Tag: Carbohydrate

Pre-competition meals

Many people are wondering what to eat when getting ready for competition so I thought this would be a good article on pre-competition meals.

For forty-eight hours prior to competition the athlete’s workouts must be canceled or markedly curtailed. This allows his muscles a couple of days to recover from the persistent training he has been doing. It allows that little extra bit of spring and kick to creep into the muscles, ready to burst forth at the moment of challenge.

Carbs and Glycogen in pre-competition meals

Another reason for tapering off the training program during this period is that of allowing the liver specifically and the body generally to replete their glycogen (synonymous with carbohydrate and starch) reserves. An adequate supply of available carbohydrate is invaluable in endurance events, first to provide ready calories for work consumption and second to protect against low blood sugar, which in turn may be associated with feelings of marked fatigue.

The diet is not otherwise altered until the pre-competition meals which is consumed three hours before competition. This period of time allows for absorption and digestion but does not extend long enough to allow hunger or starvation to ensue.

pre-competition meals

In the digestion and metabolism of protein, there is a residue of acid which can only be excreted by the kidneys. Carbon dioxide, the acid of fat and carbohydrate, can be blown off via the lungs. During exercise, effective kidney function ceases, preventing egress of acid by this route.

The athlete who eats a large steak (protein) prior to competition invites the onset of acidosis with all its unpleasant manifestations. For traditional yet stupid reasons, athletes are encouraged to wolf down rare meat, eggs, and milk before competition, when, in fact, they should be eliminated.

What should a pre-competition meal have in it

The pre-competition meal should be easily digestible since the implications of competing “on a full stomach” are well known. Fat in any form slows stomach emptying. Unless food passes from the stomach into the small intestine, no appreciable absorption can occur. Anxiety alone is sufficient to slow the stomach emptying. Since most athletes experience “butterflies in the stomach,” this should not be aggravated by eating fats. Fats should be kept to an absolute minimum in the pre-event meal.

Carbohydrate is the most readily available and quantitatively significant source of calories in athletics. Although fats and fatty acids are utilized, carbohydrates are pre-eminent. Moreover, their final breakdown products of carbon dioxide and water are readily excreted via the lungs and skin. They thus do not contribute to an acid load, which can only be excreted by the (non functioning) kidneys. Sugar, potatoes, bread, cereals, and honey are sources of starch commonly used by athletes.

During exercise, perspiration may be huge. Marathon runners lose eight to ten quarts of sweat during a race. Laborers while working at the Boulder Dam construction lost up to ten to fourteen quarts per day. Adequate hydration prior to competition is essential. The harmful effects of sweating off a few pounds to make a weight limit are now well recognized. As to the liquids in the pre-event meal, these should be readily absorbable and low in fat content, hence the need to restrict milk. They should not cause laxation, hence the need to restrict juices, particularly prune juice. Usually two or three glasses of fluid with the pre-event meal ensures adequate hydration.

Salt and pre-competition Meals

Salt supplies are important. If no salt is taken, the dangers of heat stroke and heat exhaustion are more likely, especially in warm weather. A practical and effective way to give salt is in bouillon. One bouillon cube dissolved in a cup of water is excellent. Salt tablets should not be taken just prior to competition because they may be very irritating to the stomach-and more so if the stomach is “nerved up” before the event. Another glass or two of water can be taken one to one and a half hours before competition.

These are the basics for most people for pre-competition meals and I hope you have learned lots to get ready.

Related Blogs

Related Blogs on Acidosis

Related Blogs on Adequate Supply

Weight Loss Exercise

Fat Loss Mistakes to Avoid

Post author By admin
Post date May 3, 2011
No Comments on Fat Loss Mistakes to Avoid

I got this article about fat loss mistakes to avoid from Craig Ballantyne, the creator of turbulence training and I wanted to pass it along.

When it comes to fat loss, I feel like I’ve been everywhere and seen everything. I’ve watched 95% of people in the gyms struggle with weight loss and make no progress, but I’ve also watched the weirdest and wildest regimens work for others.

And in dealing with thousands of people on the Internet and through the Men’s Health website, I’ve been able to pick up on the

Fat Loss Mistakes to Avoid

Fat Loss Mistakes to Avoid

Here they are to help you avoid these fat loss mistakes…

1. People simply fail to consider the consequences of their actions
Alwyn Cosgrove (one of the top trainers in the business) once told me, “I get my clients to think, ‘Will this help me or not? Is this a positive step or not?’ If you can see that every action that you take is either helping you lose fat or stopping you from losing fat, then you will start to make better choices.”

So remember that everything you put in your mouth is either for or against fat loss. And every exercise choice you make is either for or against fat loss. “Get that”, Alwyn says, “and you’re a hit.”

2. People neglect to control their insulin and blood sugar levels – 2 key factors in determining whether or not the body fat will come off

If you eat processed foods you are guaranteed to elevate your insulin blood sugar levels. If you do that, your body sends the message, “Store fat!”, and you won’t make any progress. So avoid white-flour based bakery products, sugary drinks, and almost any carbohydrate snack that comes in a bag or a box.

3. People train like it’s the 80′s
Yes, I know. Eighties music is popular again. But that doesn’t mean ineffective training methods from the 80′s like light weights, low intensity steady state cardio, and endless low-intensity ab work should also make a comeback. That type of training should stay buried in the back issues of cheesy muscle magazines. Stick to strength training and interval training for efficient and effective body changing routines.

