Weight Training:
We offer a wide variety of high quality weights and exercise systems through our health club affiliates (and coming soon!!...downtown Silver Spring Studio), including both free weights and weight machines. Our weight room also includes efficient abdominal weight machines and benches. |  | Cardio Training:
The Fit Solution’s cardio training affiliate facilities are second to none. Bikes, steppers, treadmills and elliptical trainers - we have access to machines to fit all your cardio needs. |  | State-of the-Art Clinical Fitness Testing:
Resting Metabolism Analysis and VO2 Max Cardiovascular Testing are offered exclusively for The FitSolution clients. All of our consultants are highly qualified and can create effective custom designed fitness programs from the test results. |  |
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An Optimal Metabolism is key to quality weight loss…or body fat loss.
Testing your metabolic rate will determine exactly how many calories you need to cut to lose weight. Retesting will reveal if your metabolism has been affected by dieting. The only way to really know if someone is efficiently burning fat is to test the metabolism.
Your weight loss plan must be individualized
When it comes to weight loss, there is no such thing as "one size fits all." Each person's metabolism is different based on genetics, biochemistry, eating habits, and fitness level. Each person gains weight for a variety of physical, emotional, and environmental factors. Charts and averages just aren't effective ways to construct a diet plan. The Resting Metabolism Analysis gives you specific data about yourself in order for a customize plan to be designed just for you.
We all need to stay motivated
The Resting Metabolism Analysis allows you to take back control of your life! With measurements that are unique to your own body, you can make the choices that will benefit you most. Continued testing helps you stay motivated to keep burning fat and guides you better when achieving your weight loss goal
11 Things To Do To Boost Your Metabolic Rate
By Yusef Battle, ACSM RCEP
The Fit Solution, Founder
American College of Sports Medicine Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist
B.S. Exercise Physiology
Drink Plenty of Water
Water is a key substrate for almost every chemical reaction in the body…this alone tells you of it’s importance! A good “rule of thumb” is to drink at least 8-10 eight ounce cups of water per day or try to gradually work up to drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. Along with the many other valuable jobs it has in the body water is critically important in the fat burning process. Dehydration can cause the body temperature to drop slightly...and with the reduction in temperature the body will attempt to raise the temperature by storing fat to act as an insulator. Also, keep in mind, if you are a caffeinated coffee, soft drink or tea drinker you will have to drink more water because the “diuretic effect” of the caffeine causes your body to release more water. Also, if you are accustomed to being in forced air environments (air conditioning and heat) your body will be more prone to lose water as well. It is advised that you drink 1 extra cup of water for every hour you are in a forced air environment. Lastly, for all the airplane travelors out their. That thing you call “jet lag” is often just dehydration. Remember the airplane is a classic forced air environment. Want to resist “jet lag” drink 1 cup of water for every hour in the plane.
Build Muscle Mass
Strength training builds lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories at work or at rest, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. How do you start strength training? Try some push-ups, or a few squats or lunges...acquire the services of a personal trainer. A simple in-home program could consist of single arm rows, push-ups, squats, crunches, knee raises and back extensions. Do two to three sets of these exercises three times per week, and you'll soon see a boost in your metabolism as well as an improvement in your physique.
Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric Intake
If your body senses that food is in short supply, it will slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Over time, the result is that when you do eat (even if you consume the same foods as always) your body will be slower to use the calories as fuel, thus creating a backlog of unwanted pounds. A good strategy is to cut your caloric intake by no more than 500 calories per day and never less than 1200 calories total each day. Once you determine your goal for calorie consumption, divide those calories into 6 different small meals/snacks through out the day.
Eat a Low Glycemic Diet Eating foods such as white breads, white potatoes, white flour and sugar cause the body to increase insulin levels in order to take this new “quick released” sugar (carbs) into our cells. If you are in a habit of eating these types of foods you will have several “insulin spikes” in your system throughout the day. When insulin is high it blocks your body’s ability to burn stored fat. If your fitness goal is to lose excess body fat you want your body to have the ability to burn stored body fat throughout the day and while you sleep at night. Most researchers agree that protein and fiber help to stabilize the secretion of insulin into your blood stream, a process that can affect metabolism. The average person would benefit from protein intake at a minimum of 70 grams or higher each day. Also, consuming low glycemic carbs such as whole grain breads, cereals, rice etc. will produce a slower release of energy which will not cause those counter productive “insulin spikes.”
