How To Increase Your Metabolism (At Any Age)

Let’s get one thing straight - There are no "metabolism Killers"

Your metabolism adapts.

And I want to explain why our metabolism adapts and even strategies you can use to make this work to your advantage.

And just to be clear…your age is not an excuse.

While yes it can feel harder to make changes as we get older, a big part of that is simply the fact we’ve ignored many of these other factors for so long and previous dieting and training practices are catching up with us now!

So first…why does your metabolism adapt?

Our metabolism isn’t a stagnant thing.

Changes in our lifestyle and changes in our lifestyle can have a huge impact on it - from how we fuel to how active we are.

That’s why we have to be conscious of how we approach losing weight, especially if we want to see amazing and LASTING body recomp.

Because so often in search of faster results, and more dramatic changes on the scale, we implement habits that have a NEGATIVE impact on our metabolic health.

While we do need a calorie deficit to lose weight, creating too big a deficit will backfire.

Yet this is so often what we’ve always done.

If calories in vs. calories out is our main focus for weight loss, we almost assume going lower is better.

But it’s not.

Yes, it may be nice to see that scale change quickly, but dropping our calories extremely low changes how our body functions.

Metabolic adaptations occur and our metabolism slows to try to regulate energy expenditure to match energy intake.

Less energy coming in, your body makes sure survival functions are covered first.

This can mean we may find ourselves having less energy to get up and move around extra.

Your body will slow down, or reduce, any processes that burn energy it doesn’t feel it has coming in…

And this can also mean muscle being lost.

Muscle is metabolically costly. It requires more energy to be maintained.

Whereas, our fat stores are more pure fuel for our body.

When energy is in short supply, our body is going to do what it can to conserve.

Less muscle means less energy needed to survive.

That is why we can not only struggle to build muscle in an extreme deficit even though we’re trying to train hard, but we can even LOSE muscle.

And oddly enough, the harder we train to try to see the results, the more we may be making that deficit even more extreme…fighting against any muscle building efforts further.

So while yes, a calorie deficit is key…

Slashing our calories lower to try to see results faster started the snowball of metabolic adaptations…

Adaptations you may find accumulate more and more as you get older.

And this is why we start blaming our age for the metabolic slowdown.

Over time, we’ve repeated this yo-yo dieting cycle…

Slash our calories lower and burn more calories in our training.

So we lose fast on the scale.

But we ultimately lose just as much muscle as fat.

Slowing our metabolic rate.

And in the process creating hormonal imbalances which only make matters worse.

Then ultimately we can’t sustain the severe restriction and training regime, so we regain the weight.

But when we regain the weight, we aren’t doing so in a healthy way to rebuild muscle.

Instead we’re defaulting back into bad habits.

All that weight we then gain only makes our body composition worse as we put on fat.

This leads to us even potentially putting on more weight as our body has learned to function better off of the lower calories AND we’ve lost muscle.

So the next time we go to diet down, not only is the process HARDER but our metabolic rate may be slower and may only further adapt as we implement those same dieting practices!

And this is why it can feel like it as we get older it gets harder and harder.

Not to mention, as most of us get older…we aren’t as active.

So lower activity levels on average coupled with improper dieting practices and this yo-yo dieting cycle…

Of course it feels like it gets harder and our metabolism is slower than ever.

Now I do want to mention…age DOES have an impact.

Because while too often we just blame our age and write ourselves off because of it, there are things we WILL need to address with how we train and fuel if we want to see results NO MATTER our age…

As we get older, we aren’t able to utilize protein as efficiently and muscle gains are slower.

Our hormonal environment isn’t as optimal as it once was for muscle growth.

And less muscle as we get older DOES mean a slower metabolism.

BUT again…our metabolism is constantly adjusting…

So as much as our previous dieting practices have had an impact negatively…we can also CHANGE them to not only address our changing needs as we get older but also REVERSE the adaptations we’ve created with previous dieting attempts…

00:00 - Metabolism Killers
01:20 - Why Your Metabolism Adapts
04:00 - Metabolic Slowdown
05:20 - Age Has an Impact
06:00 - Metabolic Adjustments
07:23 - Why it Takes Time
09:03 - Weight Gain & Metabolism

[HippityHopity]

I’ve always been told “eat less, move more”. It’s nice to finally hear the truth. Eat more protein, lift heavy weights and sleep to fuel your body, increase strength and metabolism. Well said, Cori. You and the Mind Pump boys have a good message to spread. Keep it up ❤️

[nathaliedasilva]

Don't let your age prevent you from getting started. I'm a 60 y/o woman and I made it a focus to work out with dumbbells 3x a week for 30 to 40 minutes - doing a full body superset workout. I've been doing this for 6 months and recently had an InBody scan. I've had these in the past and I have gained 5 lbs of muscle in 6 months!!! I feel like superwoman and this result motivates me to keep on doing this forever. I realize that I will not keep gaining lean muscle at this rate but I can definitely gain more and then maintain it. I'm 5'9" and 150lbs - I eat about 80 grams of protein a day and also ride my road bike 3x a week for 60 to 80km each time.

