If you feel your metabolism is slow, which makes it difficult for you to lose weight, you're not alone.
Many people have a higher metabolism rate, which leads to quick weight loss, but some of us struggle to burn calories. While the metabolic rate differs from person to person depending on their bone density and weight, there are ways to speed up your metabolism. One of the best ways to do so is exercising and keeping your body moving.
Exercises to Help Women Improve Their Metabolism
If you want to rev your metabolism, aim to lose weight and get faster and fitter, try the following five exercises to sweat it out:
1) Running Lunge
One of the best ways to sweat hard is to perform cardio exercises. Running lunges are among some of the most effective quad-burning cardio exercises.
The key to making the most out of this exercise is to perform it for an extended amount of time so that your muscles can stay under tension for a long time. This is an excellent way to get you sweating and improve your metabolic rate.
How to do this exercise?
- Take a traditional lunge position with your left foot in front and right knee on the floor behind you.
- Make sure the front of your hip and the angle between the back of your knee is at a 90-degree angle.
- Your front knee should be on the top of your ankle. Your back knee should be directly under your hip.
- Explosively push your back knee up to take a high-knee position, and jump your left foot off the floor simultaneously.
- Return to the starting position, and continue for the desired number of reps.
- If the jump is too hard on your joints, eliminate it, and simply step up.
2) Fire Feet Drill
The Fire-feet drill is another cardio-blaster exercise that can elevate your heart rate and body to sweat in no time. This exercise is also very effective in enhancing your metabolism.
How to do this exercise?
- Stand straight, and position your feet wider than your shoulder distance. Keep a slight bend in your hips and knees.
- Get on the balls of your feet, and run as fast as you can in place.
- After every 10 to 15 seconds, either do a jump squat or tuck jump as high as you can and, continue to run.
3) Burpee Tuck Jump
The burpee tuck jump is one of the best exercises that must be performed as part of your balanced workout.
It's a full-body cardio exercise that works muscle groups throughout your lower and upper body. When done in the correct form, this variation of burpees can increase your heart rate and encourage metabolism, resulting in weight loss.
How to do this exercise:
- Stand tall, and position your feet at your hip distance.
- Jump vertically, and go down into a plank position.
- From the plank position, jump both your feet under your chest, and get into a crouching position.
- Jump again, and bring both your knees up as high as you can.
- Land softly on the floor, and repeat the exercise.
4) Mountain Climber
Mountain climbers are a great high-intensity, full body workout that utilises your entire major muscle group and results in faster metabolism. This exercise also helps strengthen your core muscles.
How to do this exercise:
- Take a plank/push-up position, and keep your hands on the floor in front of you. Make sure your hands are properly stacked under your shoulders.
- Keeping your hips parallel to the floor and both feet together, jump your right knee towards your chest, and take it back to the starting position.
- Run your left knee towards your chest, and keep on alternating your legs with every rep.
- Remember to keep your wrists under your shoulders, and don't allow your hips to lift off the floor.
5) Bear-crawl Shoulder Tap
Bear-crawl shoulder taps are another excellent exercise that utilise a large percentage of your major muscle groups and results in quick calorie burn.
How to do this exercise:
- Take a table-top position with your elbows, shoulders and wrists stacked properly on top of one another. Place your knees on the floor.
- With your knees under your hips, raise them off the floor by bending towards the balls of your feet.
- As you do that, make sure your shins are parallel to the floor but not more than one to two inches off the ground.
- Once you're balanced properly, bring your hand to your opposite shoulder, and tap it.
- Keep your core muscles tight so that your hips don’t sag or move from side to side.
- Control the movement, and continue the exercise for the desired number of reps.
Takeaway
Apart from the aforementioned exercises, there are various other ways to increase your metabolic rate. That includes swimming, cycling, rollerblading, rock climbing, Pilates and yoga.