Aerobic Workout at Least 5 Days a Week
Even though exercise doesn't directly affect your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), the extra calories you burn could add up to at least an additional 1-2 pounds of body fat loss per month. Strive to do “cardio” everyday for at least 30-minutes. The ideal situation would be to sustain a pace that feels “somewhat hard” as you exercise. Usually this “somewhat hard” pace will be equivalent to a heart rate training zone which properly trains your heart and circulatory system to be stronger and more efficient. This could mean walking around the neighborhood, biking with the kids, walking the dog (at a brisker pace), dancing around the house while cleaning…be creative and enjoy.
Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle
The more you move, the more you burn! You can actually make a significant addition to the number of calories you burn each day by relatively minor changes in lifestyle. This can be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator; park a distance from the mall or office; window-shop with your best friend rather than sit over coffee; walk the dog instead of just let him out; do a little gardening or clean house while you talk on the phone. Making these types of changes for just 20 minutes of your day will cause you to burn an additional 100 calories per day or an additional pound per month. Making more of these changes can help you burn as much as an additional 1,000 calories per day!
Go For an Evening Walk or Other Fitness Activity
Although exercising any time is good for you, evening activity may be particularly beneficial. Many people's metabolism slows down toward the end of the day. Thirty minutes of aerobic activity before dinner increases your metabolic rate and may keep it elevated for another two or three hours. What that means for you: those dinner calories have less of a chance to take up permanent residence on your hips!
Give Yourself an Eating Cut-Off Time
Most research recommends that a time between 7:30 and 8:30pm is an adequate cut-off. Although this act does not directly effect your metabolism it does insure that you are not refilling your fat stores when you are sleeping. It usually takes between 3-5 hours for ingested food to be readily available as energy. If this energy is made available when your body doesn’t have a strong need for fuel (inactive or sleeping) then these calories will be more readily stored as fat. “Creeping Obesity” in America can largely be attributed to late night eating.
Get Adequate Sleep As funny as it sounds, sleep deprivation may make you fat and not just because you're susceptible to cases of the late-night munchies. According to researchers at the University of Chicago, women who got less than four hours of sleep per night had a slower metabolism than those who slept for a full eight hours. Lack of sleep has also been show to effect the release of the human growth hormone which is valuable in the building, repairing or metabolic processes of the body.
De-Stress or Control Your Cortisol Levels
It is a fact that stress can cause some individuals to become “emotional eaters” and thus gain weight from excessive consumption of calories. Stress can also cause weight gain when cortisol levels in the body are elevated and stimulate the liver and muscles to release glycogen (or the body’s stored energy) to provide energy for “fight or flight.” However, if you are stressed and do not use that energy, that recently released energy will be stored away as fat.
Take a MultiVitamin
The best thing you can do to lose body fat faster is to lay aside or correct every hindrance to the metabolic process. Taking a quality multivitamin better insures that your body will have the right amount of vitamins and minerals to make the metabolism more efficient. Vitamins such as Biotin, Pantothenic Acid and other B-Vitamins can have a significant effect on the body’s metabolism. Most of us do not eat an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables etc. in a day…and even if we did, there still is no guarantee that the foods that we grow in this country do not have depleted nutrients. Taking a quality multivitamin is a great back-up or “insurance policy.” Because the body responds better to real food rather than supplements (this is largely because certain foods have “nutrient packages” or vitamins and minerals that are present together in the food and work together as a team after digestion) try eating half of your meal…take your supplement…and then eat the other half. You may be able to trick your body to absorb the nutrients better.
What about supplements? Diet supplements that claim to increase your metabolism have flooded the marketplace. Our advice is to beware. Stimulants (such as caffeine, ephedrine, nicotine, and others) have not been clinically proven to increase metabolic rates. It may be that they stimulate a person to simply be more active, which then burns more calories. Some of these products can be harmful and we do not recommend their use. Hot peppers (specifically jalapeno and cayenne) may increase your body's release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, and may stimulate you to burn more calories. Green tea drinkers were shown to burn an extra 70 calories per day in a recent study. Researchers believe the increase is caused by antioxidants known as catechins….but in the end beware and try to get your nutrients through real food.
For more information about metabolism testing and/or fitness consultation please contact Yusef at (240) 994-5268 or email Info@FitSolution.org or go to www.FitSolution.org.
All research and clinical material published by The Fit Solution is for informational purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by physicians. The Fit Solution will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising therefrom.
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