[jbeanearner]

Literally laughed out loud and girl, did I need it!! Losing fat and aging positively feels like serious business, too serious. I am nearly 41, raising teens, wifing, working, managing a home…blah, blah, blah. All this just to say my list of responsibilities is long. It was so good to laugh for a minute whilst trying to figure it all out. Your videos are always generously packed with info Cori, thank you, and thank you today for taking a lighthearted approach!

[christianasampson]

This is spot on.

I am currently 7 weeks out of the gym due to surgery, I am eating less because I feel physically ill when I eat, the problem is I’ve lost weight I’ve lost muscle and now I’m thin when before i was quite muscular.

I feel it in my energy levels, sleep disturbances, headaches and fatigue it’s all having a negative impact on my body.
I am 54 and pre surgery I was the fittest and healthiest I’ve ever been, it was to the point people didn’t believe me when I told them I was in my 50s but now I feel it.

Cutting calories to lose weight to gain muscle is not the way forward.
I’ve no intention of staying this way, my come back will soon come round and I cannot wait to get back into the gym to lift and feel my body get strong again, my metabolism has slowed so much because I’m eating and moving less.

Your videos keep my head focused on when I’m able to get back into the gym and begin to rebuild

[lynnecatrionashaw]

Excellent video. As someone trying to unlearn unhealthy food habits this was a great listen and lots of sensible advice.

[youaskedtarot]

I love how you are in great shape but still feminine and healthy, not bulky. A true inspiration. I finally figured out for me that to get more protein, I need to eat that first, eat a variety, and eat at every meal or snack.

[whythisnowduffey]

Thank you for great information we can all establish into our lifestyles forever. As a lifetime weight lifting program advocate, these videos are wonderful! Your technique is perfection! Please know, you explain the great “geek” details of nutrition well! You do not need to bash the poor use of metabolism jargon from VShred to lift up your credibility. You can stand on your content! You two are ultimately teaching the same thing. I am changing my body composition while following both of you. You are amazing Cori!

[DavidPrice-gk]

Love this content. Amazing results based examples.

[AvecBella]

Great talk! I’m in the midst of all this right now Just changed the way I exercise to focus more on strength training and noticed that I’m up by 3 lbs. Lost 35 lbs already and have about 12-15 lbs to go before my goal weight. Thank so much for this post, Cori! ❤

[MelissaJaneKnight]

Thank you! I needed this. I have been training for 15 months and I can see my legs and arms are more defined but my belly / mid area not so. The scale says I am a stable weight and I want to lose my 12 COVID kilos I gained when we all stayed in for two years. I thought after a year of training, I would be half way there… but my body has its own plan

[notyourstereotype]

I wish I knew this information 29 years ago when I started to gain weight as a 15 year old girl and started the vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting, wrong ideas of exercise, proper fueling, etc! Thank you Cori for another truly life changing video!

[cynthiaangel]

Thank you so much for this video.... I needed this right now.... My scales were going to be thrown out because I was thinking I wasn't getting anywhere... Have been doing weights 4 sometimes 5 times a week but by body weight had gone up.... Was starting to feel discouraged... But had to remember that muscle weighs more than fat.... And now your video adds the details re metabolism that I was not aware You have saved me...

[mjgutzmann]

PREACH.
No starving, no fad diets/macro exclusions, yes small deficits for slow weight loss that sticks, and maintenance phases RULE. That's my mission statement.

[michellebylaw]

You explained this soooo well!! Thank you!!

[deephouselover]

Always great content. Beginning skit is HIGHlarious.😂 Appreciate you. 🙏🏽

[rainrun]

Thank you! I really enjoy and learn so much from your videos. I always fall back to your motto “regress to progress” when strength training. I just never thought of it with weight/nutrition/calories. Thank you for your insights.

[ZxrBlue]

I'm 33, I'm at 152lbs at the moment, my goal is 140lbs. You give me hope that as I get older I'll be able to reach my goals and still look great. You're an inspiration ❤

[carriemorash]

I love your sense of humor and I appreciate the vast amount of knowledge you share in each of your videos. You look amazing and you are an inspiration on many levels.
I am 65 years old and trying to do things differently, thanks to you. Eat more protein. Teach my body to process healthier choices and more food efficiently. Not believing the scale and allow it to freak me out. I have a ways to go before these are all my new habits, but, I am finally on the right path to accomplish my goals! Thank you:)

[dawnofthedelts]

Sleep is a BIG deal. I need to improve this first before I can get back on track.

[ChittarupaYoga]

I absolutely love your intros. Your videos are genius, especially for the info you share.