Author: admin

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

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

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
Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Reasons Why Treadmill Workouts Are Great Exercise


Treadmill workouts are a very popular activity, but why teadmill workouts you may wonder? While it is true that exercises come with many benefits, not all of us are able to keep up with our regular workout routines, sometimes out of lack of time, and at other times out of plain lethargy. In this article I would offer you one workout idea which would virtually make fitness as easy as pie for you.

Why Treadmill Workouts Are Great Exercise

Treadmills are one of the most popular home exercise equipments out there. It should be in the house of anyone who cares even a little bit about their health. Okay, I know that the treadmill needs no introduction, but are you aware of all its benefits? If not, then this article is for you.

Huge time saver: Many people cannot workout regularly because of lack of time. They have a job to handle as well as a family to look after. Add social pressure to the mix and you could get an idea of how much stressed and busy an individual could be these days.

Thankfully, with treadmill workouts, lack of time won’t hinder your fitness routine. Being a home-based equipment, you can exercise whenever you want. You can choose your workout routines flexibly. For example, if you are supposed to exercise for 30 minutes per day, you could do 15 minutes of workout before going to office and the other 15 minutes just before bedtime.

Reasons Why Treadmill Workouts Are Great Exercise

treadmill workouts

Less boring and strenuous: Exercises like aerobics bore the hell out of you because you need to do them for hours in order to derive any decent benefit from them; plus they also command your concentration all the time; naturally, by the time you are finished with them, you feel as if you would never be able to repeat the exercise again.

On the other hand, if you do intense workouts like weight training, they would take much less of your time but are too strenuous for an average individual. If you have never done it before, you would find weight training and boring.

Treadmill workout is however one exercise which fits the bill perfectly for almost everyone. It is neither too boring nor strenuous. If you run or walk on the treadmill, it won’t be any different than plain walking or running on road, except that the treadmill workout would command much less attention and time from you than the latter. Being less demanding compared to other exercises, it doesn’t bore you either.

Secure and private: Many people feel uncomfortable at the prospect of going to a gym or hiring a fitness trainer. They believe that their proactive approach towards health and fitness would be perceived wrongly by their peers and relatives; they would think that they are doing all these in order to get rid of obesity. It is not unusual, especially at backward societies, to notice a group of people poking fun at someone who is heavy on workouts.

However, a treadmill, being secure in the privacy of your home, is safe from the prying eyes of your neighbors and buddies. You can exercise for as long as you want and whenever you want; no one would ever know about it.

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on 30 Minutes
Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Quickest way to lose fat


In this age of instant gratification, it’s hardly surprising to know that an increasing number of overweight people are looking for the quickest way to lose fat. In fact, this topic has gained widespread media attention in recent years. With approximately 120 million Americans being overweight, I can assure you that this topic will remain in limelight at least for the foreseeable future.

So what exactly is the quickest way to lose fat, you might ask. If we go by all the media hype then we have to conclude that the answer lies somewhere between a new magic weight loss pill and some random revolutionary diet which will give us the ultimate slim figure before we can bat an eyelash. But in your heart of hearts you know that these things do not work. In fact many a times they will do you more harm than good.

The reason that such ‘Weight loss systems’ are bound to fail is because they focus more on decreasing body weight rather than lowering the body fat. The two are not one and the same and anybody who’s telling you otherwise, while selling their weight loss program, is a straight out liar. You will do yourself a favor by running away from them as fast as you can without ever looking back!

The above ‘miracle methods’ work only for some time during which your body starts losing water and it gives you a sense of satisfaction that you have ‘lost’ some weight. In reality, you will gain this ‘lost’ weight within a few days and after that perhaps even gain some more to make your condition even more miserable. The way to get out of this dilemma is to focus on losing body fat. In this way you’ll not only preserve but also gain muscle mass with an additional advantage of it being a long term effect.

Quickest way to lose fat – eating and exercise

Quickest way to lose fat

Quickest way to lose fat

Now that we have put all the ‘miracle methods’ aside, its time to focus on our original question of quickest way to lose fat. The quickest way to lose fat is NOT easy. I say so because you are limiting yourself on the time parameter while expecting quick results. Quick weight loss is achieved by combining the right diet along with following an optimum exercise schedule.

When we talk of diet then you need to control the amount of calories that you intake on a daily basis. Moreover, you need to eliminate all kinds of junk and sweetened foods such as fast food, beverages and soda. Notice I say ‘Eliminate’ and not ‘reduce’. This will of course be difficult if you’re a huge fan of fast food but then you’re also looking for the quickest way to lose weight, isn’t it?

Eating for fat loss

Moreover, your diet will now be composed of small 4 to 6 meals on a daily basis. These small meals should be taken after every 3 hours (approximately) and you must suppress your hunger in the meantime. Don’t give in to your taste buds and start munching high calorie foods like fried/French fries, potato chips etc. All your efforts will be in vain if you can’t control your urges.

Your ‘Small meals’ should consist of portions rich in protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. High Glycemic carbohydrates should be avoided at all cost and you must drink a lot of water during the interval between your meals. This water will also act as a filling agent and hence will control your urges thereby minimizing the calorie intake in your body.

Exercise for fat loss

Regular exercise is inevitable for quick weight loss. You’re not required to sweat out excessively at the strength training machines at the gym. Instead, you have to focus on interval training exercises. You must focus on adding muscle mass to your body while getting rid of body fat at the same time. This can best be accomplished by increasing the number of repetitions and decreasing the weight lift while doing any exercise.

Just as I have always said, the quickest way to lose fat is by eating small healthy meals often and getting plenty of exercise. This may not sound like magic but it definitely works.

Recent Tags: Quickest way to lose fat