Tag Archive for: @WonderfullyFitPT

Lifestyle Changes First Then Diet for Effective Health Management

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Due to the enormous amount of information about diet ubiquitous on the internet, people who yearn to lead healthy lives end up being confused as to which diet will help them achieve their goals – mostly weight management.

The pendulum of which “diet” works keeps swinging back and forth. People try adapting to different diets but only a few are lucky to find one that helps them to successfully manage their health.diet

Diet debate almost dying

The diet debate is almost extinct. Every now and then, people trying to reduce weight through dieting confess “cheating on their diets”. The major reason behind failing to keep up with a diet plan is that the plan is not parallel to the person’s lifestyle. Often, lifestyle is the best ally when it comes to eating and living healthy. A diet that goes well with your lifestyle is easy to maintain.

The realization that lifestyle comes before diet is triggered by the knowledge that the body is not a machine that efficiently produces output according to the input. Body systems are integrated in such a way that improvement of the whole depends on how well all the systems are coordinated. For example, a person desiring to reduce weight may take healthy food always but fail to handle emotional distress. According to research, stress leads to weight gain in some people. Having a lifestyle that supports the well-being of the entire body is the only way to achieve healthy living.

Researchers suggest that lifestyle comes before diet

World renowned researchers like Bradley Appelhans of the Rush University Medical Center and Sherry Pagoto of the University of Massachusetts Medical have suggested an end to the diet debates that are so frequent in weight management circles. In their journals, they write that different diets are equally good as they are bad in helping one lose weight. They support their case that lifestyle changes can collectively handle diet and other aspects of healthy living.

Nutritionists’ case studies

In support of the case of lifestyle over diet, many nutritionists have indicated instances when some of their clients have tried different diets but fallen over the wagon. The result of such failure is discouragement and frustration. Pro-lifestyle nutritionists are more concerned with helping a client develop a plan that they can follow while they make new lifestyles changes. They note that the greatest problem associated with weight and health management is adherence.

Effective lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes such as exercise, positive thinking, keeping food records and focusing on progress rather than perfection are the ultimate solution to health management. If one is able to make and enhance these lifestyle changes, it becomes very easy to follow diet plans that help them to achieve the overall objective of health management.

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How to Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle

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A lot of bodybuilders still rely on going through bulking and cutting cycles in order to get the incredible muscle physiques that they display on stage.

This makes sense because it is the quickest and most efficient way to add muscle. Adding muscle means being in a calorie surplus. The more calories you consume, the more anabolic your body will be – the more testosterone will be washing around your body and the less likely you will be to burn muscle for fuel. But of course, eating extra calories makes it even harder not to gain any fat – and especially when you’re getting them from sugar ‘weight gainer’ products and the like. muscle

Fortunately, this isn’t a problem for bodybuilders. They simply follow this period up with a period of dieting hard, which causes their body to burn the fat away from the muscle. A tiny bit of muscle is lost but mainly, it’s fat that will disappear. Hence the ‘bulk and cut’.

But you’re not a bodybuilder (probably). You probably don’t want to spend half the year looking overweight. So how can you use cardio to stay lean and add muscle at the same time?

The Problem With Cardio

The reason that most bodybuilders will stay away from intensive cardio when they’re bulking is that it puts the body once again in a catabolic state. When you run using steady state cardio, your body will supply energy by turning to your blood sugar and your fat stores.

Unfortunately, this means your blood sugar drops. And when your blood sugar drops, your body responds by releasing ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Ghrelin release is always followed by cortisol (the stress hormone) and cortisol is followed by myostatin – a molecule that signals the breakdown of muscle. The more myostatin, the more muscle you lose.

Add to the fact that your body will get 15% of its energy from protein and you have a scenario that is not good for building muscle.

The Answer

There are a few solutions.

One such option is to walk. Walking will allow you to burn energy at a much slower rate and avoid completely depleting your energy stores. This means you never get to the point where you have very low blood sugar and you never start cannibalizing that hard-won muscle.

Another option is to use HIIT. This is High Intensity Interval Training, which means alternating between spurts of sprinting and periods of jogging. The good thing about this is that the sprinting portion doesn’t burn blood sugar or muscle and instead relies on energy stored as glycogen. You’ll spend less time in a catabolic state and lose less muscle as a result – and so many bodybuilders will use HIIT ‘finishers’ following a workout.

Finally, you can also use nutrition to protect yourself and reduce your chances of losing muscle. The best way to do this is by consuming BCAAs – branch chained amino acids. These have been shown to have a very positive effect in reducing muscle breakdown during exercise.

