PRICELESS KNOW-HOW

Hardcore Resistance Training and Wellbeing started off with criticisms of the fitness industry, and there has been some time without any talk about those issues. So put on your thinking caps, and reflect on this following Post.

North America, including Canada is supposed to be the top of the line in quality of any type of services offered. But how come some of the under developed countries, or the ones that do make it to the list of developed countries but are ranking in the last 5 spots are more concerned with providing better quality and specificity in health services?

Kinesiologists are under paid after 4 years of hard work and training in a University course, when they too are responsible for rehabilitation, physical assessments of movement, exercise prescription, and maintaining or improving physical mobility. So why doesn’t the health system view the profession as important as that of a nurse or doctor?

The career of a teacher begins with educational training inside a classroom, and before this the teacher is usually specifically qualified by major study in a certain subject. But many are not teaching in their area of expertise and are in fact acting in other areas. After completing the education requirement to use the correct techniques for teaching, it can be understood that a teacher can follow the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education at an elementary school level. But as a child grows older and more mature, how can that happen? There are many unemployed individuals with Physical Education degrees and one of the reasons could be that teachers and coaches who fill the gyms and fields in schools only have the qualifications to educate some one’s mind or not any at all and not the body. Some of these positions are even filled by volunteers to minimize costs. And then why is it asked that the obesity rate is rising in children? In the long run it ends up costing more to treat diseases consequences of overweight.

Then there are the Personal trainers who sometimes don’t even have a background in physical activity or practice a sport. It is so simple for just anyone to become qualified as a Personal trainer, that the ones who really know what they are doing due to education, or have real experience dealing with keeping the body healthy are turning to private work which is not helping the profession’s reputation.

No wonder the fitness industry is falling apart. Exercise has been proven to have positive effects on the mind, but most still refer to athletes and sports related professionals as brainless individuals. And if this is true why has the research related to physical activity and exercise become such an important interest for health related issues? For the health care system to improve there needs to be a change in the way of seeing the Fitness Industry in most countries as only a money maker. The educated professionals of this area will contribute with the adequate dedication to maintain those that are already healthy.

PUMP UP YOUR LEVEL

The word “intensity” is a common word used in the fitness world. And when speaking about intensity of a workout, most refer to the amount of resistance that was used to perform an exercise. But is the amount of resistance the only way to make a workout intense? Do you know how to intensify your workout without changing your routine? Are there other ways to maximize your effort?

Intensity can be referred to the amount of resistance, the volume of a training, the timing of rest and recovery and even as physiological effects such as diet.

When speaking about the amount of resistance, weight training professionals usually refer to percentages of one Repetition Maximum (1RM) that an exercise is performed, or exercising at a percentage of your maximal Heart Rate (HR). 1 RM is calculated by performing a resistance exercise without outside aide or muscle execution failure, usually for a large muscle group, and is used to define the level of strength. The calculation of intensity through the HR method usually takes into consideration the age and gender of an individual.

 

Definition of Intensity by Volume of Training can be described as how many exercise sessions there are in a certain period, which could mean month, week or even day. The number or even duration of the sessions could have effect of higher or lower intensity depending on your goals.

The intensity can be magnified if the rest interval in between sets and even exercises are low. The well trained don’t need to rest as much as the untrained to get results of improvements of strength, power and force. For resistance training according to the different energy pathways you can manipulate your workout according to how long it takes to recover energy levels.

It is almost being forgotten that the load can become heavier if you simply increase the number of repetitions performed or do movements in slow motion. You can increase the intensity of your workout by changing the form you do your sets such doing two exercises at the same time for the same muscle group or antagonists (opposites) adding a certain type of training such as repetitions until exhaustion or even pyramid training.

You may not change your routine and duration of your workout, or even the number of weekly sessions, but if you reduce or increase the number of calories of your diet, you may see a change in the intensity of your workout due to your capability. Other factors could have effects, such as injuries, sickness, and mental state affecting the intensity of your workout too.

So when you are thinking I am going to increase the intensity of my workout, get out of that little box and for something different find some other way to change other than the amount of weight of machines and free weights. You might find other ways to feel that pump and even something that works better for your body to get those desired results.

ANYTHING GOES!!!

Now that summer is finally here, the bodybuilding competition season has finally started. There are many competitions and categories out there, and no matter what level you aim to compete in, extended physical, mental and nutritional training is needed to be properly prepared for the contest day.

But what is needed for the appropriate preparation for a bodybuilding contest? How do you decided in which category to compete in? How do you choose the competition and level to compete in? On the contest day, how do you know if you are ready or not?

