The importance of fats
The types of fats Fats can be separated into saturated, unsaturated, and Trans fats. Saturated fats come mainly from animal products such as, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs. They also can be found in a handful of plant foods such as coconut, palm oil and various types of margarine. Unsaturated fats can broke down into monounsaturated fat, which can be found in olive or canola oil and polyunsaturated fats which can be found in sunflower, soybean or corn oil. Trans-fatty acids are made by refinement, usually taking place in margarines, due to margarine being a solid of an oil. Oil is fat that does not form a solid at room temperature due to the oils being unsaturated. This means that something has to be added in order for the fat to be stuck together and provide a solid structure and this is known as Tran’s fats. Saturated fats- fats are determined by their makeup, in this case saturated fats are defined due to them containing only a single covalent bond between carbon atoms while all remaining bonds attach to hydrogen bonds. The fatty acid bonds to as many hydrogen bonds as it can becoming saturated in hydrogen and due to this saturation the term saturated fats came to be. Unsaturated fats- these fats contain one or more double bonds along their main carbon chain, each of these double bonds reduces the number of hydrogen binding sites that can bind to the fat meaning that the fat isn’t able to become saturated in hydrogen, giving birth to the name unsaturated fat Monounsaturated fats- being unsaturated we know that hydrogen is unable to saturate this molecule and the ‘mono’ part refers to the amount of double bonds that the fat has along its carbon chain and as ‘mono’ refers to 1 it’s safe to say this molecule has one double bond. Polyunsaturated fats- again being unsaturated we know that hydrogen is unable to saturate this molecule and the ‘poly’ part refers to how many double bonds that the fat has along its carbon chain ‘poly’ referring to two or more carbon chains within this fat molecule. Tran’s fatty acids- these fats also known as hydrogenated fat form when one of the hydrogen atom alongside a reconstructed carbon chain moves from its natural position to the opposite side of the double bond that separates 2 carbon atoms. Due to this transition in position the fat is known as ‘trans fat’ How do we break down fats? Fat can be broken down within the body through a process called lipolysis, this occurs during low to moderate intensity exercise, low calorie dieting or fasting, prolonged exercise that depletes glycogen stores. Low to moderate intensity- guidelines from research say that a moderate pace is determined by your heart rate. A heart rate at 65% is thought to be the optimal fat burning zone. To work out heart rate you need to do the calculation (220-age= x result by 0.65) Low calorie dieting- working out your calorie intake and reducing the amount that you eat by a certain amount of calories or better yet exercise more. However this can cause you to retain your weight as during a low calorie diet your bodied hormones change in order to keep body fat on you whilst providing you with energy as you go into starvation mode your body tires to expend as little energy as possible in the hope of keeping you alive. Fasting- refers to going long periods without food so that you become hyperglycaemic and your body starts to break down fat as an energy source. This links in with the depleted glycogen stores. Depleting your own glycogen stores can be done through fating or long periods of steady state exercise at 65% of max heart rate. Checkout my article on the effects of fasting cardio on fat loss at erbwellbeing.weebly.com However these are not sure fire ways to lose fat as many things can happen during lipolysis for example the fat that you can started to convert for energy can be re-esterified into fat and go straight back on those thighs or enter the blood stream and bind with blood proteins. Incorporating fat into our diets Through data collection it is found that the American diet consists of 34% plant based fats i.e. nuts and seeds etc, and the left over 66% is saturated fat. This doesn’t mean 34% of total diet is plant based fat and that the rest is animal fats i.e. pork, dairy and eggs. It means 34% any fats they eat. So say they only eat 100 kcal worth of fats which is about 10-11grams of fat a very low amount of fat in general. 34% of those 100 kcal would be 34 kcal and 66kcal come from animal sources. With a 100kcal as an example it doesn’t look like a lot but just remember next time you look at a packet and you see it has 11g of saturated fat on the packet that equates to 99kcal taken specifically from fats. And saturated fats have been linked with many, many ailments such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Fat should be incorporated into the diet but it should be incorporated through whole plant based foods i.e. nuts, seed, legumes etc rather than from animal sources. As stated above plant based foods contain unsaturated fats as opposed to saturated fats. The recommended intake varies from person to person. The UK governing body recommends 30-35% of your diet should contain fat and a majority of fat should be unsaturated. The problem with this is that most of our fat we get in our diet is from animal sources and animal sources contain mainly saturated fats, i.e. milk, eggs, pork. Research conducted by Dariush Mozaffarian et al (2010) found that consuming polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats reduced the likelihood of developing Chronic Heart Disease in Randomised Control Tests. More research taken from Martijn B Katan and Ingeborg A Brouwer et al (2010) found in a review of literature that the replacement of saturated fat by polyunsaturated fat lowers both plasma concentrations of LDL cholesterol and the LDL/HDL-cholesterol ratio. Moreover, replacement of saturated fat by polyunsaturated fat is also associated with a lower risk of CHD in prospective cohort studies and with lower risk of CHD in randomized trials. The roles of fat in the body are: they provide an energy source, aid in the protection of vital organs, help thermal insulation (keep you warm) and they help to carry vitamins and suppress hunger cravings.
