Stretching is a form of physical exercise which involves deliberate lengthening of muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. Stretching benefits people of all ages, and is intended for the young as well as the elderly. Stretching has a number of benefits to the body. It helps in reducing soreness, increases blood circulation to various parts of body, and increase in range of movements of joints. Post-exercise stretching particulary aids in workout recovery, and ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order.
Some basic points on stretching:
1. WARM UP: Stretching is best effective when done after some warm up. The reasoning is that muscles are warm and loose and the stretches will be easier and less painful. To enhance your flexibility and increase your range of motion, post workout is the best time to do stretches.
2. BREATHING TECHNIQUE: Often people tend to hold breath while doing stretches. This is the worst thing you can do. The stretched muscle does not have enough oxygen reaching it and hence proper recovery does not take place.
3. HOLD YOUR STRETCH: It takes time to lengthen tissues safely. Hold your stretches for at approx 25-30 seconds. Do not bounce and try to hold in the maximum stretch position. Stretch only to a point where you don't feel much pain. If the pain is increasing, probably you have gone a bit too far.
The benefits of stretching will come gradually. Don't expect results overnight. Stick with a schedule and see the results.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
OVER TRAINING
People often talk about the fear of over training. However i feel over training is just a state of insufficient nutrition and improper rest. So what is excessive training for one, might be just a warm up for other. Diet and rest are two things that determine what is the optimum time and volume of exercise for you.
Symptoms and effects of over training:
1. Muscle soreness which continues for longer period of time.
2. early onset of fatigue.
3. Decreased muscle strength.
4. Loss of motivation and enthusiasm.
Avoiding over training
After your workout, the body goes into catabolic state (i.e breakdown of muscles). If not provided with proper nutrition at this moment of time, the body becomes calorie deficient ad rate of break down muscle tissue increases. Hence a proper diet is must to help body recover and rebuild muscles that are broken during your workout.
Rest is the next important thing. Time your training to allow maximum rest to muscles. Splitting the training program so that different muscles are worked on different days is one way to maximize the delay between working out the stressed muscle again, hence giving it ample time to recover.
Symptoms and effects of over training:
1. Muscle soreness which continues for longer period of time.
2. early onset of fatigue.
3. Decreased muscle strength.
4. Loss of motivation and enthusiasm.
Avoiding over training
After your workout, the body goes into catabolic state (i.e breakdown of muscles). If not provided with proper nutrition at this moment of time, the body becomes calorie deficient ad rate of break down muscle tissue increases. Hence a proper diet is must to help body recover and rebuild muscles that are broken during your workout.
Rest is the next important thing. Time your training to allow maximum rest to muscles. Splitting the training program so that different muscles are worked on different days is one way to maximize the delay between working out the stressed muscle again, hence giving it ample time to recover.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
WINDOW PERIOD
The time after your workout is the most important time in which you can actually make a difference to your body. This is generally referred to as the 'window period' or the 'window of opportunity' when your body is asking for nutrition and is ready to instantaneously suck up almost everything. However understanding what are the needs of your body and providing it with the right kind of nutrition is the key.
WHAT TO EAT :
After a long intense workout or any form of exercise for that matter, your body is depleted of glycogen and hence energy. The energy sapped muscles are torn and are looking to repair themselves. Thus your body needs two primary constituents Carbs and Proteins post workout. Often carbs are neglected and people stress too much on proteins as a primary meal post exercise, carbs are very important. If your post workout meal doesn't contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That is not exactly what you are looking for.
Proteins help in repairing and rebuilding the muscle tissues. one component that should be avoided in this window period is FAT. The reason being fat digest very slowly, and your body needs nutrition almost immediately. If you consume Fat alongwith carbs and protein, this fat will slow the digestion of carbs and protein as well, hence glycogen levels will not be replenished soon enough and muscle repair will not happen effectively.
TYPES OF FOOD:
Include food items which are rich in protein and carbs but at the same time are easy to digest. Egg whites are part of my every meal during the day except this for the very simple reason that though they are rich in protein, they don't settle down that quickly. Similarly taking complex carbs in form of brown bread, oats is not a very good idea. For carbs, one needs dextrose(a kind of sugar) to spike up your insulin level. By providing an insulin spike, carbs provide the body with an excellent transport system for the nutrients to reach the muscle cells.The simplest way I find is to have a couple of spoons of Glucose in water. You can also replace this with fresh fruit juice. Again for protein, going for something that is readily digestible is a good idea. For my immediate nutrition, I carry my whey protein mixed with glucose. Remember liquids are easily digested as compared to whole foods, so a banana and an apple blended in low fat milk is better than eating a whole banana and apple.
