Your
Goals: Get in Shape
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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Fat Loss Training
Train with weights
When you train with weights, two things
happen; first by positively stressing your muscle through exercise,
you stimulate growth of new muscle tissue. This results in
you burning more energy, which means you also burn more calories.
Secondly the body will burn additional energy to maintain the
muscle tissue that is being regularly stressed.
Many women worry that by weight-training they'll
get big muscles - this is not the case. By weight-training, you'll
tone, tighten and shape your physique!
You can find some great
routines here »
Do cardiovascular exercise at
least twice a week
Low intensity cardiovascular exercise
plays an important role in any fat loss program. Of primary
importance, low intensity cardiovascular exercise stimulates
the release of fatty acids from tissue. This has two benefits
- first, you're actually burning fat, second, your body
will up-regulate the enzyme systems necessary for burning
fat more efficiently. So you burn more fat and you burn
it faster.
The second reason why you want to do some
regular cardio work is that it helps protect your heart. Good
cardiovascular health is vitally important to your long term
condition and longevity.
Find out the most effective
fat-burning exercise tips here »
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Effective Goal Setting for Peak Performance
Goal Setting has become
such a mainstream activity in business and sport that you might
be forgiven for wondering if it is worth covering at all. Indeed, one of most
basic premises of theories of motivation is that we, as humans,
select goals that will satisfy our psychological or biological
needs. Nowhere is this more true than in the achievement-based
environment of sport. This article will tell you how to make
the right choices or go about the process in the best possible
way.
Why Set Goals?
A common view of goals is as a tool to be used in the quest for
higher levels of motivation. Goal-Setting Theory and subsequent
refinements based on research and practice provide a process
to create goals that will motivate us to higher levels of performance.
Goals,
in this sense, provide a motivational focus; a purpose if you
like. If you set goals appropriately you will find that you
gain access to feelings of satisfaction, confidence and calm.
The flip side is that inappropriate goals can be a source of
anxiety or stress.
Your goals also represent a means of evaluating
your performance and represent core values and beliefs about
sport and success. In short, criteria that focus on self-improvement
or effort are considered to be more positive than a focus on
performance against others. Of course, this is a simplified view
and context needs to be taken into account - are you a developing
athlete or about to compete in your swan song at the Olympic games,
where only a medal will do?
Remember too, that goals are not the
be-all-and-end-all of motivation. In fact, only setting goals
as a source of motivation can shut off many potentially important
sources of inspiration and creativity. In other words, balance
is required.
How to set goals
There is a great deal of literature on the market
that includes goal setting, and a popular way of expressing the
principles of goal setting is SMART (Specific, measurable, adjustable,
realistic and time-based). I have seen several versions of SMART,
however, so I will set out some principles below and let you
find your own way of remembering them.
1. Make
goals as specific as possible. “To compete in
the Olympics”.
Well, as admirable as that is, you need to ask when, in what
sport, in what event?
2. Divide
long-term goals into short-term goals with deadlines and priorities. “To
complete in the Olympics in four years time, in the 100 metres
(athletics). This gives more direction. However, what do you
need to do in three years time to be on track to achieve your
Olympic dream? What about this season? What about this week?
By creating ‘stepping stones’ the path to your ultimate
goal will become much more clear. It may become apparent that
to achieve one goals you may have to trade off against another – so
know your priorities.
3. Set
measurable goals. “Work hard in training” indicates
the right sentiment, but will not provide guidance towards your
goal. “Attend every session
this month” or “Hold a pulse rate of 170 for this
next set” however,
might.
4. Make
goals challenging but achievable. You have to be able to decide,
with all available help, whether your goals are achievable. Even
if you have been identified as a talented athlete, the chances
of reaching the Olympics may be slim. Slim is fine – remember
your goals must be challenging – but
goals set too high can demotivate rather than motivate.
5. Evaluate
your progress regularly, and be flexible. With your measurable
goals, that provide stepping stones to your ultimate goal, you
will be able to see how well you are progressing. If, two years
before the Olympics, you break you leg, you might still achieve
your final goal, but you will have to alter the stepping stones.
If you break it six weeks before the games, however, your final
goal will have to change. If you achieve your goals before
you expected to, set new ones.
6. Write
down your goals, and share them. We tend to commit to
goals that are written down, and shared goals (either as part
of the process or after they have been set) are more effective
still. If you keep a training or competition log (there’s
a tip!) this might be the ideal place to keep your goals written
down.
Process, Performance or Outcome Goals?
While outcome goals, which relate to your performance versus
others; or performance goals, which are your whole performance
independent of others; can be very useful, it is important to
ask yourself “How will I achieve that?”. The resulting
answers will provide you with Process Goals. For example, to
run in the Olympics you must achieve a qualifying time. What
do you need to do to achieve that time?
Process goals can consist of:
• Technical
goals – such as length of stride
• Tactical
goals – the race or game plan
• Physical
goals – these are easier to set if you have scientific
testing available, but could include your diet or fluid intake
• Psychological
goals – such as maintaining concentration for the whole
race
Another way of looking at your goals
might be to list your current practices (e.g. physical or technical
drills) and other habits (e.g. diet) and add ‘so
that….’ to the end of each one.
For example: “I
train with weights 3 times each week... so that... I
can increase my strength by 10% this season ”
If every ‘so
that’ on your list can be followed by a goal or ‘stepping
stone’, your everyday behaviour is in tune with your
goals. If not, your behaviour could be unhelpful or unnecessary,
or there may be other goals that you left unexplored.
Summary
I have covered in some detail the ‘how?’ of goal
setting and a little of the ‘what?’. If you follow
these guidelines you will find that you can stay focused on your
dreams and gain confidence as you get closer to doing so. Remember
to be flexible, as in life, things happen.
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