Perform Ep 11: How to Boost Your Metabolism & Burn Fat

In this episode, I discuss science-supported methods to boost metabolism and maintain sustainable fat loss. I explain the key components of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and why some people seem to stay naturally lean with little effort. Using the three I’s—Investigate, Interpret, and Intervene—I explain how to assess your metabolism and make changes to improve it. I describe various behavioral, exercise, nutrition, and supplement-based approaches to enhance metabolism in both the short and long term.I also explain how factors such as age, gender, and body composition impact metabolism and discuss the underlying mechanisms, helping you better evaluate products that claim to “speed up metabolism.” Even if fat loss isn’t your goal, increasing metabolism offers numerous health and longevity benefits for people of all ages and fitness levels.

Articles

• Role of Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis in Resistance to Fat Gain in Humans (Science)
• Accuracy of Resting Metabolic Rate Prediction Equations in Athletes (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research)
• Differences in Body Fat in Athletes Categorized by Resting Metabolic Rate (Applied Sciences)
• A Commercially Available Thermogenic Dietary Supplement Increases Resting Metabolic Rate in Physically Active Males: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Investigation (Journal of Dietary Supplements)
• Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity (Annals of Internal Medicine)
• Metabolic Consequences in Humans of Prolonged Sleep Restriction Combined with Circadian Disruption (Science Translational Medicine)
• Energy balance and its components: implications for body weight regulation (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
• Impact of Body Composition on Sleep and Its Relationship with Sleep Disorders: Current Insights (Nature and Science of Sleep)
• Short sleep duration and health outcomes: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression (Sleep Medicine)
• Sleep Optimization and Diabetes Control: A Review of the Literature (Diabetes Therapy)
• Impaired Insulin Signaling in Human Adipocytes After Experimental Sleep Restriction: A Randomized, Crossover Study (Annals of Internal Medicine)
• Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation for 12 Weeks Increases Resting and Exercise Metabolic Rate in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Females (PLOS ONE)
• Acute effects of mustard, horseradish, black pepper and ginger on energy expenditure, appetite, ad libitumenergy intake and energy balance in human subjects (British Journal of Nutrition)
• Effects of Red Pepper, Ginger, and Turmeric on Energy Metabolism: Review of Current Knowledge (Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine)
• The effect of exercise interventions on resting metabolic rate: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Journal of Sports Sciences)
• Resting metabolic rate in obese and normal weight women (International Journal of Obesity)
• Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and the Evolutionary Biology of Energy Balance (Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews)
• Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete (Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition)

Other Resources

• Quality or Quantity – The Great Calorie Debate: 55 Min Phys (Andy Galpin)
• Calorify
• Harris-Benedict Equation
• Table 2- Percentiles for resting metabolic rate (from Fields, J. et al.)

People Mentioned

• Michael Ormsbee: Professor of Nutrition & Exercise Sciences, Florida State University
• Layne Norton: professional bodybuilder, expert in nutrition and exercise science
• Bill Campbell: Professor of Exercise Sciences, University of South Florida
• Andrew Jagim: Director of Sports Medicine Research at Mayo Clinic
• Kevin Hall: Section Chief: Integrative Physiology Section, Laboratory of Biological Modeling at the National Institutes of Health
• Abbie Smith-Ryan: Professor of Exercise Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Herman Pontzer: Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Global Health, Duke University