by admin | May 18, 2022 | Fitness
Muscle building Nutrition | Part 1 – Let’s Talk Calories
There are 2 important aspects to focus on when the task at hand is to build as much quality muscle as possible. The first aspect is training and the second aspect is nutrition, the latter of which is closely linked to nutrition. Quite simply, if you don’t focus on giving your body all the nutrients it needs to recover from the vigorous, muscle-building workouts, you will gain less muscle.
In this series of articles, we’ll tell you more about the important nutritional considerations to take into account when trying to build muscle. For this first part of the series, we’ll talk about one of the biggest factors in muscle-building nutrition – Calories.
What Are Calories
By definition, a “calorie” is a measurement unit, used to measure the amount of energy in the foods that we consume. Each food product has a certain caloric value, which is determined by the ratio of the 3 main macronutrients. Those 3 macronutrients are protein, fats carbs, which have 4, 9, and 4 calories per gram, respectively.
Your caloric intake is important because there is a number of calories that your body requires daily, to sustain healthy functioning of all systems, as well as maintain body weight.
Calories in VS Calories out
The number of calories that your body needs to maintain its weight and healthy functioning is referred to as your “Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)”.
Your TDEE depends on a number of factors:
- Gender
- Age
- Height
- Weight
- Non-exercise activity
- Exercise activity
- Food consumption
The reason why this is important is that if you consume FEWER calories than your TDEE, you will LOSE weight. This is called “eating in a caloric deficit” and the loss in weight happens because the body does not get enough energy from food (hence, deficit). Oppositely, if you consume MORE calories than your TDEE, you will gain weight (this is called “eating in a caloric surplus”)
Now think about it – If you want to BUILD muscle, you can’t make something, out of nothing, right? Even physics can tell you that you cannot create energy, you can just transform it. And guess what, the muscle you’re trying to build actually has quite a solid energy content! In a sense, the extra energy you give the body from food will go towards building that extra muscle on your frame.
This is the exact reason why sports science points out that building muscle is OPTIMIZED when you consume food in a caloric surplus. This begs the question, though…
Can You Build Muscle In a Deficit?
Is it really that binary? If you eat in a deficit, you will lose fat and if you eat in a surplus, you will gain weight, and there is no in-between. Well, as a matter of fact, it is not really that simple – You can be out of a caloric surplus and still gain muscle. HOWEVER, those gains will simply be SUBOPTIMAL and in this case, we’re looking for something OPTIMAL.
Gaining muscle in a caloric deficit is possible for a couple of groups of people:
- People who have a lot of excess fat
- Beginner trainees
- People who come back to training after a layoff
And so, if you are someone who is just starting out in the gym and has a lot of fat to lose, don’t worry – You can tone up the muscles during your fat loss diet! Nevertheless, advanced trainees should focus on their long, bulking period when food is being consumed in a surplus.
Again, that surplus shouldn’t be too big, as it may lead to excess fat gains. The recommended daily caloric surplus is about 250-300 calories. In doing this and training progressively, you will be able to create the right muscle growth stimulus, while providing the body all it needs to recover and grow stronger.
Conclusion
If you are trying to build muscle but are ignoring your nutrition, you are doing something wrong! Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of your recovery plan, as it technically provides all the important nutrients and energy value, needed to grow your muscles. One of the essential principles of muscle-building nutrition is to eat in a caloric surplus.
In doing so, your muscle growth will be optimized, thus yielding the best results possible. For the next part of this series, we will go over the two essential nutrients that make up a big portion of your caloric intake, namely protein, and fats.
See you in part 2!
by admin | May 5, 2022 | Fitness
How To Start Training
So, you’ve decided to start training at the gym. Congratulations! There’s no better feeling than being able to push your body to its limits and seeing results. But where do you begin? With so many machines, classes, and supplements available, it can be difficult to know what’s best for you.
Top that off with the sea of often contradicting information on the internet and you got yourself a nice perplexion. Worry not though, we’re here to help you make the beginning of your training quite easy!
Let’s get started.
Start Simple One way that people can start training right away, is by being more active in their daily lives.
This can be done by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to work or school, or parking far away from the entrance.
Another way to get more active is by doing activities that require movement, such as playing tag, jumping rope, or dancing.
Think of this as just getting your body introduced and used to being more active overall.
Such tiny shifts in your daily life can easily set you up for training success later on, so don’t skip this part!
Progress To Bodyweight Exercises
When you get used to being more active in your daily life, you will more than likely feel the need to do something more.
To give your body a challenge!
