avoiding food most of the time and bingeing others, rarely will you find a healthy body composition.

You’re not forced to fast or even diet like a body builder (and fasting to lose weight can backfire on thyroid and metabolism if it’s done incorrectly).

You can avoid soreness from lack of repair of tissue when you focus on total body strength training.

Hint: for virgin lifters, you have the most to gain so changes in strength and muscle mass will come even if you have a slight caloric deficit. If you’ve been lifting for say two years, you will need to eat, and eat well.

It’s not too late.. but almost! Strength train with STRONGER. Start here: https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger

Doors close Thursday at midnight Eastern