I know that the “fat-burning” zone and “morning cardio on an empty stomach” has been drilled into your heads by well-meaning trainers and articles, but science just doesn’t support this.

The latest on fat loss research from Australia has shown that a 20-minute interval program led to significantly more weight loss than 40-minute aerobic sessions.

We must adapt our programs to the science in order to succeed. Don’t be left behind!

4. People don’t take 30 minutes to plan their next day’s food intake
If you fail to do this, you will set your fat loss efforts back by a minimum of 72 hours. Without a good meal plan, you are left to hunt and gather food in the modern world. And that’s a recipe for fat loss disaster. You are bound to eat something processed if you aren’t prepared. You will lose the fat burning benefits from yesterday’s workout and it will take until the end of the following day to get back on track. An entire 72-hour period wasted.

5. People don’t eat enough vegetables
We can thank John Berardi for making it common knowledge that you should eat fiber-rich vegetables at every meal to assist your fat loss efforts. By doing so, you’ll control your blood sugar and insulin – thus supporting the optimal hormonal situation for fat loss.

6. People screw up their hormones with poor lifestyle choices
If you are out boozing and staying up late on the weekend, you are shutting down your fat loss and messing up the optimal hormonal environment for fat burning. I will talk a lot more about the optimal hormonal levels for fat loss in the future, as I believe this is the underrated key to building your best body ever.

7. People don’t plan and monitor their training sessions
If you are still going to the gym without a plan, then you are going to have a hard time losing fat. And if you aren’t recording your workouts and eating habits, then you aren’t losing as much fat as you probably can. To fix this mistake, start by getting on track with strength training and interval training. It’s guaranteed to get you lean.

I know that your motivation is high at this time of the year. So grab a good program based on science, add to that a nutrition PLAN (that is actually planned out on paper – like the TT Nutrition Guidelines from Dr. Chris Mohr), and get some social support on your side and you will succeed this year.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training the Nutrition Guide here:

http://www.turbulencetraining.com/

Become a TT Success Stories just like these men and women

“TT Training has revolutionized my workout routine–NO more excuses! No time for the gym…NO problem, can’t go outside…No problem! The bodyweight workouts kept me strong this fall.” Mary Iverson

And

“Hi Craig, I am enjoying Turbulence Training. I am a personal trainer, so I’ve incorporated much of it into my sessions. Though I used some philosophies from TT, your program has added a world of new ideas, methods, and techniques to my client sessions. And for that, I thank you so very much. Even my wife loves it, ha! So much more to read and implement, so TT reading will keep me busy for many months to come. Make it a great day!” Loren Salas

To learn more fat loss mistakes to avoid get your very own copy of Turbulence Training the Nutrition Guide here:

http://www.turbulencetraining.com

“The things I like the most in the TT program:
a) Large number of different exercises allowing for ever new combinations, which prevent boredom and routine.
b) Different approaches to strength training (dumbbells, own body, simple implements).
c) A lot of precise information about pacing, timing and choosing effort levels.
d) Sound and solid information on kinesiology and physiology of training.” Peter Tancig

Now that you know the fat loss mistakes to avoid it is time for you to put them into action.

Weight Loss Exercise

Dietrine carb blocker

What is the Dietrine carb blocker?

As you know I am a big proponent of using a good diet and exercise to lose weight although a carb blocker is an interesting idea. There is no such thing as taking a pill to lose weight and even if a pill did the job I am not sure that in the end it makes you any healthier than a classic couch potato.

Most of the time we can just exercise and have a good diet and will lose weight easily that way. Sometimes this does not work though. I get emails every week from people that seem to have trouble losing weight, if they just have two pieces of bread they seem to gain weight easily the next day. I have looked around for a long time for something that would help everyone with this problem.

I have just run across a type of diet supplement known as a carb blocker.

The Dietrine Carb Blocker works with your body’s own natural processes to prevent carbs from being stored as fat. The effective ingredient works by neutralizing the alpha amylase enzyme, effectively limiting the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose and fat, meaning that your caloric intake can be dramatically decreased, even with carbohydrate-rich foods.

This all may seem a little technical, but the upshot is fairly simple. The Dietrine Carb Blocker will prevent your body from turning carbs into excess fat, safely and easily. It starts working immediately, so you simply need to take two capsules before eating any especially starchy meals.

Are carb blockers a scam?

So my next step was to look around and find something that would work and would not be some kind of scam. I had a few qualifications for a good carb blocker:

Had to be natural – Who wants to pollute their body with chemicals?
Had to be cheap – Health food stores always seem to charge a ridiculous amount for what you get
Had to be proven effective – There are far to many scams in the diet industry and I didn’t want to get ripped off.

I found a bunch of products out there and the trouble was that many are fly by night operations that you can not get hold of by phone, or they exagerated claims (if you could lose 30 pounds a month wouldn’t every have used your product?), and finally most of the products were some kind of crazy dangerous ephedrine product that didn’t actually block carbs at all but could instead cause heart problems.

Dietrine is a carb Blocker

In the end I did find one product that seemed to be a good carb blocker and that is a product called Dietrine. Dietrine seems to give me all of my qualifications. It is made out of beans, you can only buy it online so there is no five layers of middlemen selling to the health food store. And the company has been around for a long time, you can even phone them to ask about that.

If you are one of those people that seems to gain weight far to easily from Italian food or can not seem to lose weight even with diet and exercise than it seems like this Dietrine carb blocker product may be exactly what you are looking for.