Here’s a guide to a library of exercises, nutrition and a whole lot more!

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An Effective Way to Toner Abs

Contrary to popular belief that when we perform lots of crunches and other stomach exercises could transform our belly into being toned and firm. Abdominal exercises can do wonders on the part of firming but these exercises alone are not enough.

photo credit to tennis abs

What you eat and how much you eat is significantly linked to how easy or difficult it may be to attain a toned and flat stomach. The frequency and time you often eat is equally important and determines whether your body stores fat or burns it at rest or activity.

You may also find infomercials showcasing exercising machines that promise to give you six pack abs for only 3 minutes of use daily. The fact of the matter is you need to burn that layer of fat at your abdominal area to visibly show the efforts you pour in doing the abdominal exercises.

Correct eating habits

It is important to do stomach exercises to have a flat stomach but it is only one side of the fitness equation. There also lies the impact of correct eating habits. In reality, the main reason why people fail to acquire sexy abs is because they overlook changing their eating habits but do lots of abs exercises. Their results remain hidden under a stubborn layer of fat.

For all of you who are starving yourselves just to lose weight or at least that is what you think, you are wrong. It is surprising to hear that the one of the ways to lose weight is to eat more often. The following advice might come as a surprise to some of you. You can lose weight when you eat 5-6 smaller meals a day or add healthy snacks between your existing meals.

Here is how this advice works. We go back to the primitive days of our dwelling ancestors. It was a time when food was scarce unless food was obtained from hunting. The human body is designed to store fat in times of food scarcity. When you subject your body to starve, it will do everything to store fat after every meal thus slowing down metabolism. On the contrary, when your body is feed more than it can handle then your metabolism increases thus decreases the storage of fats.

Thus, diet starvation wherein you eat less than 1500 calories a day will never help you lose weight. It could actually help you gain weight. Your metabolism will slow down. When you decide to stop the “crash diet” when you would go back to eating like you did will make you gain more fat than you lost. Aim to increase your metabolism by increasing the frequency of your meals and the amount of healthy food you eat to burn more calories after each meal and to store less fat.

Once you change your eating habits to frequent eating in a day, your body digests food and burn calories. It basically means eating more often will lead to more calories burned. You will also feel fuller for longer periods and prevent you from feeling easily hungry during the day.

Start your day right.

Eat breakfast as soon as possible when you wake up. It will start your metabolism that naturally slowed during the night. If you skip breakfast, it will slow your metabolism even further as your body reacts to the hunger. Make it a point to refrain from eating at least two hours before you go to bed. It will allow your food to digest properly and help your body rest and recover better from the previous day.

What you should and shouldn’t eat

The food you may eat or are forbidden to eat is pretty simple. Don’t completely change your diet all at once. Start out slowly by eating the same foods you are used to only the healthier versions of your regular diet.
Substitute process foods to natural and whole grain foods. Eat whole meal and wholegrain bread instead of regular white bread, when possible. Eat whole meal pasta and brown rice, low fat milk products, egg whites as well as lean meat and tuna.

Stop counting calories as you usually do. It is a tiring habit as well as psychologically draining effort. You can simply avoid foods you know are bad for you such as cut down on sweets, cakes, and pastries along with high sugar sodas. Eat lesser saturated animal fats. Feed your body the nutrients it needs form fruits, whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and lean protein. Hydrate your body with water rather from sodas and high sugar sodas.

When you think of doing those abdominal muscle exercises, take the initiative to eat healthy and right. The best combination to lose belly fat is to change your eating habits as well as integrating fitness regimen. It will make your body store less fat and those cardio exercises will burn your stored fat. Watch out for the best abdominal exercises you can do to achieve toned and flatter abs.

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Why you should eat after work out

photo credit to muse tracks

Whether you are the type of person who eats to live or lives to eat, the basic knowledge of nutrition will go a long way to improve your quality of living. No matter how intense and regular your work outs could be, it wouldn’t be complete without regarding nutrition.

Muscles, by nature, repair themselves during resting periods. Thus, it is necessary to feed your muscles the much needed nutrients especially protein that it needs to give rise to a reshaped and toner muscles in your body.

The human body consumes energy 24/7 even at resting state like when we are asleep. Energy is provided from the foods we eat and the process of “burn-out” of muscles. When the body is in the breakdown mode, it is considered to be in catabolic (break down) state. The only phase to gain healthy muscle mass after work out is during the anabolic or built up state. The anabolic phase is a critical period to have a scheduled intake of balanced meals.