When that happens, it is time for you to kick things up a notch. Before you think about going to the gym however, it is a good idea to start with your own bodyweight! Not only will bodyweight exercises help you develop baseline strength and endurance, but they’ll do something even more important – Help you learn the proper form on most basic exercises!
Now, Add Some Extra Resistance
One of the foundational principles of training is to demand more of the body as you train. In simple terms, your muscles have to endure greater and greater resistance, in order to create sufficient stimulus and sculpt a more aesthetic physique.
When you get used to bodyweight training, it’s time to add some extra resistance. This could mean using resistance bands for certain exercises, or even dumbbells and weight plates.
- Think of ways to challenge your muscles!
Sign Up For The Gym!
Finally, it is time to sign up for the gym! Think of the first 3 steps we talked about, as the time when you prime the body for more intense training, by getting it used to being active and using the muscles more, in the first place.
Once that’s done, you are ready to start using some heavier weights and further improve your strength, endurance, and last but not least, looks! In fact, by this point, you should already have some good progress going on and the sudden, prominent stimulus from weight training will only make that progress twice as fast!
However, before you think about really squeezing your muscles’ capacity at the gym, make sure that you’re doing everything right! hire a personal trainer!
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking to start training, or are just getting back into it after a hiatus, we have the perfect solution for you. Our online personal training program offers all of the benefits of one-on-one sessions without any of the hassle.
Plus, our trainers will help keep you accountable and on track to reach your fitness goals!
Ready to get started? Visit our website today!
by admin | Apr 24, 2022 | Fitness
Misconceptions About Fitness
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about being a fitness enthusiast, it’s that there are a lot of misconceptions about fitness training. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the average person has no idea what it actually takes to be in great shape. Furthermore, more often than not, those same people go about improving their fitness, by doing short-term, random bursts of things that don’t really matter.
And trust me, I used to be one of those people. But boy, was I wrong! Read on for some of the most common misconceptions about fitness – and the truth behind them.
Weight Training Is Only For Men
One of the most common misconceptions we see often is that weight training is only meant for men to do. It is perhaps the idea of high intensity that makes it seem like that, but really, weight training is not only for men. This is because it can also be just as beneficial for women.
In fact, weight training can help to improve a woman’s figure by shaping the muscles, just like it does for men! However, a woman will hardly get buff to the point where it looks masculine. So don’t worry ladies, getting stronger will only mean looking better!
Cardio Is Mandatory For Fat Loss
Many people believe that in order to lose weight, they must perform cardio exercises. This is a common misconception – while cardio is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, it is not mandatory for fat loss. In fact, there are many ways to lose weight without ever stepping foot inside a gym.
One of the best ways to lose weight without doing any cardio is by following a healthy diet that puts you in a caloric deficit. In fact, a caloric deficit is the only mandatory thing when it comes to weight loss. Pair that with strength training and you will chisel a nice Greek sculpture out of yourself.
Only Calories Matter
Now, we just said that it’s only about calories when it comes to weight loss so you may think to yourself “So if I’m in a deficit, I can eat pop-tarts all day long and still lose weight?” And technically, that is correct.
However, you have to provide the body with sufficient nutrients to sustain its proper functioning, especially when in a caloric deficit. So regardless of whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, make sure to derive your daily calories from quality food sources, such as animal products, fruits and vegetables.
Supplements Are Mandatory
It’s a common misconception that supplements are a must when it comes to fitness training. And while supplements can be beneficial for some people, they are not a mandatory part of fitness. In fact, many people who are physically fit don’t use supplements at all. There are a number of supplements on the market that claim to improve fitness or help with weight loss.
However, these claims are often exaggerated or false, because frankly, supplements are the LEAST important thing to a fitness plan. Only when you have your training, eating, sleeping, and hydration down to a solid foundation, only then you can consider adding supplements! And if you decide to do that, don’t get too many of them because only a few are truly effective (protein, creatine, caffeine!)
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Four fitness myths debunked for your reading pleasure. Now go forth and work on that six-pack with confidence, and focus on what truly matters – Eating, Training, and recovering! What’s another common misconception about fitness you know of? Comment below!
by admin | Apr 22, 2022 | Fitness
Muscle building 101 | Part 4 – Types of muscle growth
If you look at different athletes from different training disciplines, you will notice the diversity of muscular development you can have. For instance, most powerlifters are pretty rugged, while most gymnasts and sprinters look rather athletic. This brings a question to mind – Are there different types of muscle growth and is more always better?
In this article, we’ll go over the two different types of muscle growth and explain which one you should focus on stimulating, depending on your goal.
