Sunday, May 8, 2011

Fitness Myths and Facts - Part II


This is the continuation of my earlier post on Fitness Myths and Facts Part I. In this part I have once again busted five more myths that you might have come across. When it comes to health and fitness, we hear a lot of things from a lot of people we come across. Some will tell us from their experiences and some will tell us what they have heard from others. Some of it will be true and some of it will be false. There are a lot of health and fitness myths and facts. Let’s have a look at Part II…

Myth – The more you sweat, the faster you lose fat weight.
Fact – This is a misconception among the majority of people who exercise. They believe that sweating will help them lose weight faster. I have seen people in the gym insisting on putting off the AC and some don’t even want the fan, simply because they think that it will stop them from losing weight. What they do not understand is, they are actually losing a lot of water. And the weight loss that they see on the weighing scale after that kind of a workout comes from loss of water and not the fat. There is another drawback to this. People working out in hot condition get fatigue sooner while doing light intensity. To all the people who were doing this, the next time you workout, put on that fan, AC, open those windows and you will feel/see the difference.   


Myth – You can eat anything if you’re exercising.
Fact – Well, I have heard of this one a lot of times. Many exercisers think that since they exercise 5-6 days a week, they can eat anything. Let me tell you that you are doing nothing good to your body. Eating right kind of food is very important. I would say it is more important than exercises. Eating right and exercising only thrice a week is better than eating anything and exercising everyday. Eating right kind of food items plays an important role in an individual’s Body fat percentage because no matter how many days you workout, the food that is not nutritious will be stored as fats. 



Myth – Smoking helps in weight loss.
Fact – Smoking can lead to weight loss because the nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant. So you don’t feel like eating and you end up losing weight but it is a very unhealthy way to lose weight. It is like removing one of your organs to reduce your weight but you would not consider doing those things, would you? Smoking is a harmful way to lose weight. Instead start exercising because most exercises depresses appetite. When you exercise, fat is broken down and released into the bloodstream. This acts as a built-in appetite depressant. This makes you want to eat less. I just gave you a better idea of losing weight, so…


Myth – Beer/Alcohol helps put on weight.
Fact – Let me tell you a little something before I start. Years ago when I got a job as a personal trainer at this most famous gym in my town, I came across this senior trainer who advised his client to drink beers/alcohol because the client was not happy with his weight gain program. I interrupted and advised the client not to do it. Well, later on I realized that the trainer was not a certified trainer. See, how important it is to train under a professional? Ok let’s get started with the beer and what makes a person gain weight. The beer or any other alcohol has calories in it. A gram of alcohol has 7 calories. So you can imagine the thousands of calories when one seats down to finish that bottle of whiskey. The calories in alcohol are called empty calories because it does not help in body’s growth or maintenance. All of it is stored as fat and that is how you gain weight and off course a beer belly.


Myth- You are healthy if you’re exercising.  
Fact – Totally Wrong! You are healthy only if you eat right. You may exercise a lot, however until and unless you fall in the healthy category of Body Fat Percentage, you cannot call yourself healthy. So start making right food choices and keep exercising, you will surely get there.


Stay Healthy!

You may want to read FITNESS MYTHS AND FACTS - PART I


Monday, January 24, 2011

Exercises For Lazy People/Exercises In Limited Time


Let’s get straight to the point. There are 1440 minutes in a day and all you need is 20-30 minutes from those 1440 minutes for exercises. And you don’t even have to go to the gym. Let me explain how…


You must have seen the vegetable vendor with his cart, starting out in the morning to sell the vegetables or the paper guy on his bicycle every morning delivering the newspaper. There is something common in the way they carry out their daily work. What is it? You must know the answer already… A lot of moving around that is. Then there is a person who works from his desk, where he has access to the computer, phone and everything else right there on his desk, even the coffee machine is not so far away and the only time he walks is to go to the washroom and the parking area where his vehicle is parked. Like these, there are thousands of other jobs that demand physical efforts and thousands of jobs that demand just the brain power. And most of the times it turns out that the people with sedentary jobs are unhealthy and the reason behind that is they do not have enough time to exercise and sometimes they are too lazy to do any physical activity.
Let’s try and change this. Let’s not wait for an event to occur because of this unhealthy life. Let’s start and get some physical activity from now on. And in a couple of months you will see that you are feeling stronger, healthier and less stressed than you usually are. I have designed a 20 weeks program for those who cannot go to the gym because of time constraints. It takes only 20 to 30 minutes. Just do the exercises 3 times in a week. In this post you will find workout for 8 weeks. In my future post I will write on continuation to this workout program where you will find the remaining 12 weeks program.



*Please consult your Physician before doing any of the following exercises.
*Exercises when done in a wrong way can be injurious. Learn the proper technique and always warm up before doing the exercises.
*Read the instructions given below and view the exercise videos through the links provided.

Week 1-4
Exercises
Set 1
Set 2
10 reps
10 reps
10 reps
10 reps
Stair climbing
15 steps
15 steps
20 reps
20 reps
10 reps
10 reps
15 reps
15 reps
 
*BW=Body Weight, DB=Dumbbell, Reps=Repetitions.

Week 5-8
Exercises
Set 1
Set 2
BW Squats with DB Press
15 reps
15 reps
BW Push ups
15 reps
15 reps
Stair climbing
20 steps
20 steps
Knee Ups
30 reps
30 reps
Bridges
15 reps
15 reps
Crunches
20 reps
20 reps
 
*BW=Body Weight, DB=Dumbbell, Reps=Repetitions.


