The bedrock of any effective toning program is the ability to raise BMR (basal metabolic rate). The largest percentage of calories burned comes from your BMR.
The main problem here, though, is that you may be lost amongst all the marketing claims. Doesn’t it seem like every new product comes with a novel way to increase calories burned?
Thus, here are 6 things that affect how many calories you burn around the clock:
1. Chronological age. As the years go by so does muscle. One of the main causes of disease with age is the loss of muscle mass. And muscle mass has a very strong influence over BMR.
2. Lean to fat mass ratio. More muscle translates into more calories burned even while you sleep. Add to this some proper nutrition, and the mitochondria in your cells will burn even more calories.
3. Coming down with a fever. Strangely, getting sick also raises your BMR, although temporarily. Having said that, please do not try to get a fever just to burn some extra calories.
4. Stress hormones. The release of stress hormones, mainly from the adrenals, will also increase the amount of calories you burn. Keep in mind, however, that over the long run stress will have a negative impact through a suppressed immune system and muscle loss.
5. Temperature. If you have to adjust to cold temperatures your BMR goes up. If you have to adjust to hot temperatures your BMR also goes up.
6. Caloric drops. If you fast or starve, your BMR will drop very fast. Probably a lot faster than you think. In order to reduce the damage from dieting, you should only slightly restrict calories and never skip meals.
Discovering how to optimize your BMR is the best thing you can do to ensure fat loss success. After all, your BMR has the biggest influence on how many calories your burn on a daily basis. So ignore the hype and stick to the proven facts.
Author Katherine Crawford, a Harvard exercise physiologist and former arm fat sufferer, instructs women on how to get skinny arms. Discover how to get sexy arms by visiting her blog about how to get rid of flabby arms right now!
Tags: build muscle, muscle building, gain muscle, skinny guy