This should not be confused cholesterol, cholesterol isn’t all bad but it does have some bad properties to it. Cholesterol participates in many many bodily functions, including building plasma membranes and serving as a precursor in synthesising vitamin D, adrenal gland hormones, and sex hormones such as estrogen, androgen, and progesterone. It also is a key component in synthesising bile (stomach acid needed for digestion) and plays a crucial part in forming tissues, organs and body structures during foetal development. Although cholesterol also can be linked with an increased risk of coronary heart disease risks, high levels of LDL have shown in people who have a diet high in saturated fats, smoke cigarettes and are physically inactive. In people who have high amounts of cholesterol a condition called atherosclerosis, this happens when cholesterol builds up on the artery walls and thickens causing the arteries to narrow which leads to high blood pressure, the artery becoming blocked can lead to heart attacks and eventually heart failure. Overview From this you can see that fat is very much a double edge sword. It’s good but it’s bad at the same time, given the lifestyles we have become accustomed too. There are different types of fat and fat is important to have in your diet, although you should look to get your fats from unsaturated plant sources rather than saturated animal fats. Fats help all manner of functions within the body and they are important to the body. Although you cannot get cholesterol from plant foods your body can make cholesterol from fat already in the body. Fat can provide a massive amount of energy when to your body during exercise if your glycogen stores are depleted, then you will start to use fat as energy and burn fat off. Being at a body fat % of lower that 9% can be very bad for your body and when you see people at that fat % like bodybuilders etc. sure they look nice but they aren’t in a state of good health with a body fat % that low. During high fat diets, they can work when it comes to weight loss as it has been proven but it has also be found that high fat diets raise the PH of the blood making it more acidic causing a condition called acidosis, which can lead to a whole load of different problems also acidosis has been associated and found in cancer patients. Recommended From the outcome of this article i recommend that you start eating less saturated fats in your diet as they have shown to lead to a lot of different ailments. When it comes to going on a new diet I would definitely recommend you do your own research on the matter. Currently in the Health and fitness world a ketogenic (high fat low carb) diet is very popular, but like stated in this article to much fats are bad. Its important to do your own research on the matter and make an educated decision, rather than because your mate carroll told you it was the best thing to do. Thanks for reading xx Referencing Dariush Mozaffarian , Renata Micha, Sarah Wallace Effects on Coronary Heart Disease of Increasing Polyunsaturated Fat in Place of Saturated Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Published: March 23, 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000252 Martijn B Katan, Ingeborg A Brouwer, Robert Clarke, Johanna M Geleijnse, Ronald P Mensink, saturated fat and heart disease, the American journal of clinical nutrition 2010, http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/459.2.short
0 Comments
The importance of carbohydrates
The types of carbohydrate Carbohydrates (carbs) can be separated into sugars and starches. Natural Sugars (monosaccharides) coming in forms of fruit and honey. Natural Starches (polysaccharides) coming in forms of rice, potatoes, oats and grains. There is also a third type of carb called a fibre (non-starch polysaccharide) and these can be found in leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds. Monosaccharides- this term means that there is a short chain of carbohydrates, mono means one and saccharides are the scientific name for sugar due to this short chain of carbs the body can easily break the chain down for them to be used as energy. These monosaccharides can be found in refined sugar like, chocolate and sweets this sugar is known as Galactose that does not exist freely in nature. Not to be confused with the same as fruit because fruit is natural and the sugars that reside inside them are known as fructose, they also have a large amount of fibre. Due to fruits large amount of fibre, some sugar content can in fact pass through the digestion tract without being absorbed and be expelled from the body. Polysaccharides- The name for these means that there is a long link of carbohydrate molecules. Poly means many and saccharide is the scientific name for sugar. These can be found in rice, potatoes, oats and grains, these carbohydrates also known as starchy carbohydrates also reside largely in, beans, peas and root vegetables (carrots, turnips, and parsnips), depending on the makeup of the carbohydrate will depend on how fast the body is able to break it down, as there are a lot of different make ups to carbohydrates they will each take different amounts of time to break down and be used as energy within the body. Non starch polysaccharides- this type of carbohydrate is also known as fibre. Fibre comes from the cellulose of plant foods and is abundant in leafy vegetables, root vegetables and seeds, starchy carbohydrates aren’t typically absorbed by the body as out digestive tract enzymes have difficulty breaking them down. Explained There are three different types of carbohydrate: sugar, starch and fibre. Sugar is quickly processed in the body and can be transformed into energy relatively quickly. Starch takes longer for our bodies to break down and gives us a slower release of energy than the sugars do. Fibre is found in sugars but mainly in starchy foods, this type of carbohydrate isn’t absorbed by the body and used and used as energy like the rest of the carbohydrates, however that does not mean that is isn’t necessary to have a large amount of fibre in your diet. It is proposed through research that males should be eating around 38g a day for men and 25g a day for women. Not only does this help you to have more regular bowel movements there is research showing that it can, reduces risks of colon cancer, reduces cholesterol, reduces blood pressure and risk of heart attacks. However, too much fibre can lead to mal absorption of essential minerals such as, iron and calcium, being deficient in these can lead to muscle cramps, weak bone density and anaemia. What happens to the carbohydrates after we have eaten them? All of these carbohydrates with the exception of fibre, will eventually be processed from their simplest form known as glycogen. Glycogen is what our body uses as energy. Glycogen is stored within our muscles in small amounts and in our liver in larger amounts. When we use up the glycogen stores within our muscles the body will look to use the glycogen stores that are within our liver for energy. Once this has happened our bodies will look to use other sources to provide us with energy, such as breaking down fat into glucose to use as energy, this is known as lipogenesis, or breaking down muscle as glucose to use as energy, this is done through the alanine- glucose cycle. Eating a high amount of refined carbs with a lack of fibre in them can lead to weight gain, as the carbs aren’t needed as energy the body will store them in your body and be transformed into fat, the idea of this is for it to be used by the body at a later date as energy, but due to lack of fibre the body will have more total carbs rather than if they were on a diet with a good amount of fibre. Why do we need carbohydrates in our diets? There are many different reasons that you should eat carbohydrates and have them in your diet. Nowadays people are scared to eat fruit because it has carbs in it and “carbs make you fat” so people try to keep away from them. Here are 4 very good reasons to incorporate carbohydrates in your diet:
Those are 4 reasons why you should be consuming carbohydrates as part of your diet. The reason people hate carbs and say they make you fat is because carbs are usually associated with cake and other goodies. These types of foods are refined and hold very low levels of dietary fibre. Recommended intake of carbohydrates When eating carbohydrate It is a good idea to stay away from those refined carbohydrates i.e. biscuits, cereals, breads, sweats and cakes These foods hold very little fibre and very little quality carbohydrates, and are filled with sugars such as sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup, for this reason it’s a good idea to stick to carbohydrates in the form of fruits, vegetables, oats and grains. It is typically thought that most people in a high carbohydrate diet are obese and with this statistic matching up with the statistic that a typical American diet situates 50-60% of their diets to carbohydrates. Along with obesity being an epidemic in America, things do not board well for the carbs. The problem is what we have mentioned before, carbohydrates are associated with cake and biscuits. As with anything eating to many carbs will lead to an overspill of glycogen stores and because of this the glycogen will be esterified into fat to be used as energy at a later date, leading to weight gain. However, eating to many carbs when you eat the right carbs is difficult, due to the high amount of fibre and the lower calories that fruits and vegetables hold, they also have much better vitamins and minerals. There is always a risk of obesity when living a setitary life style, and having poor diet habits, this doesn’t just come from the use of carbohydrates. Carbohydrate sources
