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As the New Year kicks off, many of us are setting health and fitness goals. For those looking to lose weight or build muscle, one question often comes up: "How can I speed up my metabolism?" While the idea of revving up your metabolism sounds great, it’s essential to separate fact from fiction and focus on strategies that truly work. In this blog post, we’ll bust common myths about metabolism and provide actionable steps to help you support your metabolism for lasting results. What Is Metabolism? Your metabolism is the process your body uses to convert food into energy. It’s not a single organ or system but a series of chemical reactions that keep you alive and functioning. The speed of your metabolism—your metabolic rate—is influenced by several factors, including:
Myth-Busting: What Won’t Speed Up Your Metabolism! Before diving into what works, let’s dispel some common misconceptions:
5 Proven Ways to Support Your Metabolism 1. Build and Maintain Muscle: Resistance training is one of the most effective ways to increase your resting metabolic rate. Muscle tissue requires more energy to maintain than fat, meaning you burn more calories even when at rest. Aim for at least 2-3 strength training sessions per week. Action Step: Start incorporating compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses to build muscle. 2. Prioritize Protein in Every Meal: Protein has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF), meaning your body burns more calories digesting protein compared to carbs or fat. Protein also helps preserve muscle mass during weight loss. Action Step: Include a source of protein (e.g., chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, or Greek yogurt) with every meal and snack. 3. Stay Consistently Active: While exercise is essential, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) also plays a huge role in calorie burn. This includes all the movement you do outside of workouts, such as walking, cleaning, or even fidgeting. Action Step: Set a daily step goal, such as 8,000-10,000 steps, to increase your overall activity level. 4. Don’t Skimp on Sleep: Poor sleep disrupts hormones that regulate hunger and metabolism, such as leptin and ghrelin. Chronic sleep deprivation can make weight management more challenging. Action Step: Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night and establish a consistent sleep schedule. 5. Fuel Your Body Consistently: Under-eating can cause your metabolism to slow down over time as your body tries to conserve energy. Ensure you’re eating enough calories to support your activity level and goals. Action Step: Work with a coach or use a calorie-tracking app to determine the right caloric intake for you. Kickstart Your 2025 Metabolism Goals The start of a new year is the perfect time to take control of your health and set yourself up for success. By focusing on building muscle, eating enough protein, staying active, prioritizing sleep, and fueling your body properly, you can create a lifestyle that supports a healthy metabolism—no gimmicks needed. If you’re ready to start the year strong and want expert guidance, let me help you achieve your goals! I specialize in helping women in their 30s-50s regain confidence, build strength, and simplify fat loss with sustainable methods. Let’s work together to make 2025 your healthiest year yet. Click below to learn more about my personalized coaching programs!
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AuthorBy Coach Kayli Montoya-Huston  I have a bone to pick today, as I'm feeling a bit rant-y.
But mostly, I'm frustrated. Because I think you're getting tricked and it's time you learn the truth... See, the workout "truths" you've been fed are things like,
Ok, to be fair, it's not all nonsense - there is some truth in each one. But it's nonsense to the fact that ~95% of the people reading this newsletter lift weights for aesthetic reasons. Aka you lift weights to look better. Sure, you know it's healthy and therapeutic and helps you move better and makes you stronger, yada, yada. And yes, I get it ⏤ you don't want to look too bulky like a bodybuilder, or get too obsessed with your muscles, or not fit into your favorite outfits. I understand all of that. But at the end of the day, you MOSTLY go to the gym to 1) build muscle and 2) lose fat so you feel more confident in your clothes and proud of the body you see in the mirror. You want to be in-shape. Slim, defined, and muscular in all the right places. (And hey, me too. No shame here.) So if you agree that that is your main motive in the gym, then believing the "truths" above will only prevent you from reaching your goals. And why is that, exactly? Firstly, muscle and fat tissue can ONLY do three things:
And, again, yes we can also workout to improve our cardiovascular fitness, explosive power, core stability, and so on. Or just to have fun! These are all by-products of muscle building workouts too, they just aren't the primary focus. You can go to the gym and do whatever feels good for you. Do the HIIT class, the kettlebells, the battle rope, or Crossfit workouts. Just don't be upset when your body doesn't look the way you want, even though you're working out hard. Because remember: our goal in the gym is NOT to sweat the most or get our heart rate up as high as we can or to train for the NFL combine. Our goal is to gain muscle and lose fat. Period. Which means we need to do workouts that are built for exactly that. There's obviously way too much to break down in one blog, but I'll give you my general template. My muscle-building workout breakdown
To clarify, 2 and 3 are 80% of these workouts. And the other 20% ⏤ 1, 4, and 5 ⏤ support 2 and 3 to make them more effective via injury prevention and core stability. Or cardio, which supports fat loss. Notice how everything is hyper-specific to the goal of building muscle or losing fat. And, of course, the exercise selection, sets, rep ranges, and weekly progressive overload are the other components required to optimize all of this, but this is the skeleton. Maybe I'll chat on those another day, but I hope this was helpful. I'm passionate about making this clear because I want you to get results. And I've had too many clients come to me thinking they've been working out the right way, except they've looked the same for the last two years. Not because they weren't trying. But because they were putting their efforts in the wrong place. So my hope is to help you prevent that. You only have so much time, energy, and bandwidth to make it to the gym in the first place. If you're going to be there, I want you to make it count. Not wasting your time on fluff, false promises, or exercises that simply don't move the needle. One last thing, if you want to completely take the guesswork out of workout programming check out our ASCEND Training App. This app will help elevate your fitness journey with an all-inclusive collection of personal training programs designed to help rise to new heights. Thanks for listening to me rant. If you have any questions, just comment below. Thanks, Kayli |
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