There are very few — if any — one-size-fits-all approaches that work for everyone when it comes to fitness, and that’s why the metabolic professionals at MetPro leverage the power of their customers’ individual metabolisms in order to help them attain and maintain their goals.
This fitness and nutrition guidance service is administered to consumers through what company founder Angelo Poli describes as “high-end metabolic makeovers.” Over the course of years in the fitness industry, Poli has trained elite weightlifters, former contestants from the network television weight loss series The Biggest Loser, and even multi-time NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers.
Poli’s push toward embracing a reliance on metabolic principles was born out of frustration over what he perceived to be the misguided overreliance of many fitness professionals on data that was theoretically true, but demonstrably revealed to be — in Poli’s words — “garbage advice” to anyone who actually practiced it.
MetPro’s multi-tiered metabolic approach to weight management brings the ignition and stoking of metabolic flames to the forefront and prioritizes this invisible physical function over traditional areas of focus like calories, carbs, and training… at least in the ways they’re ordinarily wielded.
Using the guidance offered by Poli and the team at MetPro, you can cultivate a richer understanding of your metabolism, informed by a framework of four easily recalled ways that you can unlock your metabolic potential. Read more about Poli’s approach to diet and metabolism below.
Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.
Are you looking to boost your metabolic rate to maintain energy and improve your performance in the gym? You can optimize your training with MetPro's high-end, high-touch coaching plans.
Establish Your Metabolic Baseline
Based on a few well-established demographic factors, like age, gender, height, and weight, most educated personal trainers and nutrition professionals can approximate the basal metabolic rates (BMR) of their clients. In short, your BMR is the amount of energy you need to carry out basic bodily functions, like digesting food and breathing. Think of it as the amount of calories you burn without any physical activity.
In the world of MetPro, this preliminary approach isn’t nearly personalized enough to accurately diagnose each client’s present metabolic state, nor their bodies’ responses to nutrients. To identify each person’s metabolic baseline and orient a client’s metabolism, Poli prefers a strategy that eliminates the guesswork.
“I’m going to put you on a simple meal plan that’s calculated,” Poli says. “I know how many calories you’re eating along with how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat you’re consuming. I know how many meals a day you’re eating, and the glycemic load of each meal. Now I have a set baseline, and now it’s a mathematical equation. There are only three possible outcomes: You’re either going to gain weight, lose weight, or stay the same weight. There’s no other option.”
By diligently tracking your food intake over a short stretch of time, Poli says you can gain a rapid understanding of where your true metabolic baseline is, and then make behavioral changes based on that knowledge. He attributes it all to your body’s predictability.
“Your body acclimates to its circumstances,” Poli continues. “It has to be able to for the sake of survival. What that means is that you can control your metabolism. It’s hard, and it takes a little work, but with the right science and guidance, you can absolutely get there. But before you can get there, you have to know where you’re starting from.”
Align Your Goals And Timing
Much is often made of how the time of day a workout takes place may potentially play an outsized role in altering a trainee’s metabolism. Poli states that according to MetPro’s data, “clients do not see greater metabolic results by exercising at one particular time of the day over another.” Instead, he points to the emergence of important behavioral patterns based on the time of day at which his clients exercise.
“At MetPro, we’ve observed that frequency and intensity are king,” Poli says. “The order we typically prescribe our clients for optimal results is frequency first, intensity second, and that they should exercise early when possible, since early morning exercisers are more likely to be consistent. If you have to exercise later in the day, anchor it to activities in your schedule that don’t move.”
When it comes to the timing of nutrition, Poli notes that many working people “wake up, run out the door, grab a cup of coffee and a quick snack, and not eat anything until 4:30 p.m.” He says that this habit “spells disaster for our metabolism.”
Instead, he stresses the importance of having daily meals that are prepped and scheduled in advance. And chief among those is the mid-afternoon snack, which he identifies as a telltale sign of whether or not a MetPro client’s metabolic reset is going to be successful.
“The reason is because [the snack] shows intent and behavior,” Poli says. “People who eat a mid-afternoon snack are having to prepare it in advance. Typically, if they’re preparing that in the morning, then they are also having breakfast. People who eat breakfast usually don’t miss lunch. If somebody is committed to eating an afternoon snack that’s healthy, they’re not going to overeat at lunch because they know they have another snack coming in just a couple hours.”
Poli credits this cadence of small, scheduled meals for stabilizing blood sugar, delivering constant energy throughout the day, and eliminating the cravings that accompany unsequenced meals. However, the inclusion of the mid-afternoon snack is the critical link in Poli’s sequence.
“If I can’t get someone to just prepare a mid-afternoon snack, I’m in trouble,” he says.
Apply Metabolic Leverage
The concept of metabolic leverage can be confusing until you understand precisely what is being leveraged. The way the MetPro team conceptualizes leverage, you have three dominant “levers” — caloric intake, carbohydrate intake, and your activity level — that are used as the pillars that prop up your personal metabolism. The presence, abundance, and relative soundness of each of these pillars enables Poli and his team to identify which levers they can pull to safely induce a client’s weight loss.
“A lot of people are surprised when I tell them we’re actually not cutting out any carbs,” Poli says. “If you’ve already cut out the carbs, you’ve played that card. It’s no longer in your hand. I have no leverage there. But if somebody comes to me who isn’t eating too many calories, but 80 percent of their diet is carbohydrates, I can manipulate their carbohydrates even if they lack the leverage to cut calories. They may be eating less than 2,000 calories a day, but if 350 grams of that is carbs, I have a ton of leverage.”
