Can you keep your metabolism high throughout life?

If you are like most people you believe that your metabolism declines with age. 

That means you are not burning the same number of calories per day as you did when you were younger.

But, is it the fact that your metabolism is declining because of your increasing age or is there something else at work here.

There is no doubt that most peoples metabolism does decrease as they age. 

I would tend to guess that while age is a factor, your lifestyle is much more of a factor. 

When you are younger you are on the go all the time.  You got to work or to school and then you go out with your friends. 

Even if the going out is not exercise related, it is usually doing something.  Some kind of movement.

It could be shopping (lots of walking, trying on clothes, etc.), dancing at a club or going to the beach or pool (swimming).

Even if it is just going to a movie, you go home, shower, get dressed, drive to the theater, walk to the ticket booth, watch the movie, walk back to the car and drive home.

And let’s not forget about some extra fooling around.  Fooling around is a great calorie burner and most younger people do it a lot more often.

Now fast forward 10 years.  You have a sit down job, you drive back and forth to work, you sit at the computer or watch tv when you get home and then you go to bed.

Your family becomes your life and going out on the town usually is a once a month thing if it ever happens any more.  Going out almost always means getting something to eat. 

Even if you get some fooling around, it isn’t as often and usually not as long – got to get up early in the morning. 

So maybe, it isn;t so much your age that causes a decrease in your metabolism as it is a decrease in your activity levels.

Even if you do get to the gym a few times a week it isn’t enough.

Doing 2-3 20-30 minute exercise sessions does not counter balance hours and hours of sitting every week.

It is a good start, but you need more.  And by more, I don’t just mean add an extra session.  You need different types of exercise every day.  Doing even 4-5 moderate to low intensity exercise for even 60 minutes a day is not going to do it.

You need to push your self.  Add some high intensity bursts of exercise during one or two of your sessions. 

Add some extra walking every day.  Simple things like parking down the street from your work and using the stairs instead of the elevator will burn a ton of extra calories over a years period of time. 

So keep your metabolism working with you and fight the old age myths.

Next post we’ll look at some other simple ways to keep your metabolism fired up!