6 Tips to Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat at Any Age

Is your metabolism slowing down, and you don’t know what to do about it? There are ways to speed it up, explains one health expert. Cori Lefkowith started a company, Redefining Strength, to help people achieve their diet and fitness goals. In a recent viral video, she reveals six tips on how to increase metabolism at any age.

1. Metabolism and Age

“Our metabolism does slow down as we get older. But so much of the metabolic slowdown that we blame on age is actually due to lifestyle factors we can CHANGE adding up,” she writes in the caption. “We have to remember that nothing works forever. And often what we “got away with” even when we are younger is now coming back to haunt us,” she continues. As our bodies and lifestyles evolve, we’ve got to adjust how we fuel and train. That’s why I’m going to share six tips to help boost your metabolism to lose fat at any and every age,” she writes.

2. Hydration

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First, she recommends focusing on hydration. “Many of us know we should drink more water, but the struggle's real to actually change this habit. Not only is it confusing to know how much water to drink, but it's hard to stop yourself during the day from getting water when it isn't really a part of your routine, or you're not really thirsty for it.”

3. Here’s How Much to Drink

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“However, proper hydration becomes more important as we get older and even start the hormonal changes of perimenopause. Especially if you're training hard, you want to consider consuming more than the general recommendation of 50% of your body weight ounces. You want to even shoot for 70% of your body weight and ounces of water consumed every day,” she says.

4. Here’s a Hydration Tip

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One tip to help you drink more water? “Set out a filled water bottle by the coffee maker to remind you to drink more water even as you make your coffee,” she says.

5. Also, Consume More Hydrating Foods

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“You can improve your hydration by not only drinking more water but also by consuming more water through your foods. To consume more high water content foods, make a salad of cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce, add berries to your oatmeal for breakfast to improve your hydration to start your day, or try melons in your cottage cheese as a protein-rich snack to stay hydrated,” she says. Not only will this help you hydrate, but “this will also improve your micronutrient intake,” she says.

6. Protein

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Second, eat 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal, she recommends. “Increasing your protein is key, and while most of us have heard that we can only consume 20 to 30 grams of protein in one sitting, this just isn't the case. While 20 to 30 grams may be the max we need to utilize to build muscle from one sitting specifically, this is also based on studies of protein supplements,” she says.

7. Increase Your Consumption to Speed Digestion

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“The other macros we consume at the meal will impact the rate of digestion, slowing the process to even let us better utilize more in one sitting. Not to mention, as we get older, we're less able to utilize protein as efficiently, meaning we need more to see the same results. That's why increasing our protein intake to 30 to 40 grams per meal, especially post-workout, can be so key,” she adds.

8. The More You Train, the More Protein You Need

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“The harder you train, the more you want to focus on a higher protein intake to make sure you're able to repair and recover more efficiently from your training,” she explains. “If we aren't able to recover and rebuild properly, we may see our hard work in the gym not pay off the way we'd like.”

9. It Will Help Build Muscle and Burn Fat

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“In terms of strengthening and muscle growth, which can impact our metabolic health, protein is not only key because of its muscle-building benefits but also because it keeps us feeling fuller. If we're in a calorie deficit to lose weight, this can make sticking to our nutritional plan easier long term, which allows consistency and time to work,” she adds. “Their magic plus protein has a higher thermic effect than the other macros. This means that your body burns more calories to digest and utilize protein for other bodily functions and to keep your tissue strong and healthy.”

10. Food Quality

It's also important to find your food quality balance. “I'm a big believer in working in the foods you love. I love having a rice crispy treat or Reese's peanut butter cup or ice cream as dessert, and I'll plan these things first when I want them,” she says.

11. Don’t Feel Clean Eating Pressure

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“I also think we often sabotage ourselves with this clean eating pressure where we feel like we can't have things we enjoy and we eliminate foods arbitrarily that aren't even necessarily an intolerance we personally struggle with. But we do need to find a balance,” she says.

12. But Focus on Fueling Up with Mircros

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“Quality fuel helps our body function best, and we always want to seek to balance enjoying life and functioning optimally. We need those essential micros not only to feel our best and stay healthy but also to keep our metabolic grade higher and help us lose fat.”

13. Choline

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She explains that there are a “few micronutrients you might want focus on more if you're working to lose fat and rev that metabolism.” The first is choline— a nutrient that is found in many foods. “Choline is involved in the process of lipolysis or fat loss, helping to break down fat into smaller pieces to be burned as energy; eggs, beef, red potatoes, and kidney beans are all great sources to include,” she says.

