Your
Goals: Energy, Endurance
& Recovery
The more intense
the exercise or sport, the greater the body's nutrient needs.
Athletes who participate in endurance sports—those that involve more
than one hour of consistent activity—have specific needs because of what
they demand from their bodies. For example, athletes lose more electrolytes,
such as magnesium, potassium and sodium, through perspiration and must diligently
replace them. The wear and tear of intense activity may necessitate increased
intake of antioxidants such as vitamin E, which can help protect muscle cells
from oxidative damage. Since muscle-tissue breakdown is common during intense
exercise, athletes also need more proteins to repair the tissues.
As an athlete, the food you eat provides the foundation for your
conditioning program and your over-all performance in competition.
Athletes often complain of having too little energy or not
realizing strength gains from weight lifting. Both of these
complaints, as well as others, are often a sign of poor nutritional
habits.
Having enough energy before, during
and after training is by far the most important factor to any
athlete’s
performance. Carbohydrates provide
our bodies with energy which is stored up for use before exercise,
converted to energy whilst exercising, and replaces energy after
exercise.
Endurance
pre-event hydration »
Re-Hydrate and Repair
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INTERVAL TRAINING
Some gymgoers
are tortoises. They prefer to take their sweet time, leisurely
pedaling or ambling along on a treadmill. Others are hares, impatiently
racing through miles at high intensity.
But new findings suggest
that for at least one workout a week it pays to be both tortoise
and hare — alternating short
bursts of high-intensity exercise with easy-does-it recovery.
This alternating fast-slow technique,
called interval training, is hardly new. For decades, serious
athletes have used it to improve performance. But new evidence
suggests that a workout with steep peaks and valleys can dramatically
improve cardiovascular fitness and raise the body’s potential
to burn fat. Best of all, the benefits become evident in a matter
of weeks.
A 2005 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found
that after just two weeks of interval training, six of the eight
college-age men and women doubled their endurance, or the amount
of time they could ride a bicycle at moderate intensity before
exhaustion. Eight volunteers in a control group, who did not
do any interval training, showed no improvement in endurance.
Doing
bursts of hard exercise not only improves cardiovascular fitness
but also the body’s ability to burn fat, even during
low- or moderate-intensity workouts, according to a study published
this month, also in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Eight
women in their early 20s cycled for 10 sets of four minutes of
hard riding, followed by two minutes of rest. Over two weeks,
they completed seven interval workouts. After interval training,
the amount of fat burned in an hour of continuous moderate cycling
increased by 36 percent, said Jason L. Talanian, the lead author
of the study and an exercise scientist at the University of Guelph
in Ontario. Cardiovascular fitness — the ability of the
heart and lungs to supply oxygen to working muscles — improved
by 13 percent. It didn’t matter how fit the subjects were
before. Borderline sedentary subjects and the college athletes
had similar increases in fitness and fat burning. “Even
when interval training was added on top of other exercise they
were doing, they still saw a significant improvement,” Mr.
Talanian said.
That said, this was a small study that
lacked a control group, so more research would be needed to confirm
that interval training was responsible.
Interval training isn’t for everyone. “Pushing your
heart rate up very high with intensive interval training can
put a strain on the cardiovascular system, provoking a heart
attack or stroke in people at risk,” said Walter R. Thompson,
professor of exercise science at Georgia State University in
Atlanta. For anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure — or
who has joint problems such as arthritis or is older than 60 — experts
say to consult a doctor before starting interval training.
Still,
anyone in good health might consider doing interval training
once or twice a week. Joggers can alternate walking and sprints.
Swimmers can complete a couple of fast laps, then four more slowly.
There is no single accepted formula for the ratio between hard
work and a moderate pace or resting. In fact, many coaches recommend
varying the duration of activity and rest. But some guidelines
apply. The high-intensity phase should be long and strenuous
enough that a person is out of breath — typically one to
four minutes of exercise at 80 to 85 percent of their maximum
heart rate. Recovery periods should not last long enough for
their pulse to return to its resting rate. Also people should
remember to adequately warm up before the first interval. Coaches
advise that, ideally, people should not do interval work on consecutive
days. More than 24 hours between such taxing sessions will allow
the body to recover and help them avoid burnout.
What is so special about interval training? One advantage is
that it allows exercisers to spend more time doing high-intensity
activity than they could in a single sustained effort. “The
rest period in interval training gives the body time to remove
some of the waste products of working muscles,” said Barry
A. Franklin, the director of the cardiac rehabilitation and exercise
laboratories at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
To go hard, the body must use new muscle fibers. Once these recent
recruits are trained, they are available to burn fuel even during
easy-does-it workouts. “Any form of exercise that recruits
new muscle fibers is going to enhance the body’s ability
to metabolize carbohydrates and fat,” Dr. Coyle said. Interval
training also stimulates change in mitochondria, where fuel is
converted to energy, causing them to burn fat first — even
during low- and moderate-intensity workouts, Mr. Talanian said.
Improved
fat burning means endurance athletes can go further before tapping
into carbohydrate stores. It is also welcome news to anyone trying
to lose weight or avoid gaining it. Interval training does amount
to hard work, but the sessions can be short. Best of all, a workout
that combines tortoise and hare leaves little time for boredom.
