by J.T. Nowen

Created on: February 13, 2009

Metabolism, popularly defined, is the amount of calories you burn on an average day. It differs from person to person. According to one metabolic calculator, an inactive thirty year old female standing 5'5" tall and weighing 140lbs burns an average of 1660 calories a day while her active counterpart burns an average of 2904 calories per day.

Your metabolism is a function of three things: your resting metabolism, the thermal effect of food, and your physical activity energy expenditure. Your resting metabolism is defined as the number of calories you burn in order to maintain vital bodily processes while your body is inactive. The thermal effect of food is the amount of calories expended in digestion. Lastly, your physical activity energy expenditure is dependent on how much you move during any given day.

There are four ways that exercise can increase your resting metabolism.

1. Increased Muscle Mass: each pound of muscle burns five to ten calories a day while at rest while each pound of fat burns about two calories a day.

2. Stress Relief. Your thyroid releases chemicals that impact the speed of your metabolism. A stress hormone, cortisol, can suppress the functioning of your thyroid. Cortisol also decreases protein metabolism in your muscles and counteracts insulin, causing blood glucose levels to rise. Cortisol has been connected with metabolic disorders and obesity.

3. The Afterburn. Depending on the intensity and duration of exercise, you continue to burn more calories after your workout. Exercise that keeps your heart rate elevated and pumps more oxygen into your bloodstream will result in a longer afterburn.

4. Increased Bone Mass and Organ Functioning. More calories are burned in order to accommodate new bone mass. Exercises also increases organ functioning, decreasing fat in the liver, increasing lung capacity, strengthening the heart and increasing blood and oxygen to the brain. This increased functioning also requires the consumption of calories.

Certain exercise-related practices can also impact calorie consumption form the thermal effect of food.

1. Drinking more water. There are no calories in water. However, storing, absorbing and bringing water to the appropriate temperature does consume energy. Drinking cold water can increase your metabolism up to 24% after drinking it. Intense exercise requires the intake of more water.

2. Eating frequent smaller meals, especially before and after exercising. Consumption of food typically accounts for 10% of the calories you burn in a single day. Eating frequent smaller meals can raise the number of calories you burn digesting your food. Having a regular exercise regimen means that you should eat, but avoid gorging, before your workout and replace what you have lost after your workout.

3. Feeding your bones and muscles for a better workout. Calcium, protein and complex carbohydrates take more calories to digest than fat and simple sugars.

Here's how to make the most of these thing:

1. Combine weight bearing with aerobic exercise. Weight bearing exercises will help you to gain muscle while aerobic exercise will increase you afterburn. Alternate slow weight bearing exercises with spurts of cardio for the best results.

2. Incorporate yoga, meditation, Tai Chi or other stress relieving exercises into your workout routine.

3. Make a post-workout banana smoothie. Replenish protein, potassium and calcium lost during your workout. Add fiber, cayenne pepper, a shot of green tea or coffee to further jump your metabolism.

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