14. Magnesium

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“Magnesium is involved in nearly everything, but when it comes to fat loss and metabolism, it helps control insulin and glucose, which both impact fat storage. It can also help with water retention and bloating, especially as you're increasing protein and making other dietary changes. Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, and spinach are all great sources,” she explains.

15. Vitamin D

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“Vitamin D is also key to include, but it's harder to boost through our food consumption even if we try to get out in the sun daily. As we get older, we want make sure we're boosting our intake even with a supplement. Studies have shown that low levels of vitamin D are linked to higher rates of obesity,” she says.

16. Selenium and Zinc

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Selenium and zinc “are key for proper thyroid functioning,” she says. “Impaired thyroid functioning will lead to a slower metabolism. To increase your intake of selenium, include foods like Brazil nuts, yellowfin tuna, and halibut, and to increase zinc, consider oysters, pumpkin seeds, pork loin, and even oats.”

17. Workout Splits

“While I've already talked about three key nutritional tips, the best results happen when our diet and workouts work together. That's why you can't ignore the importance of your training for your metabolic health. When designing your workouts, stop doing body parts splits. Design progressions that work your upper and lower body in the same workouts,” she recommends.

18. This Will Help Keep Your Metabolism Healthy

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“Full body workouts or anterior-posterior splits can be beneficial if you're looking to keep your metabolism healthy as you get older without having to spend hours in the gym six days a week. Not only are these workouts more efficient, but you'll target multiple large muscle groups at each session to help you more efficiently build muscle and burn more calories,” she says. “This extra calorie burn because you're working more big muscles per session to build more muscle isn't a bad added bonus. And by doing these splits, you can also increase your training frequency for areas over the course of the week.”

19. Train Two to Three Times a Week

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“Training a body part two to three times per week over simply doing more for an area in a single session may help you see better muscle gains. That training frequency of two to three times a week can help you grow lean muscle for especially stubborn areas. It can also help you train the area at a higher intensity, with each session performing a higher overall quality of work. Too often, we simply include more training volume in a workout that becomes wasted as we fatigue over the session. So workouts that allow you to target different areas each and every session, but that includes work for both your upper and lower body,” she says.

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20. Weights

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The next training tip is to focus on low reps and heavy weights. “Too often, we turn to more cardio or metabolic workouts. When we want lose fat, they make us feel out of breath and like we worked hard, but muscle is what stokes that metabolic fire,” she says. “To build that muscle, we need heavy loads and progression and movements that challenge our muscles to tear them down so they have to rebuild stronger. That's why you want work down in reps and up and weight during your training. And while using a diversity of rep ranges is ideal, don't ignore that maximal strength rep range of one to five reps, even if muscle hypertrophy and fat loss are your goals.”

21. Increasing Weights Will Improve Muscle Gains

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“Increasing our strength and allows us to move more weight during our training sessions, which will improve our muscle gains. So while you might have heard that six to 12 reps is best for muscle hypertrophy and you do want include this rep range, working lower in reps and higher in weights will help you improve your strength and this will allow you to be stronger to lift more,” she says.

22. Here’s a Tip

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“When you do work in that six to 12 rep range, consider including a single heavy compound lift at the start of your workout for four to five rounds of three to five reps, resting three to five minutes between rounds. Follow that up with other compound accessory exercises in that six to 12 rep range. To target specific muscle groups, you've already started fatiguing with that first lift,” she recommends.

23. Sprints

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The final tip is to sprint more. “This high-intensity interval work is so key to our conditioning and metabolic health. It's a great way to burn more calories in a very efficient way as well. And if you perform short intervals of work of even just 10 to 20 seconds with three to five times the rest, you can really train for speed,” she says.

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24. Stick to Just 8 to 10 Rounds

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“Just don't get caught up in doing a bazillion rounds. You don't want to feel beat down from these short sessions. Less is more. Think even just eight to 10 rounds of sprints go all out and fully recover. You want train for speed, and that means not working before you fully recover,” she adds.

25. This Will Help Improve Mind-Body Connection

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“When you include sprints in this way, not only can you help keep your metabolic grade higher, even increasing your calorie burn after the sessions, but you'll help improve your mind-body connection to even get more out of your lifting. This explosive power work helps you more efficiently recruit muscles, and this can lead to better strength gains,” she says.

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26. It Will Also Improve Recovery

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“These short, intense bursts also help us see better results from our other workouts because they improve our conditioning and, therefore, our ability to recover more quickly between rounds of work. Better recovery means better quality of work during our training,” she says.

27. Make Sure Your Diet and Workouts Work Together

“Using these six tips, you can improve your metabolic health to lose fat at any and every age. Just remember, the best results happen when our diet and workouts work together,” she concludes. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.