INSTRUCTIONS

  • Warm up before doing the exercises. For warm up you can do some mobilization exercises. You can also do a few repetitions of the same exercises before doing the actual workout.  
  • Do all the exercises slowly.
  • Learn the form of the exercises by clicking on them (video links). You don’t have to use the Dumbbells if you don’t have them. Just do the movement.
  • Learn proper breathing technique while exercising. Exhale while exerting force and inhale while coming back to the starting position.
  • Keep your core (abdominal muscles) activated throughout the exercises at the same time remember to breathe.
  • Take it slow. Don’t rush.
  • Rest for 30 to 60 seconds between sets. If you are too tired take a longer rest and take deep breaths. Deep breaths will help in taking in oxygen and avoiding hyperventilation (abnormal loss of carbon dioxide). 


BW Squats with DB Press
Control the exercise movement. Inhale while going down and exhale while coming up, pushing through the heels and don’t let your hips drop lower than your knees and don’t let your knees go past your toes while going down.

BW Push ups
Do them very slowly. Inhale while going down and exhale while coming up (pushing). Women can do the modified version of the push ups.

Stair climbing
Climb the stair slowly. Climbing the stairs very fast can increase you blood pressure very quickly. Stair Climbing can be done using the stairs at work or at home. Take the stairs instead of the lift. You don’t have to climb three stories right away. Just stick to the program and you will see results.

Knees Up
In the video there are two versions shown; Low impact version and High Impact version. Do the low impact version. The high impact is bad for knee joints incase in bad knees. Control the movement while doing the knee Ups.

Bridges
While doing the bridges, squeeze your gluteus muscles to lift your butt off the floor.

Crunches
Remember to breathe during crunches. Exhale while crunching up and inhale while going back to the starting position. Don’t pull yourself (neck) up with your hands.

Let’s start living a healthy life. And remember, nutrition also plays a vital role. So along with exercising, make the right food choices. Healthy New Year 2011!!!



Stay Healthy!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Health and Fitness 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Two Glasses Of Water – The Healthy Eating During Christmas.

It’s Christmas in a couple of days and I have already started eating the sweets. I am not going to deprive myself of the food and sweets this Christmas. But I am also not going to forget about my health. Well, as always I have a plan to go about with this festive season and I am going to stick to it. I have come up with a simple yet very effective step. I have named it “Two Glasses Of Water”. This practice will guide me and you to stay healthy and at the same time not deprive oneself of the delicious Christmas food and sweets that we can indulge in once a year.

“Two Glasses Of Water” – How to Practice?
Drink a glass of water before eating any sweets and another glass of water after eating. The first glass of water will help you in eating less because you will feel full and the second glass of water will prevent you from overindulging in more sweets because again, you will feel full.

Alcohol is something that is had in plenty during this time. So if you are not able to avoid the drinks, here is a solution. Drink two glasses of water for a glass of alcohol. So start with a glass of water and every glass of alcohol must be followed by a glass of water. The water will help in reducing the diuretic effect (alcohol increases urination and flushes water from the body) and at the same time it will help you in keeping away from overindulging.


Explanation:
It’s simple. The idea of this practice is to stay full most of the times so that you don’t overindulge.

This practice of “Two Glasses Of Water” will not only help you through this Christmas season but also throughout your life. 


Stay Healthy! 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Fitness Myths and Facts - Part I

When it comes to health and fitness, we hear a lot of things from a lot of people we come across. Some will tell us from their experiences and some will tell us what they heard from others. Some of it will be true and some of it will be false. There are a lot of health and fitness myths and facts. In this part, I have busted five myths.


Myth - More Proteins helps in gaining big muscles
Fact – For hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) one has to eat all the required nutrients in their specific amounts and do weight training. An athlete would need 1.2 to 1.5 grams of protein per KG of body weight. Extra amounts of proteins put extra stress on kidneys and liver. Proteins when eaten in excess get converted into fats. The muscles don’t increase in size until and unless they are exercised.   

Myth - Longer workout duration causes more weight loss
Fact – To lose fat weight one has to do low intensity exercises for a longer duration up to a point. But that doesn’t mean one has to exercise for countless hours. If exercises continue beyond the point, the benefits from your workout will be reduced and it can cause overuse injuries (overtraining). An hour of workout each session is good enough to get good results.

Myth – Frequent exercising, faster the muscle grows.
Fact – This again will cause result in overtraining. One cannot gain muscles in a few days. The process of muscle growth takes place when you rest the muscle. So if you are working out the same muscles over and over again without giving them any rest, those muscles will have no time to recover and build. It usually takes around 24 to 48 hours for muscles to recover.
  
Myth -Fat can be transformed into muscle
Fact – Fat and lean muscles are two different tissues. Fat can never be converted into lean muscles. Many young aspiring bodybuilders/fitness enthusiasts make a mistake of putting on a lot of weight thinking they would do a so called definition workout once they become huge. But let me be very clear, in order get a defined body one has to have a lot of lean muscles. So if you are thinking about converting all that fat weight into lean muscle, just remember that won’t happen.      

Myth - More the abdominal exercises, more the fat loss in that area
Fact – People waste a lot of time doing abdominal exercises thinking they will lose fat from the abdominal region. The fact is; they are only strengthening the abdominals. The fat that is sitting on the muscles below the skin remains there forever. Like other muscles, abdominals too has to be given time to recover. Remember spot reduction is not possible. So the only way to get a flat stomach or defined abdominals is by doing a combination of aerobic/cardio training along with abdominal exercises. 


Stay Healthy!