Why gym users'efforts to boost metabolic rate may be a waste of time

摘要

There could be a good reason why determined gym users'attempts to speed up their metabolic rate are such hard work and ultimately a waste of time.Recent research suggests that nature sets an optimum,metabolic rate for all organisms,and the ones closest to this value are the best equipped for survival.A study published in New Scientist appears to disprove the previously held theory that larger animals have a slower metabolism because they need to be more energy efficient.The study compared the metabolic rates of over 3,000 different species,ranging from bacteria to elephants.It found that the average resting metabolic rate per unit mass varied by a factor of only 10,000,despite the fact that body mass varied by a factor of 1020.