The first question will be answered last. First of all there is no right or wrong training, nutrition or supplementation. If periodization of training and nutrition are used, you are able to get to know your body, and test methods, techniques and types of training and different diets and supplementation to see what works the best for you. What might work for one person might be counterproductive for another due to differences of each individual. What needs to be done is get the max results of your body for the category that you are preparing for. This is why many may end up disappointed with the final results and the coaching that they received. But most do not trust their own instincts about what they know about their own body. With time, comes experience and an athlete to enter in his/her best form will always need coaching and nutritional orientation because with each competition the body changes.  

Today when you arrive at a competition there are so many categories to choose from, and each one can be divided into age group, so you may see some participating in two or three events. But is this fair? There is a lack of definition as to what category an individual can or should participate in. Because there are so many categories in each competition you will see athletes jumping from one to another or even participating in two or more events. There should be general guidelines as to what is being looked at in each bodybuilding category when the line-up is on stage. Sometimes there is a minimal difference between athletes, especially those who are participating in the women’s Physique or Figure, or Lightweight women’s bodybuilding or physique. The pre-competition phase can become frustrating due to this because on top of all that preparation the athlete has to worry about exactly what will be looked at by the judges.

Then there are the different Bodybuilding Federations with unique requirements. It is understandable that there is a need to divide amateur and professional levels and in order to get to the professional level, placing well in the event will qualify the athlete for the next level up, like in any other sport. But the different Federations should come together and define parameters for each category so that the judging of physical appearance and condition of the body will be similar for the same categories no matter what Federation is promoting the competition. 

Competitions have changed from when Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and Lee Haney were competing. Yes the health world has evolved with the continuing research in exercise and nutrition and so have the competitions, but there is no prediction as to what will happen in the competition, for it will always have the hand of human judging in the defining results. In the future guidelines must be set as to how to judge can be formed, but the dedication of the athlete will never change.  

HUNGER PAINS

The interest in fat percentage values has increased with the growing epidemic of obesity. But in the world that seeks to increase muscle mass, a concern for the best way to reduce fat has always existed.  There are many strategies that people use to burn fat in the gym and one old technique is doing cardio early in the morning on an empty stomach.

But does it really work or is it just a myth? Do you know what are the effects of exercising on an empty stomach? Can it jeopardize your training or cause opposite effects?

Most everyone knows that to burn fat you need to do Aerobic exercise. “Energy Tranformers” explained that in 2 minutes or more of continuous exercise in low to moderate intensity is needed in order to activate the aerobic system of transforming nutrients into energy with the help of oxygen. In low intensities, the triglycerides are used for Fat oxidation, but the breakdown of triglycerides in fat cells is completely prevented when there are carbohydrates available when there is a meal before exercise or supplementation of carbohydrates during. According to Bock et al (2005) the effect of Fat Oxidation that occurs with prolonged endurance exercise may depend on muscle fibre type being used, the training experience, the gender and probably diet of the individual.

This is why that for those of you who believe that doing cardio in a fasting state burns fat more rapidly are correct. 10 years ago many were non-believers of early morning exercise on an empty stomach, because not enough research existed. But this is being updated by studies proving that limiting carbohydrate availability during short term exercise can stimulate training-induced adaptations in muscle cells to facilitate oxidative energy turnover as well as fatty acid transport from fat deposits.  Doing cardio on an empty stomach after overnight fasting and absence of carbohydrate intake during the workout at a given intensity and duration depletes triglyceride levels in type I muscle fibers which upregulates oxidative metabolism in the muscle cells sparing glycogen breakdown. So energy production from fat oxidation does occur on an empty stomach to burn fat, but occurs post-exercise, and not during your workout.

Exercising on an empty stomach also has other benefits as it improves glucose tolerance (Van Proeyen, et al. 2010) and maybe a solution for insulin resistance. For something different try this because according to De Bock et al. (2007) it may present the same results when training in a carbohydrate–supplemented state. It is only not indicated for competitions because of potentially reduced liver glycogen stores and consequence of negative effect on performance.

Articles Consulted:

Carbohydrates and exercise performance in non-athletes: a systemic review of studies mimicking real-life. Columbani, Mannhart & Metter. Nutrition Journal. 2010.

Training in the fasted state improves glucose tolerance during fat-rich diet. Van Proeyen, et al. Journal of Physiology. 2010.

Exercise in the fasted state facilitates fibre type specific intramyocellular lipid breakdown and stimulates glycogen resynthesis in humans. De Bock, et al. Journal of Physiology, 2005.

Effect of training in the fasted state on metabolic responses during exercise with carbohydrate intake. Bock et al. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2007.