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Home > Archives for bodybuilding

6 Things That Will Ruin Your Weight Loss And Muscle Building Goals

April 28, 2011 Nutrition 0 Comments

Things To Avoid When Training

Okay, so you’re committed to your goal – be it losing weight and toning muscle or you dream of getting ripped and bulking up.  Now, whilst no one is saying that you have to be a slave to your program, to truly achieve fast, effective and dramatic results, well actually yes, you do have to be a slave to your program. [Read more...]

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Bodybuilding Paves The Way For Healthy Life

March 25, 2011 Nutrition 0 Comments

The key components of physical fitness are general fitness and specific fitness. The main goal of general fitness is to improve the general health conditions. Specific fitness seeks to improve the ability of the person to improve the performance of the person in a specific task or sport by enhancing the physical abilities of the person in that task or sport. Physical fitness has as its key components Body Composition, Cardiovascular Fitness, Strength Training, Flexibility Training, Muscular Endurance and General Skill Training. Sports such as strongman, bodybuilding, power lifting and weightlifting also have intensive physical fitness program as part of building up the body.

Bodybuilding requires physical fitness as part of its training. Bodybuilding focuses primarily on modifying the body by building up of the muscles. This is possible only through intensive muscle hypertrophy. Bodybuilding as a specific sport came into existence in the 19th century. It was Eugen Sandow who promoted bodybuilding as a sport. He was from Prussia of the present day Germany. He came to be called aptly as ‘The Father of Modern Bodybuilding’. Bodybuilding as a sport requires that the physique is exhibited publicly. Bodybuilding, along with gymnastics, became popular as a sport in 1950s and later years. Along with this, bodybuilding became a specialized field and a profession.

Strength training is a key element of bodybuilding. Hydraulic or elastic resistance as well as weights is used for strength training. Integral to this is specialized nutrition, workout for recuperation and enough rest. The nutrients required for muscle growth and its repair are supplied by the specialized nutrition. Muscle Gaining Secrets ebook by Jason Ferruggia is an e-book that is designed for muscle building for athletes. This can be bought online.

Bodybuilding also began deploying increased use of anabolic steroids and other chemical substances to induce extraordinary growth of muscles. This was a result of increased competition as a sport. Use of such chemical substances increased since the 1970s. Though this gave a phenomenal and impressive increase of muscles, it also posed a health hazard to the users. It was also unfair to other competitors who did not use such substance. Many countries placed anabolic steroids under the category of controlled substances so that its production and use can be regulated. The use of such muscle enhancing substances was banned in sports. Doping tests to detect steroids and other banned substances were soon introduced.

Jason Ferruggia’s Muscle Gaining Secrets is the best among all body building programs. So, you’ve got to try it out and see why it’s considered to be the best.

 

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Redeeming Unsaturated Fat

March 25, 2011 Nutrition 0 Comments

The most dreaded word in many dieter’s vocabulary is ‘fat’. It is not uncommon to hear a dieter discuss their avoidance of eating fat as if it were something thoroughly unwholesome, or even life-threatening, like an allergen, or a contagious disease.

In one way, this impassioned hatred of fat is positive. It reflects a generally understood medical truth that overindulging in fat-rich foods often causes unwanted, and unhealthy, weight gain.

However, in another way, this fat-phobia is potentially dangerous, because awareness of fat is not enough; an understanding of how fat influences weight gain and overall health is required. Unfortunately, those who dread and avoid all fat “as a rule” are overlooking an important difference between saturated fat and unsaturated fat.

Saturated fat is often the real culprit when it comes to unwanted, and potentially unhealthy, weight gain. These types of fats, which are solid at room temperature, initiate the production of LDL cholesterol, or “bad cholesterol”. In addition to weight gain, as cholesterol increases, so does the risk of heart disease. In fact, saturated fats increase LDL cholesterol disproportionately more than dietary cholesterol itself; that is how powerfully bad it is to the human body [i]. Dreading and avoiding this kind of fat is therefore quite intelligent.

Some dieters, however, are motivated less by concerns about high cholesterol and heart disease than they are about cosmetic weight gain. This is not a criticism; the adverse health effects of excess weight are well documented, as are the emotional traumas and social stigmas that tragically affect tens of millions of overweight people, especially children [ii].

Unquestionably, an excess intake of saturated fat is linked to weight gain. This is because a fat gram contains more than twice the amount of calories as a protein gram – 9 calories versus 4 calories [iii]. As a result, dieters can eat more than twice as many protein grams as fat grams to achieve the same amount of caloric intake. For dieters who are steadfastly watching every calorie, this 125% calorie difference between protein and fat can have an enormous impact.

