Category: Weight Loss Exercise

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Weight Loss Exercise

Watching Athletic Hydration During Summer




Athletic Hydration is a big issue this Summer with temperatures around the country being so high. I am always concerned about hydration when I exercise but in the summer months when it is hard to stay hydrated even when doing nothing it is even more critical to keep your water and electrolytes up.

Proper hydration plays a critical role in athletic performance. Some consequences of dehydration are as follows: cramping, fatigue, dizziness, rapid elevation of body temperature, confusion, fainting, and the inability to sweat (cooling mechanism of the body).

Symptoms of Dehydration

Despite these symptoms obviously hampering athletic performance, they can progress rapidly into heat exhaustion or heat stroke. In order to avoid these serious side effects and increase the ability to perform at top levels, it is essential that not only athletes, but everyone that is exposed to Louisiana temperatures have a clear understanding of how to maintain proper hydration.

When focusing on hydration, it is important to look at some warning signs that the body gives to signal the lack of proper hydration. Thirst is considered by some experts to be an early signal that your body is in need of re-hydration. But according to Nancy Clark in her “Sports Nutrition Guidebook,” athletes may have already lost over a pound and a half of water weight before their thirst mechanism kicks in.

Athletic Hydration Signals

Watching Athletic Hydration During Summer

Athletic Hydration

So it is may be ill-advised to rely on the thirst signal before looking to replenish fluids. Another warning signal of early dehydration is referred to as the Urine Test. Dr. Porche, a long time athletic trainer at the collegiate level, would post dark yellowish/orange sheets of paper in the stalls of the restrooms.

These sheets stated: “If your urine is the color of this paper, you are dehydrated!” That is how he got the message across to athletes about self monitoring for dehydration. According to The Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, normal urine of an adequately hydrated individual would be the color of lemon juice.

Athletic Hydration Tips

The following is a look at what steps need to be taken before, during, and after strenuous activity in order to maintain proper hydration levels:

Encourage athletes to hydrate properly before long periods of activity or exercise in a hot environment.

Consuming at least ½ liter of fluid (about 16 fl oz) two hours before activity provides the fluid needed to achieve optimal hydration and allows enough time for urination of excess fluid. Because rapid absorption is not critical, athletes can choose to drink water or many other beverages.

The question whether consuming caffeinated beverages causes dehydration is often asked. Caffeine increases urine production slightly in athletes not accustomed to it, less in athletes who customarily consume caffeine.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Quit Smoking – Gain Weight – Still Better Off




I found this article about weight gain after you quit smoking over at the CBC Canada website and thought it was an interesting study. As I have written before, I smoked for many years and would actually put out my cigarette on my way into the gym but once I tackled my smoking habit over and over again I found that I finally quit smoking and have been more healthy now than ever.

I think that the excuse that you can gain weight after quitting smoking is a bit of a red herring but is always brought up. Tobacco is both an appetite suppressant and and a stimulant and so it can keep your weight down…But at a HUGE cost to your health.

The bold notes below are my comments on this article.

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Quit smoking leads to an average weight gain of up to five kilograms in the first year, significantly more than previously thought, according to a new study.

Most of the kilos are piled on in the first three months, a team of medical researchers write in the online journal British Medical Journal, as another group stresses that the health benefits of quit smoking far outweigh the risks of putting on weight.

Quit Smoking Leads to Weight Gain

For quitters who did not use nicotine replacement therapy, the average weight gain was 1.1 kilograms at one month, 2.3 at two, 2.9 at three, 4.2 at six months and 4.7 after a year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

*Notice that the weight gain is front loaded as people are trying to fight nicotine cravings with food? I bet almost every ex-smoker will agree this is the case

This was “substantially higher than the 2.9 kilograms often quoted in smoking cessation advice leaflets,” write the team from France and Britain.

“Moreover, this mean weight gain is greater than the 2.3 kilograms gain that female smokers report being willing to tolerate, on average, before embarking on a quit attempt.”

Quit Smoking Gain Weight Still Better OffEarlier research showed that nicotine is an appetite suppressant and may increase the metabolic rate.

For the latest paper, the researchers collated data from earlier studies conducted between 1989 and 2011 in the United States, Europe, Australia and east Asia to assess weight changes among successful smoking quitters.