The Benefits of Eating Six Small Meals Each Day

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Starving yourself is not a healthy way to restrict how many calories you consume. Research now shows that eating 6 smaller meals a day can help you achieve your summer weight loss goals, as opposed to the traditional thinking that 3 complete meals a day is best. You can seriously put your health at risk if you limit your calorie consumption too drastically.

More and more people are victims of a “roller coaster diet” while trying to lose weight. Diet plans that restrict your calories decrease your body’s metabolism, and as a result your body will experience starvation. When this occurs, your body doesn’t use a lot of calories, and that leads to extreme hunger.eating

To increase your body’s metabolic rate, you should eat 5 or 6 smaller meals each day. Your metabolism will increase, and thus burn more calories all day long. You can further increase your metabolism by eating foods high in protein during your 6 meals.

Eating regularly will boost your metabolism due to the thermic effect of food.

You need a lot of calories to digest and absorb food, creating the thermic effect.

Different foods have different percentages of thermic effect, ranging from 3 to 30 percent. High protein foods have a 30 percent thermic effect. Some examples are turkey, salmon, and tuna. By simply digesting, 30 percent of the calories in these foods are burned. 20 percent of the calories found in fibrous and complex carbohydrates are burned during digestion. Some examples of these foods are corn, broccoli, green beans, and spinach. Foods with a very low thermic effect include refined carbohydrates and fats. This is the reason why dietary fat is stored so easily.

Your level of hunger will diminish while your energy level rises when you eat 5-6 smaller meals each day. You will also be able to maintain balanced blood sugar levels, which will help prevent hunger.

You can develop muscle to increase your metabolism. By eating regularly, you can maintain insulin levels which produce amino acids into your muscle’s cells, thus promoting muscle growth. Eating every 3 hours will yield a steady output of insulin. This is good for muscle growth and storing glycogen. As a result of eating healthy foods regularly, your summer weight loss goals will be easier to accomplish, and your body will be able to process vitamins and minerals more effectively.

The trick is to make sure you have a constant eating schedule. It might be difficult at first, but planning your meals will be well worth it. To prevent cravings and hunger, it’s good habit to feed your body foods that are rich in nutrients. A summer weight loss plan including a diet of healthy fats, vegetables, fruit, and lean protein is the best way to go. Eating such a diet with 5-6 meals each day can accelerate your muscle growth. It can increase your energy level, increase your metabolism, and you’ll burn half of the calories by eating regularly, and store very little fat.

Combine your diet with strength training and cardiovascular exercise to make it even more effective! Using these three methods, you’ll be on the fast track to burning fat and accomplishing your summer weight loss goals.

How HIIT Challenges the Body and Improves Fat Loss

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If you’ve read just about any fitness blog, magazine or website in recent years, then you’ll likely have come across HIIT. HIIT: high intensity interval training. Sprinting at maximum heart rate for a short period of time and then switching to a slower form of exercise for a couple of minutes to recover before starting the whole cycle again.

This type of training is all the rage because it is known to burn more calories in less time when compared with steady state cardio. And it’s great for our VO2 max, mitochondrial function and more.hiit

But why? How does it work? What makes it so special?

What Happens When You Push it Hard

When you engage in HIIT, you start out by pushing hard and going at or near to your maximum heart rate. This is what makes all the difference, as now you are depleting your body of all of its readily available energy in order to drive those fast twitch muscle fibers. This is anaerobic training and it relies on ATP stored in the muscles, as well as glycogen.

After this, you then switch to your regular exercise at around 70% of your maximum heart rate. This is a steady pace that you can maintain, that burns fat using the aerobic system and that allows you to recover and reduce the lactate and other metabolites that build up in your blood during intensive exercise.

Welcome to After Burn

Steady state cardio is normally something you can maintain for a long time before you start to tire out and this is why a lot of people will exercise by running at a steady pace for 40-60 minutes.

If you do this after having done high intensity training however, you will be running at a point when you have very little available energy in your muscles and in your blood. All the glycogen has been used up and thus you have to rely even more on fat in order to keep going. Your body becomes more efficient at burning fat and you see greater benefits from the short amount of training that comes after.

But this isn’t even the best bit. What’s so good about HIIT is that this after burn effect continues for hours after you finish training. You’re now going about your usual activities with less glycogen, which means you’ll burn more fat even to do regular things like picking up a fork, or walking across the room!

Athletic Benefits

HIIT is also great for numerous other reasons. For starters, the explosive nature of the training means that you’re involving your fast twitch muscle fibers. This means that you’ll release more anabolic hormones like growth hormone and like testosterone, leading to more growth. And because you’re not completely relying on your blood sugar, you’re not going to go into as catabolic a state and risk burning fat.