The Two Types Of Muscle Growth
If you look at a muscle group, you will find that it is made out of separate muscle units, called myofibrils (muscle fibers). These are the active, contractile components of your musculature, that make moving possible. Around the myofibrils, there is a jelly-like fluid that contains non-contractile elements. This is called the “sarcoplasm’ and is used for energy during muscular activity. Now,
there are two types of muscle growth we can look into:
- Myofibrillar hypertrophy
- Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is the growth in the size of the separate muscle units, called myofibrils.
This type of growth is mostly sought after by strength athletes, like powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters. The main adaptations that occur when myofibrillar hypertrophy is stimulated, are increases in relative strength and improved efficiency of the nervous system. For this type of adaptation, bulk muscle growth is a secondary adaptation.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, on the other hand, is the growth in the size of the jelly-like fluid around the muscle fibers, which we mentioned above.
This can be referred to as “bulk muscle growth” – something that bodybuilders and physique athletes seek. The end results of this type of stimulation, are increases in bulk muscle growth, along with relative strength. In this case, increases in maximum strength are a secondary adaptation.
Training tips
If you’re not a competitive athlete that needs to focus on developing just a bunch of physical properties, your best bet is to mix different types of stimulation. Nevertheless, your training approach should be specific to your goals.
For instance, if your goal is to improve your maximum and relative strength, you should primarily focus on stimulating myofibrillar hypertrophy. This is best done by training in the powerlifting rep range of 1-5 repetitions, but then again, you can do 6-15 rep sets every now and then to stimulate other adaptations.
If however, your goal is more oriented towards sculpting a bodybuilder-like physique, you should focus on the bodybuilding rep range of 6-15 repetitions. Ultimately, you should try to combine low reps, high reps, slow reps, fast reps, etc. To achieve the ultimate, functional, and good-looking physique, you should incorporate all kinds of stimuli into your workouts.
Conclusion
What we see on the outside as muscles that make us look good, is actually a complex, adaptable system (the muscular system). The two main types of growth that can occur in the muscular system, are myofibrillar & sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. The way you set up your training parameters and workout as a whole, will determine which type of growth will occur.
If you are looking for the best overall development, however, you should carefully mix your workouts and utilize different types of stimuli.
by admin | Apr 20, 2022 | Fitness
Bodyweight VS Weight Training – Which One Is Better?
For the longest time, weight training and calisthenics (bodyweight training) have gained a lot of traction and interest, because of their innate ability to change one’s body looks, as well as physical properties like strength and explosiveness.
There are people who believe your bodyweight is all you need and then, there are people who religiously engage in weight training, preaching bench, squats and deadlifts even to their grandma.
But which approach is better and what benefits can you reap from these types of training?
In this article, we’ll answer this, and more, so if you’ve ever wondered which type of training is better, keep reading!
The Differences
Bodyweight Training, otherwise known as “calisthenics” is the activity of using your body weight to perform certain exercises under the force of gravity, without any equipment or added weight.
Some of the most common bodyweight exercises are movements like push-ups, squats, pull-ups, lunges, muscle-ups and dips. On the other hand, weightlifting involves the use of barbells, dumbbells and machines to create resistance.
The squat, deadlift and bench are the three fundamental exercises in weightlifting, which are even a benchmark for strength! Now if you’re already wondering which type of training is superior, let us tell you this – both types of training are effective and can be utilized to leverage strength and muscle gains!
However, which one is superior depends on the context and the goal the individual has, so let us take you through the advantages and disadvantages of both types of training.
The Benefits Of Calisthenics
Bodyweight training is most of all, a good way to establish fundamental strength and muscular development. Because, well, being able to lift your own bodyweight, before moving on to lifting weights, kind of makes sense doesn’t it?
This fundamental relative strength can then give you the opportunity to ease into weight training and maximize your potential for physical development. The bad part of calisthenics is that it gets too easy, too quickly, because you’re working with your bodyweight. In less than one year, pull-ups, push-ups and dips can become quite easy and you then have to add more weights on top, to keep progressing.
Another option is to learn more complex movements like handstands, planchet, front levers and others, but if your PRIMARY goal is to gain strength and grow your muscles, this approach is perhaps suboptimal.
The Benefits Of Weight Training
In the context of maximizing growth and strength potential, weight training appears to be the king here. The principle of both types of training is the same – Creating resistance. However, with weight training, the resistance and muscular tension is generated by an external force, making everything far more intense.
Additionally, weight training can help you seamlessly target muscle groups that you can hardly work on directly, with just calisthenics. This implies that in terms of aesthetic development, weight training is superior.
Weight training at its very essence, allows you to do more intense work, during which you can easily increase the resistance by adding extra weight on the bar or picking heavier dumbbells.
Which One Should YOU Choose?