The researchers stressed that changes in body weight varied greatly, with about 16 per cent of those that quit smoking losing weight and 13 per cent gaining more than 10 kilograms in the first year.

*You would expect that these ex-smokers that lost weight made bigger lifestyle changes and smoking was one of the changes. Exercise and diet changes will turn your whole lifestyle around and are tough, but on the other side you feel like a new person just a few months later

Smoking riskier than weight gain

In an editorial accompanying the paper, Associate Professor Esteve Fernández of the Universitat de Barcelona and Professor Simon Chapman of the University of Sydney say modest weight gain is far less life-threatening than smoking.

“Tobacco is the main cause of premature death worldwide, being responsible for 5.1 million deaths each year. Obesity, together with overweight, causes 2.8 million deaths,” they write.

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I am more than happy to me an ex-smoker. I did not personally gain weight, I proved to myself that it is possible, and I became more serious about my other health habits. So I can say personally that I would urge anyone to quit smoking even if they are worried about a bit of weight gain. This is a large part of your health issues that you have control over and then you can use your quitting to accelerate yourself to better health.

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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Build Muscle Using Circuit Training



If you want to build muscle using circuit training then you have to know that circuit training  is one of the most time efficient and strenuous types of workouts that you can do, but is very effective for building endurance and mass at the same time, and if you want to lose some fat then this type of workout also can’t be beat.

All circuits are comprised of three components.

  • Exercise movements: free weights, body weight, speed, power, or sport based (such as punching drills).
  • Repetitions: ordinarily in the higher ranges (12-50) to increase lactic build up, but lower and medium rep ranges (or a fusion of all three) are great for weight loss and building muscles.
  • Rest intervals: kept short to stimulate a state which stimulates the output of the male growth hormone and anaerobic fitness.

What to Watch When Circuit Training

Working out more often than not incorporates the initial few warm up drills to get the heartbeat raised, followed by carrying out as many repetitions as you can in a specified time frame (or maybe a determined number of reps) at every station, along with a rest interval of 5-20 seconds between each station, until such time as one particular circuit is carried out. If your muscle training program is not giving you the results you really want, and you are struggling to develop muscle size and definition, you may ought to kick start your progress all over again with circuit training. You could find it tricky to start with, but shortly after that you will have raised your strength and fitness levels above your expectations.

In case you are already experienced with lifting weights, the stimulus from high repetition circuit training is unlikely to be good enough to activate strength increases. Include instability as a substitute for doing exercises using a fixed surface, like the floor or a bench, use an exercise ball to make your body and muscles continue to work harder so as to keep balance.

How to Build Muscle using Circuit Training

Build Muscle Using Circuit Training

Build muscle using circuit training

To boost the potential to build muscle using circuit training, a strength and fitness circuit can be devised. This may be done by introducing exercises from a strength training programme and performing them back-to-back with exercise movements from a calisthenics program. For example, complete a set of dumbbell squats in the 6-15 rep range. End the set 2 or 3 repetitions prior to reaching failure. This is quickly followed by 10-15 reps of step ups. Build muscle using circuit training by constantly overloading your muscles and making sure that you have nothing left at the end of each set.

The secret to a decent figure is excellent muscle development plus low body fat. Make use of the Kettlebell swing to develop your leg muscles and incorporate it in a metabolic resistance training workout this way:

  1. Kettlebell swing
  2. Hip Extensions
  3. Kettlebell swing
  4. One Leg Lying Cable Knee Raise
  5. Kettlebell swing
  6. Dumbbell Pullover
  7. Kettlebell swing
  8. Reverse Grip Smith Machine Bent Over Row
  9. Behind The Back Barbell Shrug

You may need a couple of circuits using sub-maximal weights at the start. Make sure to determine what resistance you can expect to handle following a few loosen up rounds. Because every single movement triggers your body in a different way, you can actually work at a fast tempo. This helps to develop muscle size and definition and get rid of fat. Unlike low intensity cardiovascular exercise that eats up muscle, using weights like this forces your body to pack on muscle mass and to reduce excess adipose (or fat) tissue.

It’s essential to have a record of the weight loads used as well as rest periods. Endeavor to boost intensity each and every training session.On completing every round, take a breather for about 15-40 seconds and after that start another circuit. If you wish to shed extra pounds, shorten rest periods, but still train with big weight loads always.

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