Post work out drink

After exercising, it is the first nutritional priority to replace any fluid lost during exercise. The best way to determine how much to drink (either plain water or sports drink) is to weigh yourself before and after exercise and replace lost fluids by drinking 20 to 24 fluid ounces for every pound lost.

During a moderate to intense session of work out, the body depletes its glycogen stores requiring a post work out drink to promote protein synthesis and decrease the rate of protein breakdown. By the time you are done working out, your body would have now lost lots of water and essential electrolytes.

Proteins

Protein comes in a variety of types and levels. Out of the 20 amino acids, 9 are considered “essential” since these proteins cannot be synthesized therefore need to be consumed regularly. The biological value of a source of protein is known by the amount and proportion of the essential amino acids. If one or more of these amino acids is not present or is present in disproportionate amounts, the efficiency of protein synthesis goes down.
Animal sources are the best source of protein including meat, fish, dairy and poultry which are more “complete” than plant sources as they contain all the essential amino acids. Plant sources, on the other hand, when eaten in right combinations can also measure up to protein requirements. Soya protein ranks as the highest among plant sources. It is comparable to animal sources of protein. Vegetarian can select whey protein and soy as protein supplementation.

Eating after Exercise

Most athletes are aware of the importance of eating before exercise which is equally important to what and when you eat after exercise. Exercising before a meal can ensure sufficient glycogen stores available for optimal performance. Glycogen is the source of energy primarily used for exercise thus a meal after exercise is critical to recovery and improves your ability to train consistently.

It is recommended to consume carbohydrate such as juice or fruit within 15 minutes after work out to help restore glycogen. In fact, research has shown that eating 100 to 200 grams of carbohydrates within a couple of hours of endurance exercise is vital to building sufficient glycogen stores for continued training. Refraining from any carbohydrate consumption results to 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle. The reason for this is that carbohydrate consumption stimulates insulin production, in turn aids the production of muscle glycogen. However, the effect of carbohydrate on glycogen storage possibly can reach a plateau.

Carbs and protein speeds recovery

Studies have concluded that the combination of protein and carbohydrate consumed in the two hours following exercises nearly doubles the insulin response leading to more stored glycogen. The right ratio to achieve this effect is 4:1 translating to four grams of carbohydrate for every one gram of protein. Be mindful that eating more protein has a negative impact because it slows rehydration and glycogen replenishment.

Protein needs post exercise

Muscles after exercise requires intake of protein to supply the amino acids necessary to rebuild damaged muscle tissue resulting from intense, prolonged exercise. It can also increase the absorption of water from the intestines and improve muscle hydration. The amino acids in protein can also stimulate the immune system, enabling you to become more resistant to colds and other infections.

If you are looking for the best way to refuel your body after long, strenuous endurance exercise, a 4:1 combo of carbohydrate and protein seems to be your best choice. While solid foods can work just as well as a sports drink, a drink may be easier to digest make it easier to get the right ratio and meet the 2-hour window.

Time for protein intake

Post work out is the best time for protein intake as absorption and possibly assimilation levels are the highest. It is not a good idea to fast after a work out which can undo all the work you have exerted. The key is to schedule your meals into smaller but frequent portions.

You don’t need to work out every single day believing that it will speed the muscle building process of your body. Resting at intervals is equally important to allow muscle gain to take place. When the body is continuously involved in activity coupled with inadequate rest then catabolic state results. In the catabolic state, substantial gains in muscle mass is next to impossible. Studies have also proven that erratic sleep patterns and eating habits result to unhealthy weight gain. If you compromise diet and nutrition but manage to work out regularly, all of your efforts are useless and wasted.

The first hour after work out is the body’s golden hour when stored glycogen are used up and enzyme responsible of converting glucose into glycogen are in a phase when sugar or glucose can be consumed and rushed directly to the muscles to immediately replace lost glycogen stores.

You should have a post work out meal or drink to help your body recover quickly form the result of physical activity. You might think of resisting carbohydrates in your meal after working out to avoid weight gain. Carbs part of your post work out meal won’t add fat as calories are continuously burn even after work out. A simple balanced work out along with 10 to 15% of energy coming from protein should do the trick. Be smart and feed your body the nutrition it needs. Starving or restricting food intake after work out will do your body more harm than good.

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