Fit Mag: “Turn down the heat, turn up the metabolism”

Tackling bad habits can boost your metabolism and so aid weight loss.
There are things you may be doing which are slowing down your metabolism.
Last week, I talked about some of these, and this week I will focus on some more habits that could be holding you back in your drive to lose weight and get fitter.
Turn down the thermostat: You require energy to keep yourself warm, so sitting in a well-warmed room obviously means the body does not have to work as hard to keep warm. Turn down the central heating thermostat a little.
Drink up: Your body needs to be adequately hydrated with water to keep your metabolism working at its optimum level. A dehydrated body will simply burn fewer calories.
You are spending too long in the gym: I often say that, to make the most of going to the gym, you need to work out wisely.
All too often, when people have time on their hands, they spend too long working at a slow rate throughout their routine. Then, when their life gets busy, the first thing to get dismissed is the gym. HIIT (high intensity interval training) is the ideal way to speed up your metabolism and get you out of the gym quickly. It has been proved that HIIT helps to burn more calories than steady state training.
You have the fear of building any type of muscle: If you are worried about getting stocky, don’t be. A stocky look comes from overeating calories on top of training. Remember the golden rule – you cannot out-train a bad diet.
Fuel up on protein: There are so many great sources of protein to choose from, with the added benefit that your body burns more calories digesting protein than carbohydrate or fat.
Stop the fad diets: Yo-yoing through fad diets over time may cause you metabolic damage. Proper fat loss should come from nutrionally well-balanced meals with controlled portion sizes, including three meals and two sensible snacks. This will keep your metabolism revved up. Try any of the following great exercises too, to really ramp up your upper body workout.
 

Boost metabolism #2

 
Spiderman

1. Start in the top position of a push-up with your arms straight.
2. Bend your elbows and lower your body towards the floor while at the same time bending one knee and bringing it to your elbow with your foot off the floor.
3. Push back up to the top position and repeat with the opposite leg.

Walk out push-up

1. Start by standing upright with your arms by your sides.
2. Then bend forward at the waist putting your hands on the floor and walk your hands out into a push-up position.
3. Complete a push-up,
4. then walk hands back until you return to the start position.

Crossover push-up

1. Support your body on your toes and hands, with your elbows bent and chest nearly touching the floor.
2. Push up to a straight arm position.
3. Move one hand across the other, crossing at the wrists. Move the other hand out and away, opening your hands again to shoulder-width apart. Lower your chest towards the floor, bending at the elbows, as in the start position.

For beginners, you can do the exercise on your knees, see photos.
Do each exercise 12 times before moving on to the next one. When you have completed each exercise, that is one set. Catch your breath before moving on to the next set, and do three to four sets, three to four times a week.