Regular physical activity increases your resting metabolic rate. This means that your body burns more calories, even when you are at rest.
Here's a breakdown of how activity impacts metabolic rate:
- Boosting Resting Metabolic Rate: Exercise, as referenced, makes your body more efficient at burning calories. A higher resting metabolic rate means you're burning more calories throughout the day, not just during exercise.
- The body utilizes these calories for energy, ensuring you have the power to keep going.
- Increased Muscle Mass: Physical activity, especially strength training, helps build muscle. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, meaning it burns more calories at rest.
- Even a small increase in muscle mass can significantly impact your daily calorie burn.
- Types of Activity: Different types of activities affect metabolic rate in various ways.
- Aerobic exercise (like running or swimming) primarily burns calories during the workout and may offer a modest increase to the resting metabolic rate.
- Strength training builds muscle mass, which has a more significant impact on increasing the resting metabolic rate over the long term.
- Activity Intensity: The more intense the activity, the more calories you will burn, and the more your metabolic rate may increase during and after exercise.
In summary, incorporating regular physical activity into your routine is a highly effective method for raising your metabolic rate, which can contribute to weight management, increased energy, and overall health. The reference provided directly confirms that regular exercise boosts the resting metabolic rate.
