Apr 18, 2014

Sore Muscles!!!

Massage

 

With all this talk of exercise and eating healthy. Let’s talk about newbies’ number one complaint when exercising, getting sore. Yes its uncomfotable, and sometimes painful but it doesn’t last forever. Let’s look at what’s happening in the body and what we can do to alliviate the discomfort.

The correct term is “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness” (DOMS).  Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is understood to be caused by microfractures in the muscle cells themselves. This happens when you do some activity that your muscles aren’t used to doing or do it in a much more strenuous way than they are used to.

This is also why after you exercise some specific way a few times and allow your muscles to recover, that you won’t typically get sore again from doing that activity at a similar intensity level, so long as you continue to do it on a somewhat regular bases.  The muscles quickly adapt to being able to handle new activities so as to avoid further damage in the future; this is known as the “repeated-bout effect”.  When this happens, the microfractures typically won’t develop unless you change your activity in some substantial way.  As a general rule, as long as the change to the exercise is under 10% of what you normally do, you won’t experience DOMS as a result of the activity.

~its about what YOU see in the mirror~

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http://www.todayifoundout.com/

Apr 16, 2014

Muscle vs Protein supplements

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I had a friend ask me about protein today. She wanted to know about protein shakes. So for Promise and the rest of you, here’s the facts…….

The only stimulus to make muscles larger and stronger is to stretch them while they contract against resistance. When you lift a heavy weight, your muscles start to stretch before they start to contract. This tears the muscle and causes soreness on the next day. If you rest and let the muscle heal, it will be stronger than before you stretched it. You improve by performing hard workouts so your muscles can grow and heal while you recover on your easy days.

Anything that helps you recover faster from a hard workout will allow you to do more work to make you stronger. Scientists have known for years that you recover faster by eating immediately after you finish your hard workout. Now we know that eating extra protein helps you recover even faster. Muscles are made primarily from protein building blocks called amino acids. Muscles heal from a hard workout when amino acids and other nutrients travel from your bloodstream into the muscles. Eating any food, particularly foods with plenty of protein, immediately after you finish your workout helps your muscles heal faster so you can do more work. The sooner you eat protein after you finish your hard workout, the quicker you will recover.

However, you don’t need to take expensive supplements; ordinary foods provide high-quality protein and taste better. I am against putting unnecessary chemicals and processed foods in your body. Also once you get done with the supplements, you still have to eat. Learn to use your food. Remember, your body cannot store extra protein. If you don’t need all of the protein you have eaten, it is broken down into ammonia and organic acids, which are used for energy. Any excess is stored as fat.

How much protein do we need?

Our protein needs depend on our age, size, and activity level. The standard method used by nutritionists to estimate our minimum daily protein requirement is to multiply the body weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a 200-pound person should get 74 grams, and a 250-pound person should eat 92 grams.

What have we learned?

1. Extra protein is only needed to recover from resistance training

2. Protein is not stored. If you don’t use it or need it, it will be broken down and converted to energy or fat.

3. The way to not add calories to your diet is to use your food to your benefit. Otherwise you run the risk of gaining weight from what you perceive to be healthy food.

Therefore, there is no benefit to ingesting large amounts of protein in shakes, supplements, fortified foods. Considering the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet), we consume meat with evey meal so its not like the average person will be deficient. Now, let’s stop listening supplement companies trying to sell us dreams of lean sculpted bodies in a can, powder or pill.

 ~its about what YOU see in the mirror~

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http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/protein_and_muscles.html

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/protein.htm

Apr 10, 2014

Muscle vs. Fat-part 1

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5lbs of fat & 5lbs of muscle

We talked about focusing on your overall size and not the number on the scale, this is why. Muscle weighs more than fat but it takes up less space. When you start your workout plan, and you start building muscle you may not see the number on the scale change as much as you think it should. You may become frustrated, but you body may still be changing. Also you need to understand that moving your muscles is the only thing that burns fat/stored calories. So it would stand to reason that the fastest way to lose fat is to build bigger muscles (resistance training). You won’t get big like a bodybuilder unless you lift heavy weights to get big like a bodybuilder. Quiz question 1: if Person A (more muscle) and Person B (less muscle) both walk one block at the same speed, who would burn more calories? Quiz question 2: If your workout consisted of all cardio and no resistance training (muscle building) would it take you longer or less time to reach your size goal? I’m trying to appeal to you sense of logic. If you approach your goal practically, you stand the chance of having a more positive outcome. The worst thing you can do when getting healthy is to just make up a exercises regimen, make up a diet and expect your body to respond the way you think it should. It doesn’t work like that. For instance, I see soooooo many people on cardio equipment at the gym whose bodies don’t seem to be changing much at all.  Some of them push themselves the whole time, others don’t even put forth enough effort to brreathe hard. What’s missing?  They’re contracting their muscles….. Why aren’t their bodies changing? It could be a host of reasons but from a training stand point, their exercise regimen is flawed. Smaller muscle equals fewer calories burned. So do  resistance training to build muscle, cardio to burns calories, and do them together for a greater benefit in less time. Stay off the scale and use a measuring tape to  track you body’s changes.

~its about what YOU see in the mirror~

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