Another benefit of HIIT is that it improves your energy efficiency. Because you’re pushing your cells to make energy more quickly, they become better at doing just that – improving your health, fitness and athletic performance across the board!

The Importance of Good Eating Habits and How to Inculcate Them

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Eating right is the key to healthy living and good eating habits go a long way in improving our health and nourishing the body. A fit and active lifestyle demand right nutrition for the body to function. A good eating habit reduces our daily burden as it becomes a part of our routine and no extra efforts are needed to follow the habit.

The first step to developing good eating habits is to make sure that all meals are in sync with your body needs. An athletic lifestyle needs extra nutrition to support the muscles while a sedentary lifestyle can function with less calorie intake.eating

There are many ways to develop good eating habits which give the body adequate nutrition and energy. One way is to balance the meals in terms of nutrients. A good diet must include 45% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 35% fats. All these nutrients are necessary for the body and the lack of any one of them can harm the body in the long run.

The next way to develop good eating habits is to maintain a food diary. Recording our meals gives us an insight about how and what we are eating every day. It helps to reduce calories from the diet easily by cutting down on processed sugars and artificial foods.

Another easy way to make sure that the body gets complete nutrition is to include more greens in your diet. Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals and keep you full for longer. This reduces your cravings for sugar and fatty foods. One more approach towards healthy eating is to set a limit for yourself. Setting a calorie intake limit as per your body weight keeps us in control and reminds us of our goals. Choosing a smaller plate for eating your meals is proven to reduce the food intake drastically.

The last and the most important step towards good eating is to hydrate your body. Make it a habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day. Set a reminder on your phone at intervals to remind you about water intake. Water aids in digestion and improves metabolism.

So these are the 5 ways to develop good eating habits for your body and health. Eating right and exercising regularly increase the immunity and endurance of the body. They also help to maintain your overall health and reduce the chances of many lifestyle-related diseases like stress and cardiac problems.

Hate Cardio? Here’s How to Make it a Part of Your Routine

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Some people love running for fun or as a cardio activity, and are absolutely addicted to it. Everyone else struggles to understand how they possibly got to this point. After all, running is slow, painful, boring and makes you feel sick. What’s to like?

A lot of us want to love running because we know it’s good for us. We want to be fitter, we want to lose weight and we want to spend more time outside. But when we try it, it’s just too unbearable to stick with. cardio

So what can you do to solve the problem and actually get into running properly?

How to Learn to Love Running

The first thing to do, is assess what you’re doing wrong.

In many cases, the problem is that we try too hard to start losing lots of weight right away and to get into shape. We are under the illusion that in order to ‘burn fat’ or improve our fitness, we need to be training at a level that is very uncomfortable.

However, this is very much the wrong way to look at it. After all, when you start running, if it is something you’ve not done regularly before, then you’re immediately adding to your routine and doing more than you did before. You are immediately improving your health and burning more calories than you would otherwise. That alone is enough!

What’s more, is that this is enough to improve your ability to run, which means you can do a little bit more more comfortably in future.

If you head out right now to go for a run and you try to run as fast and as far as you can, then you’ll come back feeling like you achieved something but also feeling completely beaten up by your training and completely in pain.

Instead then, try to go for a run just to enjoy the run. Jog at a pace that feels comfortable and set out to explore the area. Wear comfortable shoes and when you’re ready to come home, turn around and come back.

This is something you’ll now actually want to do again.

Make it Simple

The other thing to do, is to make sure that the type of workouts you’re using are ones that you can easily fit into your routine.

This is the other problem with going for a 40 minute run: 40 minutes is a long time. And it’s especially a long time when you add the extra washing you have to do, the fact you might get lost and the fact that you need to shower and get changed.

Instead, how about looking into a relatively beginner-friendly form of HIIT? HIIT has the advantage of being something you can use anywhere and of being something that lets you burn a lot more calories and improve your health much more in a shorter space of time. This is something you can now conveniently fit into your routine and thus actually stick with.

Why Sleep Is Essential For Our Health

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In today’s modern society, there are lots of things to do that causes we always come to feel we do not have sufficient time to complete everything. It is not unusual for many individuals to go to bed until midnight and then wake up too early every day to fit in everything. You may think that it is not such a negative thing. Ok, now let us take a peek at the significance of having a quality sleep for our overall health.