RIGHT TIME TO EAT:
As discussed above, the body is in need of immediate nutrition. However that doesn't mean you take your meal the moment you step off from your cardio machine or drop your dumb bells. Allow your heart rate to settle down before gulping down that replenishing muscle building nutrition.
It is said that the next 30 mins after your exercise is the time when your body is most prone to infections due to production of destructive hormones, cortisol. Hence it becomes all the more important to eat and eat good in this window.
TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER
WHAT TO EAT :
After a long intense workout or any form of exercise for that matter, your body is depleted of glycogen and hence energy. The energy sapped muscles are torn and are looking to repair themselves. Thus your body needs two primary constituents Carbs and Proteins post workout. Often carbs are neglected and people stress too much on proteins as a primary meal post exercise, carbs are very important. If your post workout meal doesn't contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That is not exactly what you are looking for.
Proteins help in repairing and rebuilding the muscle tissues. one component that should be avoided in this window period is FAT. The reason being fat digest very slowly, and your body needs nutrition almost immediately. If you consume Fat alongwith carbs and protein, this fat will slow the digestion of carbs and protein as well, hence glycogen levels will not be replenished soon enough and muscle repair will not happen effectively.
TYPES OF FOOD:
Include food items which are rich in protein and carbs but at the same time are easy to digest. Egg whites are part of my every meal during the day except this for the very simple reason that though they are rich in protein, they don't settle down that quickly. Similarly taking complex carbs in form of brown bread, oats is not a very good idea. For carbs, one needs dextrose(a kind of sugar) to spike up your insulin level. By providing an insulin spike, carbs provide the body with an excellent transport system for the nutrients to reach the muscle cells.The simplest way I find is to have a couple of spoons of Glucose in water. You can also replace this with fresh fruit juice. Again for protein, going for something that is readily digestible is a good idea. For my immediate nutrition, I carry my whey protein mixed with glucose. Remember liquids are easily digested as compared to whole foods, so a banana and an apple blended in low fat milk is better than eating a whole banana and apple.
RIGHT TIME TO EAT:
As discussed above, the body is in need of immediate nutrition. However that doesn't mean you take your meal the moment you step off from your cardio machine or drop your dumb bells. Allow your heart rate to settle down before gulping down that replenishing muscle building nutrition.
It is said that the next 30 mins after your exercise is the time when your body is most prone to infections due to production of destructive hormones, cortisol. Hence it becomes all the more important to eat and eat good in this window.
TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER
Sunday, September 5, 2010
MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT
One of the common problems that we see and find is people find it hard to maintain their lost weight. The motivation to loss weight usually takes them to their aimed weight level but less than 10% people are able to maintain that over time. The primary reason being going on drastic diets/workouts which are not natural to be continued over longer periods of time. It needs extra levels of motivation to be continue there always.
However following a few simple steps, one can keep a check on his/her weight.
1. DAILY ACTIVITY: Increase your total daily activity level. Try to include physical activities in your daily schedule such as exercise and sports. Even if you cannot be regular on exercise, brisk walking is as good a workout to maintain weight.
2. CUTTING BACK ON SEDENTARY ACTIVITIES: Cut back on your activities which involve little physical movements such as watching TV, computer etc. One thing that often goes unnoticed with such activities is the untimely food and drinks that goes along with it.
3. WEIGHT TRAINING: Weight training is as important as your cardio even in the maintenance phase. Doing weights increases your metabolism in general and hence your weight can be kept in check. Try to keep a track of what you eat and your workout routine. Maintain a record of your weight every week and see if your diet and workout is keeping you on the right track.
It's important to be motivated all the time and make use of whatever little time one has at his/her disposal for exercising. Maintaining a positive attitude is the key to your weight loss and maintenance.
However following a few simple steps, one can keep a check on his/her weight.
1. DAILY ACTIVITY: Increase your total daily activity level. Try to include physical activities in your daily schedule such as exercise and sports. Even if you cannot be regular on exercise, brisk walking is as good a workout to maintain weight.