Overview The three different types of carbohydrate are sugars (monosaccharides), starches (polysaccharides) and fibre (non-starchy polysaccharides). A lot of the time people get most of their diets from carbohydrates but because they are from refined sources leading to a lack of fibre and essential vitamins and minerals that you receive from fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Currently it is estimated that on a high carb diet most Americans get about 10-15g of fibre a day, this should be way higher at 38g for men and 25g for women. Carbohydrates are your bodies favoured fuel source as the body finds them easier to break down for energy than it does fat or proteins. Once converted to glycogen and glucose it is the soul nutrient used to fuel the central nervous system, allowing the CNS to work much more efficiently. Glucose is the primary source of energy and it depleted though long term exercise. Only after your glycogen stores in the muscles and in the liver are depleted the body will look to pull fat out of the cells to be broken into glucose and used as energy. Carbohydrates are great for keeping energy levels high but, like all macronutrients the consumption of too many carbohydrates can lead to them being stored as fat and weight gain. Carbohydrates being the initial port of call for energy as far as your body is concerned, keeping your glycogen stores high is ideal for keeping energy levels and performance high. Low glycogen stores that come either through starvation, diet or malnutrition is bad for the body as it can lead to hypoglycaemia and being hypoglycaemic for prolonged periods of time can lead to, hunger, dizziness, nausea, loss of performance, foggy brain and sometimes even brain damage. When taking part in a high fat diet it can lead to a condition called metabolic acidosis, where the acidity in your blood raises, this can lead to a few different problems within the body and high blood acidity has been linked with cancer. Not only does this help you to have more regular bowel movements there is research showing that it can, reduces risks of colon cancer, reduces cholesterol, and reduces blood pressure and risk of heart attacks. Further recommendations A lot of research recently has suggested that a high fat diet it the way to go and high fat diets are taking the world by storm as the best thing since sliced bread. I would recommend doing your own research on the matter and coming to your own conclusion and not to be blindly lead. Plenty of people believe that carbs are the answer as plenty of people believe that high fat is the answer, whichever you choose you will have people that agree or disagree, but don’t be blindly lead by others. I hope that you enjoyed the read xx The ab wheel How do you do it?
What’s so good about the ab wheel?
I believe that the ab wheel is one of the best things that you can do to improve your abdominal strength and tone. The ab wheel mainly focuses on the rectus abdominals (the stomach area) which most people are interested in working out, due to the aesthetic look they give and the erector spinae, a major stabiliser of the lower back. Although the exercises can be altered in order to target the oblique’s (the sides of the stomach area. The ab wheel is like no other ab exercise in that a lot of ab exercises focus on shortening the muscle during a contraction, this is known as a concentric contraction. Although when you are performing an ab exercise while using an ab wheel the hardest part is from the end position. While you push through with the ab wheel to get to the end position you work on your lower back concentrically and you have to contract your abdominals while there on stretch in order to maintain control of the movement. While contracting the muscle and a lengthening it, this is known as an eccentric muscle contraction. Eccentric muscle contractions have been shown to be much more beneficial than concentric contractions in terms of:
Although there are also negatives to eccentric movements:
The two negatives go hand in hand. Due to eccentric contractions being a state of the muscle trying to shorten while it lengthens, they do in fact put a lot of force through the muscle, which causes a lot of micro tears. Micro tears in the muscle are what you get from some exercise and this method is an effective way of build strength and hypertrophy. The reason for a higher potential for injury is that during an eccentric contraction the is pull from different directions creating a larger amount of force through the muscle, whereas with a concentric contraction there is only force being applied in one direction against a resistance. In order to prevent yourself from injury through this type of training I would recommend a few things:
Of course this movement doesn’t have to be done with an ab wheel. Although this apparatus is cheap to buy, if you’re on a strict budget then you could do the same thing with a towel on a laminate or slippery surface, then all you have to do is keep the towel to one side and use it again and again. That said you do need access to a slippery floor surface to perform this movement, whereas with an ab wheel you can do on any flat surface. In order to increase the difficulty of this exercise, you can opt to do the exercise from a standing position rather than a kneeling position, but this can be very difficult, if you opt for this advancement make sure that you are competent at performing the ab exercise from a kneeling position first. You may also opt to do this exercise with a barbell. This is known as a barbell rollout and is the same exercise but it adds a bit of resistance when you’re bringing your body back to the resting position. Working both eccentrically and concentrically through the rectus abdominals. Overall The ab roller is a great piece of kit that you can use in order to improve your core strength. Having good core strength it very important in all aspects of life, through balance and stability. The ab roller works on the abdominals mainly through an eccentric contraction. Eccentric movements are brilliant for increasing power output and muscular strength, but make sure that you don’t perform this type of contraction as a beginner or too often as it is a difficult contraction and has a higher potential for injury than an ordinary concentric contraction. Be warned that through eccentric contractions they will cause quite severe DOMs and a little inflammation of the area due to the nature of the contraction causing micro tears in the muscles. Carb cycling What is it? Carb cycling is a process in which you rotate how many carbs you eat each day, for example Monday you may have a low carb day when you only eat 60g of carbs the entire day Tuesday you may have a medium carb day when you eat 100g of carbs and on a Wednesday you might have a high carb day they will allow you to eat mainly carbs throughout the day. A high-carb day will generally have you eating 2-2.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. Your protein intake will be around 1 gram per pound, and your fat intake between 0-.15 grams per pound. A moderate-carb day will call for about 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. Your protein intake will be between 1-1.2 grams per pound, and your fat intake around .2 grams per pound. A low-carb day will call for about .5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. Your protein intake will usually increase to about 1.5 grams per pound, and your fat intake to around .35 grams per pound. A no-carb day means less than 30 grams of carbohydrate per day. To achieve this, you basically can only eat a few servings of vegetables per day. Protein intake is around 1.5 grams per pound, and fat intake goes up to .5-.8 grams per pound. Every day that you eat you have to have a high protein intake (1-1.5g protein per lb of body weight) While you’re carb cycling the amount of fat that you eat is related to the amount of carbs you eat- on a low carb day your fat intake will be higher than on a high carb day some people like to set it out differently for different training days example below. How could this possibly work?