Numerous aspects of sleep are still undiscovered at present, even though experts have been engaged in many different scientific studies for decades. Clearly, sleep has long been a mystery. Even so, there are a few facts to convince you that sleep is an important activity.sleep

Simply have a look at a young child. When it happens to be the time for him/her to take a nap, soon you will have to deal with problems since the child will start conducting unpleasant things. Having said that, after getting a short nap, he/she will get back to be fun again. In reality, the same also happens for older people when they have sleep deprivation. Needless to say, they will not exhibit the same responses as toddlers will do, but similar things truly happen.

Some processes take place during sleep. A bodily chemical that influences growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans is issued while you are getting a good sleep. This hormone is very essential during the growth period of children. This clarifies the reason babies require sleep so many hours every day. HGH, or human growth hormone, is at the same time used for restoration of tissue structure that is the reason older people need eight hours of sleep every night for their bodies to get the rest they need to repair and re-energize.

Besides issuing HGH, while sleeping other important processes also take place. A system that protects against disease, for example, is affected by the quality of your sleep. Simply put, the body’s defense mechanism will not function normally in case you have sleep deprivation. It has also been known that acquiring a sufficient amount of sleep is important for an individual who wants to manage his weight.

In essence, the significance of sleep cannot be emphasized enough. Lack of sleep has unwanted side effects on your physical and mental condition such as finding it hard to concentrate and to make reasonable judgments. This can put you into a dangerous situation, especially when you must react to something extremely fast.

As just stated, sleep can be viewed as-as an activity for developing and rebuilding. It is needed to regain the energy that has been worn out all day. If you have quality, sound sleep, you will acquire an adequate amount of energy to carry out the new day’s tasks. Even so, bear in mind that the amount of sleep you must have may be not equal with others. Just make sure you always get the full amount of sleep required. If not, your system will begin asking for it.

Workout Programs

Youth Boxing – A Great Cardio Workout

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Many kids these days are too sedentary. Technology has kept them indoors watching television and playing video games. For a kid, as well as for the rest of us, getting proper physical exercise is important. Have you ever considered youth boxing?

With the incidence of childhood obesity on the rise, something has to be done to get our kids moving. One of the ways that kids can get a good workout and have some fun is through boxing. Kids love to hit things when we don’t want them to. How about encouraging them to hit for a change?

boxing

Youth boxing programs work for kids of all ages. Once seen as a way to channel anger in kids with emotional or societal issues, boxing can help any child to make great strides in their lives.

First, let’s talk about the physical health benefits. When you box, you are always moving. That is how you stay away from your opponent’s blows. That constant motion keeps the heart and lungs working. Over time, they’ll find out that they run out of breath less easily and are able to stay in the ring longer.

Boxing is a great resistance workout. Just practicing on the bag, doing push-ups, crunches and sparring teach young pugilists how to perfect their stance and use their muscles. In addition, they get to have fun with kids their own age.

What about the emotional benefits of boxing? Kids are constantly learning and growing. While they are trying to discover just who they are, their self-confidence may take a hit.

Learning to master their body provides a boost for their self-esteem. As they learn more and accomplish more in the ring, their self-confidence increases. They also learn how to manage their stress and anger for a better emotional adjustment in social situations.

Boxing teaches not only physical strength but also mental strength. While they are moving in the ring, they are always thinking about their next move. This takes focus, which many young people don’t have the hang of yet. Learning how to focus is helpful in the classroom. They concentrate on what the teacher is saying and do their work instead of participating in distracting behavior.

There is also an element of discipline in boxing. You have to know when to strike and when to hold back. You also have to listen to your coach. This is useful when it comes to using the same courtesy and manners with teachers and parents.

Besides all of these benefits, kids love to compete and succeed. Boxing teaches success on a personal level. Even if you only win a few matches, you have learned how to master your body and your emotions. Visit a boxing gym near you to see if this sport is right for your child.

Workout Programs

What is Matrix Weight Training?

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You may wonder what Matrix Weight Training is. This type of training is not commonly shown on television, or on the internet, but it is not a secret in training facilities. Matrix weight training was developed by Doctor Laura Ronald almost 30 years ago.

However, in recent years, other popular exercises instructors have attempted to come forward with claims that they created the exercise program. Even though these claims have been made, documentation does support that Ronald Laura is the inventor of Matrix training.

Matrix Weight Training

What Makes Matrix Training Different?

When we preform normal exercises, we only exercise on one plane. This means that we are moving parts of our body up and down, side to side. The Matrix Weight Training system forces the participant to utilize a series of exercise methods that activate muscles that are not utilized in standard exercise routines.

Health care professionals who stand beside the Matrix Weight Training System have openly stated that the exercises allow participants to reach their maximum potential and build muscles faster and easier than ever before. Since muscle groups that are normally ignored are targeted, building and sustaining muscle density is a lot simpler.