2. CUTTING BACK ON SEDENTARY ACTIVITIES: Cut back on your activities which involve little physical movements such as watching TV, computer etc. One thing that often goes unnoticed with such activities is the untimely food and drinks that goes along with it.
3. WEIGHT TRAINING: Weight training is as important as your cardio even in the maintenance phase. Doing weights increases your metabolism in general and hence your weight can be kept in check. Try to keep a track of what you eat and your workout routine. Maintain a record of your weight every week and see if your diet and workout is keeping you on the right track.
It's important to be motivated all the time and make use of whatever little time one has at his/her disposal for exercising. Maintaining a positive attitude is the key to your weight loss and maintenance.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mr. OLYMPIA 2010
The biggest showdown in the world of body of building is coming this month. The event is scheduled to take place on Sep24-25 at Las Vegas.
Ronnie Coleman has already announced his decision to come out of retirement and compete at this years Mr. Olympia. Current champion Jay Cutler remains the man to beat. Dexter Jackson will be gunning to avenge last year's defeat while Branch Warren will be looking to improve upon the last year's performance. This years event has all the making of a great battle between world's top body builders.
Stay Tuned...It doesn't get any bigger than this!!!
THE BIG RON
DEXTER JACKSON
BRANCH WARREN
JAY CUTLER - the defending champ
Ronnie Coleman has already announced his decision to come out of retirement and compete at this years Mr. Olympia. Current champion Jay Cutler remains the man to beat. Dexter Jackson will be gunning to avenge last year's defeat while Branch Warren will be looking to improve upon the last year's performance. This years event has all the making of a great battle between world's top body builders.
Stay Tuned...It doesn't get any bigger than this!!!
THE BIG RON
DEXTER JACKSON
BRANCH WARREN
JAY CUTLER - the defending champ
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Super Setting 3
Apart from the two types of supersetting techniques discussed in previous two posts, there is another type of supersetting. This is basically a staggered technique in which you super set muscles not related to other. This helps in doing both the muscles at effectively the same intensity and you finish your workout in a short time.
e.g: Combine a upper body workout with lower body. Refer to the video below to have a better idea:
e.g: Combine a upper body workout with lower body. Refer to the video below to have a better idea:
Saturday, August 28, 2010
SUPERSETTING - PART 2
Continuing with the previous post, supersetting can also be performed with antagonist muscle approach. This is in sharp contrast to the previous methodology where we discussed about supersetting same muscle group.
When you do two exercises in a row for the same muscle group, it tends to significantly limit the amount of weight you can use because of fatigue. Pairing opposing (antagonistic) muscle groups together can help you keep your strength up because as one muscle is working, the opposite one is resting. Common examples include pairing biceps with triceps, chest with back, or hamstrings with quadriceps.
This is also an excellent technique for developing better muscle balance. For example, many people overwork the pushing exercises like bench press, while neglecting the pulling exercises like rows. By using antagonistic (push-pull) supersets. You assure a good balance between these opposing muscle groups.
Some examples:
Dumbbell Curls + Tricep extensions
Leg Press + Lying Leg Curl
Bench Press + Seated Cable Row
One thing that must be kept while performing supersets is that one might lose power and muscles might fail instantaneously in the second exercise, specially if that is a compound exercise. Hence it is advisable to have a partner or a trainer watching your back while you perform your supersets. Finally if your training program is getting stale, supersets can also help relieve your boredom. Best of all, supersetting is a legitimate way to get more results in less time.
When you do two exercises in a row for the same muscle group, it tends to significantly limit the amount of weight you can use because of fatigue. Pairing opposing (antagonistic) muscle groups together can help you keep your strength up because as one muscle is working, the opposite one is resting. Common examples include pairing biceps with triceps, chest with back, or hamstrings with quadriceps.
This is also an excellent technique for developing better muscle balance. For example, many people overwork the pushing exercises like bench press, while neglecting the pulling exercises like rows. By using antagonistic (push-pull) supersets. You assure a good balance between these opposing muscle groups.
Some examples:
Dumbbell Curls + Tricep extensions
Leg Press + Lying Leg Curl
Bench Press + Seated Cable Row
One thing that must be kept while performing supersets is that one might lose power and muscles might fail instantaneously in the second exercise, specially if that is a compound exercise. Hence it is advisable to have a partner or a trainer watching your back while you perform your supersets. Finally if your training program is getting stale, supersets can also help relieve your boredom. Best of all, supersetting is a legitimate way to get more results in less time.
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