But what if you’ve already tugged on all of your levers and your metabolism still appears to be moribund? All hope is not lost. Even if you’ve arrived at what Poli describes as “the bottom of your metabolic threshold,” he says all three levers can be rebuilt as you “rev your metabolism back up” over a very short period of time. This is accomplished through a reduction of carbohydrates and a temporary boost in the caloric component of your nutrition plan.
“When I add 15 grams of carbs to your diet, nothing is going to happen; your body will just burn 15 grams more,” Poli says. “But when I gradually add another half an apple, another quarter cup of oatmeal, another half cup of brown rice, and another two ounces of chicken over two to three weeks, your metabolism speeds up with each increase.”
Poli continues by saying, “That way, you raise your net zero, you stay in homeostasis, and you don’t gain or lose weight. Then when we go into your next cutting cycle and I cut out a bunch of carbs, or a bunch of calories, or some of each all at the same time, the fat will incinerate off of you because it’s all about contrast.”
Engage in Positively Disruptive Behaviors
In most industries, companies aim to be disruptive in a way that benefits them while leaving the perennial leaders of the industry suddenly struggling to keep pace. Poli insists that MetPro encourages behaviors that are “disruptive in a good way,” and establishes a fresh set of habits that are all geared toward maximizing metabolic potential.
“I’ve been involved in about 20,000 dieting projects in my career,” Poli says. “The key is speed. I’ve learned that I could give someone the greatest meal plan, or the greatest exercise routine on the planet, and have all the justification, research, and science behind it. If they can’t implement it into their day because it takes too much time, or because it’s too cumbersome, they’re never going to do it.”
Because of that observation, Poli and his MetPro coaches guide their clients through the process of learning how to prepare a full three days’ worth of lunches and snacks in under 20 minutes. As a result of teaching them to make meal prep a habit that is disruptive to their weekly pattern, it fuels further disruption in the form of scheduled and repeated daily meals. Then there’s the essential matter of adding exercise into the mix in some form of fashion, regardless of its length or fervor.
“I’m sure those things matter also, but what we have proven is that when it comes to the gym, it is better to be consistent than to be a beast,” Poli says. “If you’re consistent, you’ll become a beast, but if there’s no consistency, you have nothing to reproduce. There’s no reason to believe you’re going to have success next month, or the month after.”
He also points to MetPro’s internal data from thousands of client experiences, which shows that individuals using MetPro who exercise more than three times a week ”lose an average of 34 percent more weight than those who don’t.”
“Nutrition is by far the bigger influence, but exercise is critical to long-term success,” Poli says. “There was a meta-analysis evaluating all the top weight-loss programs and interventions done by researchers and medical staff who were trying different styles of weight-loss approaches. Within those thousands of studies, 88 percent of the successful interventions included exercise.”
Improve Your Metabolism
By pinpointing your own metabolic baseline, timing your nutrient intake, identifying which metabolic levers to pull, and disrupting your weary routine with beneficial behaviors, you are now prepared to heighten the peak of your own metabolic mountain.
However, if you should happen to find yourself requiring the aid of a metabolic coach to fine-tune your approach, Angelo Poli and the MetPro team are standing by to assist you with your internal recalibration process. Head to the company’s website for more.
Are you looking to boost your metabolic rate to maintain energy and improve your performance in the gym? You can optimize your training with MetPro's high-end, high-touch coaching plans.
Frequently-Asked Questions
There’s a lot more to MetPro, and Poli expanded upon some of the most common questions he’s asked about the brand.
How long will it take to build muscle?
Poli: The timeline to build muscle varies. We’ve worked with professional athletes who, despite their rigorous training regimes, require fine-tuning of their strength, performance, or physique. On the other hand, we’ve coached individuals stepping into a gym for the first time. Importantly, we start from your current fitness level and adapt the program as someone progresses. Keeping the end goal in mind, we use data-driven strategies and coaching to provide a flexible nutrition and fitness plan that adjusts with metabolism, schedule, and progress. While the timeline may differ, the results can be similarly successful.
Does MetPro have trainers?
Poli: MetPro boasts an elite team of fitness and nutrition coaches. Our diverse group includes certified CrossFit trainers, personal trainers, and competitors in weightlifting and powerlifting. Many of our team members hold degrees in kinesiology. Additionally, our team is enriched by Registered Dietitians, Certified Nutritionists, and Board Certified Specialists in Sports Dietetics. We have experience working with athletes at collegiate, semi-professional, and professional levels.
Will I be hungry all the time?
Poli: No. The tactic of keeping someone perpetually hungry is used by some other programs, not us. At MetPro, we believe in enjoyment, empowerment, and thriving. If someone is hungry all the time, it will negatively impact their well-being and metabolism. Our method works by enhancing the metabolic rate to trigger an adaptive response, not by enforcing long-term deprivation. This doesn’t mean that someone might not have periods of being more restrictive, but our goal is to increase metabolic capacity rather than suppress it through hunger.
Whether it’s putting on muscle or losing weight, every program I have ever tried fails after a few weeks. Why is metabolic profiling so different?
Poli: The difference lies in adaptability. Most diets don’t adjust to someone’s changing metabolism, and frankly, they’re not designed to adapt on a daily basis. There might have been times when an athlete reduced their intake when their body needed more, or cut carbs when it was a caloric reduction the body needed. The body offers hundreds of signals about what should be the next step in a plan, provided someone is attentive to and capable of interpreting this data.
Does MetPro support my dietary restrictions?
Poli: Definitely! MetPro aligns with numerous common dietary limitations, such as gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian, pescatarian, organic, and raw food diets. We focus on promoting whole foods.
Featured Image: MetPro