Another magnificent advantage of the Matrix Weight Training system is that the participant is not completely reliant on heavy weights, which risk straining or injuring muscles. There is a dramatically lower injury rate with this system, than with traditional weight training systems. These two advantages have provided a lot of benefits to people of all ages. Since the system is intensity based, the workouts take less time to complete than traditional weight training systems.

Applying Matrix Weight Training

Have you ever noticed that exercising using the same patterns, the same weights, and the same cardio exercises, the changes to your body slowly come to a stall? This is because the body becomes used to the work that is put out, the strain it takes to perform the exercise, and it stops making improvements over time. This is the same theory used to explain why weight loss slows over time. People who change the number of calories they take in on a daily basis, and keep their body wondering what to expect next, are the ones who lose weight on a continuous basis.

The Matrix Weight Training system the intensity of exercise changes through full or partial movement, which make the muscles inhibit the momentum at various intervals. When using an up motion, the participant must utilize their muscles to inhibit upward movement, and during downward phases, they must force their body to resist the pull of gravity. These exercises were designed with the overall goal to neutralize the adaptive response muscles have when they are able to anticipate what is going to happen next, decreasing the automatic response, and forcing an alternative response.

Applying the Concept

If you are trying to apply this concept to a familiar topic, think of a basketball player. In order to be successful, a Basketball player must practice the same exact shot from the same place on a court over and over. This allows their arm’s neuro-muscular fibers, their core, and their legs to create habits of response, allowing them to make the basket even when they are not completely focused. A weight lifter unknowingly does the same thing. Each time they workout, their body learns to interpret what is going to happen next.

Since the Matrix Weight Training System can be used with weights, or without weights, it can even be used by children, the elderly, during rehabilitation, and by people who are obese. Dr. Ron Laura has developed adequate documentation that this type of weight training can be used to build lean muscle, tone the body, maintain fitness level, and help people develop strength as they lose weight.
By utilizing the Matrix Weight Training System, there is no excuse for not getting in shape, or staying in shape.

Workout Programs

Certification and Function of Athletic Trainers

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We have all heard of athletic trainers, but what exactly do they do? An athletic trainer is a trained health care professional whose goal is to prevent and treat injuries. An athletic trainer is not a personal trainer and they are not the person that pushes you past your comfort level.

For a person to develop a fulfilling, long-term career as an athletic trainer, they are required to bachelor’s degree in medical sciences. While a bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement, many athletic trainers hold a master’s or even a doctoral degree in health sciences.

athletic trainer

Upon completing their degree program, at least forty-six states have a requirement for students to pass a rigorous examination to obtain certification. This certification allows them to obtain a license to perform the work duties of an athletic trainer in the state they reside in.

After obtaining their license, they must continue to take classes in medical related topics if they wish to keep their license active. In total, an athletic trainer must have at least 80 hours of continuing education credits every three calendar years in order to keep their certification active.
An athletic trainer will need to work under the supervision of a doctor of medicine, and in combination with other health care professionals, and even sports teams.

The purpose of an athletic trainer is to help athletes use their bodies in a way, that prevents illnesses. When injuries do happen, the athletic trainer is tasked with the duty of evaluating the injury during games or practices, sometimes with minimal resources. Once the injury is identified and treated, the athletic trainer will work with the player to rehabilitate them and prevent further injury.

Athletic trainers can work in a large variety of settings. The most effective place one can find a career is in a public or private school setting. The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that every elementary, middle, and high school with a sports team have an athletic trainer on staff.

Another place athletic trainers find work is at a college or university. They work as part of the athletic staff, usually as an athletic trainer and a teacher.

Sports teams also hire athletic trainers for education and treatment purposes. However, professional sports team positions are limited, and the work is seasonal. Therefore, they usually call the same athletic trainer back in year after year because their players are used to working with them, and they have built a strong rapport with players.

Athletic trainers may also find employment at a sports focused clinic. In these settings, the trainer will have a chance to work with a wide range of patients with diverse backgrounds. Many schools use these clinics as outreach programs to attend games and educate students on injuries as the season progresses.

Athletic trainers may also find a valuable position in the military to help train personnel coming in. They can also be involved in rehabilitating soldiers after various injuries, and getting them back to their everyday responsibilities.

The outlook for an athletic trainer is very bright. The career is expected to grow exponentially over the next several years. This is in response to the increasing need for preventative health care, and the increasing percentage of aging population.

An athletic trainer is considered to be an important person in any health care team. Technology is constantly changing which makes the need for athletic trainers who are capable of utilizing it more urgent.