Here’s a wild idea – You can combine both types of training but focus more on the one that resonates with your goals best. You like explosive bodyweight movements that look cool? Go for the monkey bars and bodyweight training. You are looking to maximize your strength and muscular development? opt for a gym membership.
As simple as that!
Final Thoughts
The human body is capable of a LOT and it has plenty of potential lying within. It’s just a matter of YOU, taking the necessary action to unlock that potential and realize it. Whether you choose to engage in bodyweight training or just go to a gym, you won’t be in the wrong!
Both of these types of training offer amazing benefits and can help you develop a good-looking, strong body. Start somewhere, see what you like better, what gets you closer to your goals and focus on that!
Stay strong.
by admin | Apr 17, 2022 | Fitness
Benefits of Green Tea
Introduction
Do you know that green tea has amazing health benefits? If not, where have you been hiding?
It is bonkers how beneficial green tea can be. The ability to lose weight, possibly prevent cancer, promote healthy teeth, and lower cholesterol, makes this tea, truly a miracle worker. In recent times, the benefits of green tea have been widely reported in the media. In most cases, green tea enthusiasts base their opinions on personal experiences with the beverage, but it seems to be accepted globally that this is a healing tea.
China has long consumed green tea due to its miraculous properties.
In China, green tea is used to treat a wide range of ailments, from headaches to cancer prevention. Green tea has many health benefits, which are being revealed through various health studies.
In what ways can green tea benefit your life?
Four of green tea’s most significant benefits can substantially change your life.
- Weight Loss – The First Health Benefit of Green Tea
As a result of the high polyphenol concentration in green tea, fat is oxidised, and thermogenesis is encouraged.
During thermogenesis, the body burns calories. Due to green tea’s energy boost, which raises the metabolism, more weight may be lost than normal.
Compared to most other beverages consumed in the morning, green tea contains fewer calories than most others. In comparison to green tea, daily calories are higher if coffee is consumed daily as most people’s morning drink.
By switching from coffee to green tea, you might reduce your waistline significantly.
- Having healthy teeth is the second way in which green tea benefits you.
Due to one of its ingredients, fluoride, green tea is said to help keep teeth clean. Bacteria that cause plaque are killed by fluoride in the mouth due to its antimicrobial properties. According to Dentists, fluoride helps to maintain healthy, cavity-free teeth and prevents general tooth decay. Consuming green tea has been shown to improve tooth health significantly.
There are however a number of studies about fluoride, opposing its benefits and you may want to read around that if it concerns you, or just ensure that you do not drink too much green tea in that case. You may feel though that the other benefits of green tea outweigh the fluoride content.
Unlike coffee, which discolours teeth with a yellow tinge, this will not stain the teeth like that.
- Green tea is believed to help prevent cancer as its third benefit
Various studies have proven that green tea is an effective way of preventing free radical damage to the body. Cancer and ageing are caused by free radicals. The polyphenols found in green tea constantly monitor free radicals to prevent them from being formed into unstable oxygen molecules, in a process referred to as oxidation.
Upon oxidation of cells, proper tissue is damaged and has been related to ailments such as cancer, heart disease, and strokes. In addition to preventing premature cell division and inflammation, green tea polyphenols have been shown to destroy most cancer-causing agents.
- Green Tea has a fourth benefit – it lowers cholesterol
High cholesterol sufferers may find relief from the effects of green tea.
Bad cholesterol is often linked to heart attacks and green tea may be able to reduce this high risk. During the circulating process of LDL cholesterol in the body, heavy deposits may be formed in the arteries. When a person drinks green tea, their levels of bad cholesterol, such as LDL cholesterol, drop. This is due to the various catechins present in green tea which are able to lower blood cholesterol levels.
Further, the catechins improve the body’s overall health by maintaining a healthy ratio of good to bad cholesterol.
Benefit of Green Tea Conclusion
If weight loss, cancer prevention, healthy teeth, and a low cholesterol level do not convince you that green tea is a miracle worker, you must be working with some pretty powerful spells.
A couple of cups of tea a day may help significantly decrease the risk of developing a few other health problems too. Currently, the only side effect is possible excess caffeine, resulting in increased heart rate and blood pressure but one would have to drink a lot of tea for that. However, like anything with caffeine, it’s important to just be mindful not to overdo it.
The use of green tea extract has provided a solution to this problem. It is possible to take green tea tablets with all its benefits. I certainly love my morning cuppa with a dash of lemon, so let’s see if this is enough to convince you to start drinking green tea every day from now!
Disclaimer
Article for entertainment and information purposes only and is not meant to treat cure or diagnose. Please see your doctor if you are suffering from any of the above or associated issues.