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Diet & Nutrition
Eat the right types of food
In order
to build lean muscle mass you need to combine an adequate calorie
intake with a solid muscle strengthening program. A large number
of calories are needed to fuel both workouts and muscle tissue
building. Whilst eating enough calories is important, it is also
important to eat the right kind of calories.
Carbohydrate - this
is the predominant energy source for strength training. Stored
as glycogen in the muscles, it is the fuel used to supply energy
for short, intense bursts of power or long duration exercise.
Consumption should be around 2g per 1lb of bodyweight. You
can find out more about carbohydrate here »
Protein - this is
the basic building material for muscle tissue, and is critical
for anyone engaging in high-intensity resistance exercise since
increased amounts of protein become necessary to support muscle
growth. Try to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight
daily. This daily requirement can be easily achieved by supplementing
your diet with protein supplements.
Essential Fats -
After taking care of your carbohydrate and protein needs, there
is a little room left for healthy, essential fatty acids. The
right kind of fat is an essential nutrient, however, you only
require a small amount of it to remain healthy. Less than 30%
of your total daily calories should come from unsaturated fat
sources.
Eat Several Small Meals A Day
Eating this
way ensures you are providing your body with adequate nutritional
support. Frequent, small meals provide a consistent supply of
nutrients for efficient muscle growth, and also helps maintain
a faster metabolic rate. To gain muscle, you should be consuming
at very least, about 500 calories above your daily requirements.
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Commitment & Focus
Try to visualise your goals and work towards
them each time you train. Set realistic short and long term goals
with rewards as each goal is accomplished. Thinking positively
can also enhance the muscle-building process in a number of ways.
Quality of training will improve if one is able to approach each
session with confidence and an expectation that you will achieve
your training goals.
Training Guildelines & Tips
1. Training Journal
Write down the daily routines and weights you used. Pick a few
every week to improve on, not only in weight, but in any of the
above training principles. Routines that put unnecessary strain
on weak areas, like the back, can then be eliminated.
2. Eat several
small meals per day
Glycogen production and supply depends heavily on the constant
supply of carbohydrates, and a constant supply of carbohydrates
boosts the metabolism. Constant flows of amino acids ensure nitrogen
retention and muscle repair. Water-soluble vitamins constantly
leave the body and need to be replaced to fulfill its synergetic
function. A good exercise routine will not counteract poor eating
habits.
3. Vary
your Program
Vary the order, and type of exercises you do, also switch the
muscles you train on the same day. This created muscle confusion
which leads to renewed gains.
4. Increase
the Weight
Eventually, you also need to increase the resistance which forces
muscle to compensate by renewed growth.
5. Train
Smart, not Long
45 to 90 minutes is all you should spend in the gym, longer than
that you either waste your time, or you over train. Limit time
between sets so the body "thinks" the whole exercise
is one long set. Rest roughly two times the time it takes you
to complete a set. Focus on your form, you can rather use a smaller
weight, but do it with great form, no swing, no cheat, high intensity,
and work on the negatives/eccentric (going down). If your next
machine is occupied, proceed to the next and come back later,
don't hesitate to ask how many sets a person has left.
6. Aim at
a complete physique
Concentrate more on the parts of your body that lack, and less
on your strong points. Abs, calves, and shoulders are common
weak points. If you have excess fat, work a cardio session into
your routine, it's no use having a good physique under a camouflage
of fat!
7. Isolate
the applicable muscle
Do the exercise in such a way that it is not as easy as can be,
but that it strain the targeted muscle as completely as possible.
Like when you do a bench press, lower the weight slowly to the
end of your chest as close to your throat as possible, turn the
elbows as far out as possible, pause at the bottom to stretch
the pectoral muscles through its full range of motion. Finish
the movement at the top by pushing all the way up to fully contract
the pectorals
8. Breathing
However you choose to breath, exhale on the up or down movement;
never hold your breath against force. This causes an increase
in the blood pressure in the brain and poses a danger to health.
9. Do not
lock
Keep constant tension on a muscle by avoiding the lock at the
top of a lift. This "resting time" interrupts a set.
10. Peak
Contraction and Range of Motion
Always squeeze at the point of fullest contraction, and move
through the whole range of motion to the point of maximum stretch.
11. Rest
A muscle should rest for 72 hours after a strenuous training
session.
12. Cross-train
Legs
All of the muscles on the upper body get the chance to cross-train
with other muscles, like when you do chest, you also use triceps
and front delts, and when you do shoulders, the chest and triceps
work hard too. The legs however very seldom get the change to
cross-train, which is the main reason why most men have under
developed leg muscles compared to their upper bodies. Work in
an extra set of heavy lunges on another day.
13. Positive
Muscular Gain vs. Negative Skeletal Strain
Each person differs, many routines may suit one person, but not
another, but don't decide a routine doesn't suit you just because
it is working on your weak point. There is a healthy trade-off
between positive strain on the muscular system, and negative
strain on the skeletal system. Routines like Squat, Dead lift,
and Stiff leg dead lift must only be done by advanced athletes
involved in a sport where it forms a critical part, like Power
lifting, Weight lifting, Strongman etc. Otherwise the negative
skeletal strain outweighs the positive muscular gain.
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