The theory is that when you’re eating a high amount of carbs you refuel your muscles by filling them with glycogen causing the body to release insulin, which has an anti-catabolic effect. It is believed that insulin induces protein synthesis, but research has been one that suggests rather than doing this is actually just inhibits muscle breakdown. Which means during a body building competition when people are cutting and they tend to lose a bit of fat and a bit of muscle (mostly fat) it will allow you to keep more muscle. You should do most of your intense training on a high carb day as your body will be able to provide more energy to the muscles. On a moderate carb day you have enough carbs to keep energy levels up (glycogen stores) but you won’t be in a little enough deficit with your calories in order to be losing much weight. This part of the carb cycle is more of a maintenance phase and like a pyramid training method you move across to the next day by preparing your body for the low carb day or the high carb day during the transition. On a no carb or low carb day you will be in a caloric deficit, what happens here is your body is supposed to be used to the high amount of carbs so there is constantly insulin production, but when there is high insulin production and low or no amount of carbs the body has to find something to burn. The idea is that the body is tricked into burning the fat from the fat cells as there is nothing else to burn. On low to no carb days you will more than likely feel irritable, hungry and tired due to the low amount of glycogen that is stored within the muscles. For this day steady state cardio is recommended. Can it help you lose weight? This diet is supposed to be done to a caloric deficit and at any point during a caloric deficit you will lose weight it doesn’t matter what you eat, hence the cookie diet! For people that don’t know what a caloric deficit is, it means that if you eat less calories than your body needs for energy you will lose weight, the problem with eating anything that you want is that you don’t get the correct amount of macronutrients which means that when you do lose weight you can lose muscle as well as fat. So your BMI will change but your body fat % could stay they same. What’s good about the carb cycle? It works and it works very well! For losing weight Accordingly you don’t have to count your calories, on a high carb day you will eat a lot of calories on a medium carb day you will have a medium amount of calories and on a low to no carb day you will have low calories. Examples
It’s pretty easy on high and medium carb days The bad It won’t get you shredded if that’s what you are looking to achieve. To get very low body fat if you’re a man or a woman you need to track your macronutrients to a tee because only then will you get a low body fat % level. It's worth mentioning being at a body fat % of 6% or lower isn't suitable for the body long term and can actually have a lot of negatives when if done on a long term basis. Hard on low to no carb days, may feel like you are starving your body and you will become irritable and tired through that day, not ideal if you have a job that takes a lot of energy to complete. Not sustainable- for long periods of time gorging yourself on carbohydrates and then eating none almost seems like a form of torture on the body. A LOT of people fail in this regard and it’s not surprising because when you are irritable and hungry and tired you just feel like eating chocolate or cake. Overview This diet can work and it has worked and it has been shown to allow you to keep your muscle while you drop fat which is a great bonus on a caloric deficit which is great if you just want to lose weight because it means it’s a bit healthier as it doesn’t make you lose both fat and muscle which is weight loss but it isn’t healthy weight loss. I would recommend traditional dieting of a healthy diet as it is consistent and it causes you to develop good eating habits which means that it will be sustainable. You will never get used to the feeling of hunger and each time it will be more and more difficult to eat a lot less calories and then eventually you will cheat and then feel horrible about cheating on the diet and spiral down into the abyss that is junk food. Thanks for reading Foam Rolling
What is it? Foam rolling is a process of recovery, stretching and self-myofascial release. It is done with an object called a foam roller which is a cylinder shape of foam. What is myofascia? Myofacia- ‘Myo’ means muscle and ‘fascia’ means band. Facia is a connective tissue that is like a second skin underneath your regular skin or really like a thin layer of muscle as the tissues have the ability to contract, it surround, connects and protects all of the tissues of the body (tendons, ligaments, muscles, bones and organs). It is made up of elastin and collagen fibres, which makes this substance very strong yet flexible at the same time. When the myofacia is in a healthy state is relaxed and easy to manipulate beneath the skin. This allows it to provide cushioning and a type of support that allows us to move around without restrictions or pain. Facia is also very dynamic in nature, meaning that it can respond to forces in order to help protect the body from injury. Any type of trauma whether physical or emotional can leave scar like substances within the facia, this may cause the facia to lose its sponginess and become taut, which can mean that internal structures become pulled out of alignment, creating abnormal pressure within the body that has the potential to crush nerves, blood and lymph vessels and create pain on sensitive structures. What is self-myofascial release? This is basically like having a sports massage and is said to offer the same benefits of having a massage. Except a sports massage can be quite relaxing and make you feel good. In my experience with foam rolling it has been 100% pain! The idea behind this is to have the same effect but without hiring professional help. Although this is more cost effective, in my personal opinion there is no substitute for a well-qualified professional. During foam rolling, the foam rollee is supposed to use their own body weight in order to exert pressure on the specific areas of soft tissue that need attention. This is supposed to place both direct and sweeping pressure on the tissues, generating friction between the tissues and the foam roller in turn causing a stretch of said tissues. Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) had been around for quite a while, but there has been an influx of research in recent years as it has been found more popular among athletes and non-athletes. Specifically foam rolling, this is a fairly new concept that has really gotten quite a lot of research done on it in last few years. Numerous studies are undertaken with them each year to determine their worth in the fitness world. Foam rolling is referred to as Self Myofascial Release (SMR) and there are plenty of studies that suggest there are a large degree of benefits that come from this type of SMR. Now I, would like to say that different scientific papers are tested differently with different study groups, so for every paper that says proves it there will also be a paper disproving that it works. This blog is not a review on papers that has disproved that foam rolling doesn’t work. This is a review on the evidence that foam rolling has a positive effect on the body and athletic performance. I urge you to go out and do your own research on the matter and come to your own conclusion, but for now here is literature that proves that foam rolling should be implemented into a training programme. Foam rolling is thought to help increase circulation and in turn aid recovery during Dealyed- onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in a study done by Byrne C et al, 2004 “After intense exercise, this discomfort and pain commonly are associated with disruption of the intracellular muscle structure, sarcolemma, and extracellular matrix, which leads to prolonged impairment of muscle function and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).” This is relatively old research as it is now 12 years old and as a rule usually research that is more than 10 years old is taken with a pinch of salt, due to advances in testing protocols, in the last ten years. Although, more recent study done by Crane JD et al 2012 showing that ‘foam rolling decreases muscle soreness, cellular stress and inflammation, which are three main components of DOMS.’ This being much more recent research is more reliable in terms of testing procedures, this coupled with earlier evidence suggests that SMR through foam rolling does in fact aid in reducing DOMS. Although a more recent study from Castilglione 2010 has stated that “SMR before a workout will enhance performance because of myofascial release, leading to increased mobility and neuromuscular efficiency”. When you recruit more neuromuscular fibres in the body you can become more explosive and reaction timing can improve due to the increased amount of motor unit recruited allowing for a faster stronger muscular contraction. This derives from the trigger point method and It’s said that it has the same effect as Neuromuscular Techniques (NMT’s) used by therapists. NMT’s are said to do exactly what it says above and increase the mobility and neuromuscular efficiency. NMT’s are usually applied to areas I tough tissue found in the body commonly known as “knots” these nots have pressure applied to them in such a way that they melt away and allow better neuromuscular reaction. With better neuromuscular recruitment it is thought that the practice of SMR via foam rolling can improve your physical performance in the way of maximum speed, maximum strength and power output. However there isn’t enough evidence on this matter to support these claims. The foam roller can be used various different ways. The two main ways that they are used as discussed are:
Overview In theory warming up with SMR via foam rolling will cause improved physical performance, due to the effects it has on the neuromuscular efficiency. However as stated above the findings of the improvement in vertical jump performance, sprints and strength output are varied ones. So it can be considered that some of SMR via foam rolling can be purely psychological. The good news is that it can help greatly with DOM’s, according to the research and if the foam rolling is being done correctly. There are usually two types of foam rollers, smooth and bobbly. I would recommend getting the bobbly one as it will have allow you to use it in a more efficient way and has more potential to be used as trigger point exercises rather than a smooth one that will just allow for myofascial release. Thanks for reading. Referencing Castiglione, A, ed. Self-Myofascial Release Therapy and Athletes. AIoSMR Therapy, 2010. Crane JD, Ogborn DI, Cupido C, et al. Massage therapy attenuates inflammatory signaling after exercise-induced muscle damage. Sci Transl Med. 2012;4(119):119ra13. Byrne C, Twist C, Eston R. Neuromuscular function after exercise-induced muscle damage: theoretical and applied implications. Sports Med. 2004;34(1):49–69. De-load weeks within training cycles What is a de-load week? Why do it? This is a 7 day planned period of recovery time, which you take out of training, in order for your central nervous system(CNS), and musculoskeletal structures to have a rest from an intensive training programme. How do I do this? During a de-load week you need to decrease your intensity by about 40-60%. Your options of doing this include:
Overtraining A lot of people don’t believe in over training. Lots of people believe that it is a myth, I respectfully disagree. Here are a few factors that can lead to over training:
Sleep Not having adequate sleep (8hours) can severely reduce your bodies ability to recover and grow, sleep is essential for your bodies physical and psychological performance. This is important as you find that during over training you either: over train the body and become injured or fatigued, or you over train the mind, which leads to mental fatigue and boredom. Boredom for some people is the main reason for disengagement in any activities. Sleep is essential to growth and repair of the body, without sleep you will be fatigued and unable to work as hard through certain workouts, or sporting activities. Diet If you have a poor diet you will over train. Your nutrition is incredibly important, which is where “you are what you eat” comes from. If you aren’t eating enough to sustain cell growth and recovery, you will find yourself fatigued and feeling irritable. You may even come to some reversibility in your athletic performance. Diet is incredibly important. To illustrate why diet is very important, here are some examples of athletes and their diets:
Recovery If you are training the same muscle group day after day after day it isn’t good for that muscle as it doesn’t have enough time to recover. It is thought that you should wait 48-72 hours after working a particular body part again through weight training before it has properly recovered. Over working muscles can lead to injury and cause reversibility, which means you may in fact get weaker through that movement. Stress Stress can cause a number of problems in the body. It can impair your motor coordination meaning that you won’t be able to work as hard in the gym due to not being able to recruit as many motor units. It has been found stress lowers your recovery rate and that it can also increase your risk of injury! Signs of overtraining There are a lot of signs, which mean you could be over training:
A deload week really helps to stop a lot of this happening. A deload week can include something completely different, for example, instead of doing weights on a deload week you could do light cardio and stretching. Yoga is brilliant for reducing stress and you may find through stretching and light cardio you feel a lot healthier. Not a lot of people believe in over training and believe that fighting through is the answer. Only you know your body and you should do as it says because you only have one. Being adept to your bodies needs is very important in overall health. One of the things that can come from overtraining and over activity in general is adrenal fatigue and other stress inducing problems like high blood pressure. Do yourself a favour have some time off and come back better than ever. Remember it isn’t an excuse to do absolutely nothing and sit around all day. It should be active rest such as stretching, walking, or a reduced load on your current training in general, just make sure that the load is significantly reduced in order to recover and grow. Does Fasting Cardio Work? A Scientific Review By Sam Love Introduction This article will tackle the question- does fasting cardio work? Fasting cardio is a method traditionally used by bodybuilders in preparation for a show to help them lose as much body fat as possible. The idea of fasting cardio is to take part in cardio first thing in the morning before you break your fast with breakfast. The sciency thought behind this is, first thing in the morning glycogen stores in the muscles are depleted through the energy burned during sleep, meaning the body will be in a lypolytic state. It is also due to cortisol (lypolytic hormone) levels being higher first thing in the morning, meaning the chance of lipolysis is greater. Several studies have found after consuming carbohydrates before low intensity aerobic exercise (up to 60% V02max) can blunt fat oxidation (Ahlborg G and Felig P 1976, Horowitz JF Et al 1997). Although, not only is this research outdated, it can be attributed to an insulin-mediated attenuation of lipolysis, an increased glycolytic flux and a decreased expression of genes involved in fatty acid transport and oxidation(Civitarese AE Et al 2005, Horowitz JF Et al 1999). These are all things which, you may find in somebody who has type 2 diabetes. There is also a substantial amount of research disproving fasting cardio as a practice actually works Key Lipolysis – is the breakdown of lipids and involves hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids Proteolysis – this is the breakdown of proteins or polypeptides into amino acids by the action Thermic effects of exercise- Exercise, in any form, contributes to approximately 20% of total energy expenditure (TEE). Glycotic flux- Glycolysis is a fundamental metabolic pathway, is critical for the production of energy. Glycolytic flux, or the rate at which molecules proceed through the glycolytic pathway, is tightly regulated in response to the cellular environment EPOC- Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC, informally called afterburn) is a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity intended to erase the body's "oxygen deficit". HIIT- high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time Hypoglycaemic- low amount of blood sugar or blood glucose, this can result in lack of energy, clumsiness and foggy brain. Research One study was done on moderately trained individuals who consumed a high glycaemic food during different intervals of training (30,60 and 90 mins) along with individuals who had fasted for 12-14 hours prior to exercise. The results of this test showed there were no differences between the fasted and fed group’s oxidation levels until 80-90 minutes of training at which point the fasted subjects had a greater oxidation level than their fed counter parts, also showing the lipolysis of the fed group was decreased by 22% compared to the fasted group (Horowitz JF Et al 1997). In the fasted group it showed there was an effect on lypoisis and fat oxidation after 80-90 minutes, showing fasting cardio to be beneficial in terms of oxidising fat it has to be down for longer than a regular person performs this method. Furthermore it showed, lipolysis was greater, but it is worth mentioning, if free fatty acids (FFA) are not oxidised once they have been broken down into the blood stream, they are re-esterfied into adipose tissue, defeating the purpose of any lipolysis occurs during fasting. Lee YS et al (1999) carried out a study on 10 male college students, showing the effects of glucose milk (GM) on exercise. This was done for the group of students during: long duration, low intensity exercise, with and without the consumption of GM and in high intensity, short duration bouts of exercise, with and without the consumption of GM. The conclusion of this study found, use of GM resulted in a greater post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) compared to when in a fasted state. EPOC is also the state, which is achieved from high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT has been found to be the best method of burning fat and is much better than its low to moderate steady state counterparts (Gibala MJ Et al 2006, Schoenfeld and Dawes J 2009) although it has been found, during a HIIT session blood flow to the adipose tissue decreases(Romijn JA Et al 1993) which is thought to have a negative effect on the usage of FFA as energy, but it is the reaction of EPOC allowing HIIT participants to continue to burn more calories throughout the day. This adds to the thought, burning fat is a 24hr process and it cannot just be achieved in a 30 minute fasting cardio session. It is thought the location of adipose tissue mobilised during training needs to be taken into account. During low to moderate steady state cardio it is presumed fat is equal to 40-60% total energy expenditure (TEE). However, only 50-70% of this fat is taken from the plasma FFA (Van Loon LJ 2004). The other 30-50% comes from intramuscular triglycerides (IMTG). IMTG are a lot like muscle glycogen stores because they can only be oxidised locally within the muscles. Lipolysis of the IMTG stores are usually stimulated when exercising at an intensity of 65% V02 max (Romijn JA Et al 1993) although, IMTG have no bearing on personal health or aesthetics it is merely intramuscular fat. This fat allows for more energy should it be needed. IMTG is typically higher in trained endurance athletes. It is the subcutaneous fat sometimes known as cellulite, which has an impact on aesthetics and wellbeing. Bad news for bodybuilding as research has shown exercise in a fasted state has an impact on proteolysis. During a fast there is evidence of a loss of nitrogen in the body while exercising. Nitrogen being a key component of protein synthesis, which is essential to building lean muscle. The research showed nitrogen loss was more than doubled when compared to somebody who had sufficient glycogen stores during exercise (Lemon PW and Mullin JP 1980). In a paper researched by (Antonio Paoli Et al 2011) concerning exercise in fed and fasted individuals, it was discovered fat oxidisation after exercise was greater in fed individuals rather than in fasted individuals by showing, there was a decrease in RER and an increase in V02 in the fed group. A combination of decreased RER and increased V02 can be credited to a maintained increase in protein synthesis after training, which is beneficial to building lean muscle. Conclusion The literature points towards fasting cardio being negative to lean muscle gain or muscle maintenance and HIIT being superior. This is due to fasting during training actually has a negative effect on nitrogen balance, which in turn has a negative effect on protein synthesis. This can hinder muscle growth, however fasting cardio does in fact aid in fat burning although only after a period of 80-90 minutes does become more beneficial than eating before training. This leads us to believe, if you’re trying to gain or maintain lean muscle, fasting cardio isn’t the way to go in terms of fat loss. This is all evidence towards fasting cardio at a steady state, however while performing HIIT this is a different matter. It is generally found in the literature, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a better method of fat loss than steady state cardio. HIIT causes a state of EPOC, which allows the body to burn calories throughout the day, rather than in steady state cardio where calories only burn up to an hour after exercise. In a study carried out by (Antonio Paoli Et al 2011), where they discover there was fat oxidation in a fasted subject while performing high intensity exercise through testing RER and V02 max, the RER was less after 12-14 hrs in the fed group compared to the fasted group, showing evidence of lipid utilisation occurs by consuming food before exercise. This is backed up by (Lee YS Et al 1999) who also found EPOC was greater after consuming food before high intensity bouts of exercise. Although, fasting does work in conjunction with HIIT, performing this in a hypoglycaemic state, will cause a decrease in performance, therefore leading to a decrease in the amount of calorie burnt long term. From the research we find, if you are looking to burn fat by fasting cardio it isn’t necessarily the best way to do so. Due to the research it should be recommended for people to choose High Intensity Interval Training over steady state cardio and while performing HIIT training it shouldn’t be carried out under fasted protocol. Although, these test where primarily done using carbohydrate beverages and carbohydrate feeding. This could be a poor choice to bodybuilders who are leading a no carb approach when getting ready to compete, as the bodybuilders taking this approach may not have the energy to perform HIIT, having little energy from the lack of carbohydrates they are eating. Although, it is said HIIT has found beneficial to people in a hypoglycaemic state, in spite of this energy levels for training are imperative to high performance and in turn calories burnt. Furthermore, the use of carbohydrate allows for greater EPOC meaning more calories are burnt when you aren’t in a hypoglycaemic state more carbs on your way to a competition as it is allows for greater EPOC and in turn greater calories burnt and lipids oxidised throughout the day. Referencing Ahlborg G and Felig P. Influence of glucose ingestion on fuel-hormone response during prolonged exercise. J Appi Physiol 41 : 683-688, 1976. Horowitz JF, Mora-Rodnguez R, Byerley LO, and Coyle EF. Lipolytic suppression following carbohydrate ingestion limits fat oxidation during exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 273: E768-E775, 1997. Horowitz JF, Mora-Rodriguez R, Byerley LO, and Coyle EF. Substrate metabolism when subjects are fed carbohydrate during exercise. Am J Physiol 276(5 Pt 1): E828-E835, 1999. Civitarese AE, Hesselink MK, Russell AP, Ravussin E1 and Schrauwen P. Glucose ingestion during exercise blunts exerciseinduced gene expression of skeletal muscle fat oxidative genes. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 289: E1023-E1029, 2005. Lee YS, Ha MS, and Lee YJ. The effects of various intensities and durations of exercise with and without glucose in milk ingestion on post exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Med Physical Fitness 39:341-347, 1999. Schoenfeld B and Dawes J. High-intensity interval training: Applications for general fitness training. Strength Cond J 31 : 44-46. 2009. Gibala MJ, Little JP, van Essen M, Wilkin GP, Burgomaster KA, Safdar A, Raha S, and Tarnopolsky MA. Short-term sprint interval versus traditional endurance training: Similar initial adaptations in human skeletal muscle and exercise performance. J Physiol 15(pt 3): 901-911, 2006. Romijn JA, Coyle EF, Sidossis LS, Gastaldelli A, Horowitz JF, Endert E and Wolfe RR. Regulation of endogenous fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity. Am J Physiol 265(3 Pt 1): E380-E391, 1993. van Loon LJ. Use of intramuscular triacylglycerol as a substrate source during exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol 97: 1170-1187, 2004. Lemon PW and Mullin JP. Effect of initial muscle glycogen levels on protein catabolism during exercise. J Appi Physiol 48: 624-629, 1980 Antonio Paoli, Giuseppe Marcolin, Fabio Zonin, Marco Neri, Andrea, and Quirico F. Pacelli. Exercise fasting or fed to enhance fat loss? Influence of food intake on respiratory ratio and exercise postexercise oxygen consumption after a bout of endurance training. Int J Spo Nuti and Exer Metabolism. 21, 2011, 48-54, 2011 Protein – How Much Is Enough?
Protein the building blocks of life! In their most natural component they come in the form of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s). They allow for cell repair and muscular growth, which is why a lot of people are obsessed with the amount of protein that they eat. You rarely hear a new person in the gym say ‘what are your micronutrients like?’ or ‘what is your carbohydrates and fat intake?’ it’s all protein protein protein! Lots of people believe that the more protein the better, but that’s not necessarily true and too much protein can actually be very hard on your kidneys and your liver due to the elimination of urea How much is enough? Optimal protein levels Why do we like high protein levels? Because we are told that the more protein that you eat the better your muscle repair of the muscles will be the more tone we will get and the better we will look, but simply eating lb after lb of protein isn’t the answer. Research has found that eating an excessive amount of protein is catabolized into energy or is recycled as components of other molecules in the body such as fat and the fat will end up being stored as deposits around the body causing you to gain weight! A study showed that the optimal amount for a sedentary adolescent man and women aged 14- 18 was 0.9g of protein per kg of body weight a day. For an adolescent man weighing 65kg that equates to 58.5g protein a day. For a sedentary man or woman fully grown aged 18 or above should be consuming 0.8g of protein per kg of bodyweight. For a man weighing in at 75kg that equates to 60g of protein per day. These figures also hold true for somebody that is overweight. Protein works by causing an elevated nitrogen balance in the body creating the perfect atmosphere for protein synthesis, it’s quite complicated, but in layman's terms positive nitrogen balance =good for building muscle. Negative nitrogen balance = bad for building muscle. Interestingly enough too much of a good thing is bad, it has been found that when over the recommended amount of protein is eaten and other energy requirements are not met, the body will catabolise the proteins for energy. Meaning that if you overeat on your protein but pay no mind to carbohydrates and fats your protein will be converted to energy rather than being pushed to the muscles to rebuild them. What about athletes If you consider yourself and athlete than here are the optimal protein levels for you. It is thought that people who train more need more protein due to having more muscle breakdown, and that is correct, it is thought that an athlete that need to have 1.2 – 1.8g of protein per kg of body mass daily. Depending on your type of training will depend what value you choose to add into your diet, just remember that eating too much protein with be synthesised in the body as other energy if the rest of your diet isn’t up to scratch. Nitrogen balance Mentioned above with the nitrogen balance and with a positive nitrogen balance you grow muscle and with a negative one you are more likely to burn one. This is just a short list of things that can affect the nitrogen balance in the body and in turn effect protein synthesis:
Overview Protein isn’t the be all end all of macronutrients, in order to grow muscle your whole diet needs to be on point making sure that your fats and your carbohydrates are always a greater amount than your protein, because if they aren’t then your protein will be synthesised into energy anyway and stored as fat in the body. If you are sedately and you’re eating more protein there really is no point because it will do nothing for you and too much protein can cause havoc on your kidneys and your liver. Athletes need more protein because they train to a high degree but athletes generally need more calories so the need a greater amount of fats and carbohydrates too. If they just increased their protein and nothing else they would still have the problem of protein being catabolized down into other energy sources. Meaning that if you are going to take a lot of protein you had better be training enough in order for the protein to be used in the building of lean muscle rather that esterifying into Free fatty acids and becoming adipose tissue on your body. Conventional Deadlifts VS. Sumo Deadlifts Deadlifts are, in my opinion, the ultimate strength exercise! It is incredibly hard to get that weight from the deadlift position off of the floor:
Both of the deadlifts in question are compound movements that work across multiple joints. They have some slightly different characteristics, and although they both work a majority of the muscles in the body, the activation of each muscle may differ slightly due to the different stance adopted through the deadlift. Conventional Deadlift During a conventional deadlift the muscles that will be worked are: hamstrings, lower back, calves glutes. Those are the main muscles that will be worked but the stabilising muscles in the core will be at work and also a majority of the posterior kinetic chain. This means that the back musculature such as: trapezius, rhomboids, latissimus dosi will all be active during this movement. Although the main place that this exercise will be felt it the lower back and the hamstrings. How to do a Conventional Deadlift: Equipment: Olympic barbell Starting position:
Exercise:
If you’re new to the movement, I recommend that you watch a lot of videos on the deadlift in order to reinforce good technique or hire a trainer to teach you the technique. There a lot of people in the gym deadlifting that aren’t doing it correctly due to poor technique and it can cause rather bad back injuries. This exercise is definitely worth doing, as was said before, it is the ultimate strength exercise but doing it with poor technique is the ultimate way to have a bad lower back for years to come! Sumo Deadlift During a Sumo Deadlift, the muscles worked are pretty similar in terms of the posterior kinetic chain. Although, with this form of deadlift, there is a lot more pressure put onto the abductors, onto the semimembrinosis and semitendonosis rather than the biceps femoris of the hamstring complex. How to do a Sumo Deadlift: Equipment: Olympic barbell Starting position:
Exercise:
As you can see, this is slightly different from the Conventional Deadlift and it works the muscles slightly differently. Again, my recommendations are the same as with the Conventional Deadlift: hire a trainer and watch videos to perfect your technique. In competition, they allow for both Conventional Deadlifts and Sumo Deadlifts. But which one should you use? The one that is most comfortable for you of course! You can work this out through trial and error, although typically you may be able to go by these rules:
Recommendation
I would recommend trying both, nailing both of them technically and even when you have one that you prefer, training both types of deadlift. This allows for some different workout programmes, helps keep the workout fresh and if you want to improve your abductors Sumo Deadlifts tend to put more load through those than conventional methods. Conclusion Deadlift as a whole are a brilliant exercise for athleticism and strength. Make sure you practice technique before you go heavy because with this movement, doing it wrong can cause some serious issues. Experiment to decide which you prefer and be prepared to smash out some deadlifts. Thanks for reading Different methods to improve your muscular strength
Muscular Strength is known as the maximum amount of force your muscles can exert in a muscle contraction. Strength is key to athleticism, especially nowadays where most sports are power based and power = strength x speed. As you can see, one of the main components of power is strength. Increasing strength has many, many benefits including: maintenance of flexibility and balance as you get older, and lifting with the correct technique can improve joint quality and increase strength at the musculotendinous junctions. 4 Big Compound Movements The four movements that I am referring to are: the back squat, deadlift, bench press and shoulder press. These are the four big exercises that you should master technically before you decided to use them to perform maximum weight, due to the potential for injury being high, especially in squats and deadlifts. These movements are known as compound movements due to them working across more than one joint, meaning that more muscles are recruited in order to perform these exercises. Some honourable mentions of strength exercises are – pull ups, bent over rows and dips. Pull ups and dips are usually body weight exercises but you can add weight via ankle weights or through a weight belt. Use Barbells This is linked in with the four compound movements as they all usually are done with barbells. Barbells are great because not only is it the main piece of equipment that you will be using it will allow you to form an engram for the exercise. An engram is muscle memory, doing the same thing over and over allows you to perform the exercise in the most effective way, if you’re training the technique correctly that is. Correct training makes perfect, if you’re training and the technique has always been poor you leave yourself open to injury and it will affect the amount you can lift. Dumbbells are acceptable too during training as you could have greater strength on one side while performing a dumbbell bench press, having equal strength throughout is the key to having great overall lifts. Technique Moving on into technique- this is probably the most important aspect of strength training, not only does a good technique help you to lift a greater load but it also helps to prevent injury. To practice technique, I would recommend watching videos on technique then practicing. Taking ques i.e. for a deadlift you should keep your chest up, back straight, feet hip width apart, hands on the outside of the legs, etc. Then practice on about 60% of what your 1RM is i.e. 1RM = 100kg 60% = 60kg. Do this for 5-8 reps, once you’re happy with your form then you can move the weight up while maintaining good form. If you do not know your 1RM then you can just start with the barbell and slowly increase weight from there. Be Critical Always be critical of your own performance, i.e. the first 3 reps were perfect but that last one my form really broke down and I started to arch my back. Think about this for the next set and make sure that you are doing your best to maintain technique while you lift. Take notes while at the gym on your lifts how you felt and what you think you could improve. Keep track of your weight and reps and always try to progress if you can. While maintaining good form. Don’t Do Too Much While training for strength you should be sticking to 3 exercises per workout, this is due to you working at almost 100% at every lift. Even if this isn’t taxing on your muscles and they don’t feel sore, it will be taxing on your nervous system. If you burn your nervous system out you will find that your strength may actually decrease. During the workouts always make sure to do one of the big compound movements for example if you’re doing a squat for your main movement, the other two movements should either be on fixator muscles of this movement, like core training or antagonist muscles. The squat is very quadriceps dominant it works all of the muscles in the legs but quadriceps are the primary mover in this exercise, try following squats with some hamstring exercises like Romanian Deadlifts, or target the gluts with hip extensions. Rep Range While training for strength you should be working within a rep range of 6-1 reps for 3-5 sets. Due to this you see a lot of people doing 5x5. This is a tried and tested strength method and it does work, this method will allow you to gain some mass as well as build your strength. Although, if it is pure strength you are going for it is a good idea to lessen the reps and increase the load of resistance. Working within the rep range of 3-2 and keeping the sets the same 3-5. Again, this is only recommended when you have a good fix on technique. Progress Steadily When you start training strength, don’t just jump in the gym and let the ego take over. You will more than likely hurt yourself, if that happens then your strength gains will go nowhere. While training for strength, it is important that you slowly add weight, adding high weights too fast may lead to a plateau because of the strain on your central nervous system or injury due to break down of technique. This will allow you to keep good form as you add weight, remember that when lifting a lot of weight the smallest amount can make a difference, adding 1.25 plate to each side may look ridiculous but that 2.5kgs more than you could lift the week before. At the end of the day gains are gains so don’t be whether you add 0.5kg or 50kg. Cardio Cardio is very important in strength training as it will help you keep your weight down. I would recommend sprints, hill runs and HIIT circuits due to the fast pace of them they train the same energy system (ATP system) as lifting weights does. With that energy system in better condition it will function better and be able to transfer energy, leading to faster recovery. The importance of cardio shouldn’t be underestimated. Cardio is great for keeping weight down, and improving energy systems that are specific to your training, not only this, but it will improve overall health or the heart and lungs. Doing these high intensity cardio sessions for short durations will not cause you to lose your strength gains. Bits and Bobs It is important to stay on top of core stability, grip strength and flexibility while strengthening your body.
Deload Take a week off every 4 weeks i.e. 3 weeks working normally and 1 week in a reduced intensity. The importance of this is that it will give your body time to properly recover from all of the heavy lifts it has been doing. If you decide to keep going, it can fry your nervous system and that can lead to a decrease in strength and overall regression of training. Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought xx |
Categories
|