Fat cells, once created, cannot be removed [1]; they can only be made smaller through the body’s metabolic calorie-burning process [iv]. Since an individual’s rate of metabolism is determined largely by genetics, a dieter with a slower than average metabolism will spend months, perhaps even years longer struggling to shrink fat cells then would his or her metabolically-gifted counterpart [v].

It is quite easy to understand, based on the above discussion, why the very idea of fat is dreaded by dieters; both because of the health hazards it poses, and its capacity to create excess fat cells. And it is just as easy to understand why many people are so afraid of consuming this kind of fat that they strive to remove all fat from their diet. This, however, is a large nutritional oversight.

Fat is a macronutrient that the body requires for a number of important functions. Fat is a source of energy. It helps keep the body warm, it aids in the absorption of some vitamins, and helps regulate the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system [vi]. This appears, however, to be a contradiction.

On the one hand there are health and weight gain hazards associated with fat, and on the other hand, there are proven health benefits associated with fat. How can this be? The answer is easily understood when we differentiate between the two types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. The kind of fat associated with health hazards is the former; the kind that the body needs and uses effectively is the latter.

There are two sub-types of unsaturated fat: polysaturated fat, and monosaturated fat. Popular foods that contain polysaturated fat include safflower oil and corn oil, while monosaturated fats are found in such foods as olive oil and peanut oil. These unsaturated fats are those that provide the body with the most useful and efficient sources of fat that lead to the health benefits noted above.

However, though there is a clear benefit to eating unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats, both types continue to offer eaters the standard 9 calories per gram. As such, no eater should consume an excess amount of fat.

Equipped with the awareness and understanding that avoiding saturated fat is hazardous to health, and that there is such a thing as “good” (unsaturated) fat, it would be expected that most nutritional supplements on the market have created foods that reflect this understanding. This is, regrettably, not the case.

Most nutritional supplements contain some fat content; many even contain saturated fat for some inexplicable reason [2]. Tragically – and there is no other word – many dieters are deceived into eating self-described nutritionally intelligent foods that may be “low calorie”, and may even have some vitamins and nutrients, but they but they are adding to the individual’s limited capacity to ingest fat grams. Many people who seek to lose weight by eating nutritional supplements often gain weight. They erroneously believe it is the result of a slow metabolism, when the culprit is the amount of fat grams ingested.

Fortunately, there are several fat-free food supplements on the market today. There are several important benefits of this strategy that benefit dieters of all sizes.

The obvious benefit is that a dieter does not have to count fat calories when eating these nutritional supplements; they are 100% fat free, and do not add to their daily fat-intake limit.

Less obviously, however, is that a zero-fat nutritional supplement that contains protein can stimulate the digestive system and minimize fat storage. This is because the protein content can help regulate the body’s ability to effectively absorb the calories that it derives from carbohydrates and fats. For example, a dieter who eats a sugary, fat-filled cupcake can mitigate fat storage and increase nutrient utilization by eating it with a protein-rich nutritional supplement.

The world of nutrition has long since known the link between dietary fat and weight gain. Unsaturated fat can be a trusted ally in the fight against weight loss. Understanding how it differs from saturated fat helps demystify the stigma of unsaturated fats – a stigma that should be reserved for its unhealthy cousin, saturated fats.

[1] Fat cells can be removed externally, through such methods as liposuction and stapling, but these so-called solutions carry their own brand of risks and consequences.

[2] Actually, the reason is usually because of taste.

 

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High Protein Diets and the Risk of Dehydration

March 25, 2011 Nutrition 0 Comments

Dehydration is more than just the feeling of being thirsty, although doctors are quick to remind patients that once they have felt thirst, it is too late- they are already well on the way to dehydration. The actual condition of dehydration is an abnormal loss of body fluids which can be caused by a number of reasons. While low level dehydration can be remedied at home and typically does not cause any long term damage, moderate to severe dehydration can cause an electrolyte imbalance that can lead to a number of other more serious problems including:

- Irregular heart beat

- Shock

- Acidosis (depletion of the body’s alkali reserve which can in turn lead to acidemia)

- Acute uremia (a clinical syndrome related to renal failure)

- Possibility of death especially in infants, the aged and those in poor health.

The average woman loses about three pints of fluid each day in urine, an additional varied amount in the feces, and another two pints from the combination of perspiration and expiration (Source: MacLean 1993). Additional fluids can be lost each day through increased heat, increased activity and through mild bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. In most cases, these additional losses will cause the body to react by feeling thirsty and having a dry mouth, especially the lips and the tongue. Drinking additional fluids, especially those with electrolytes in them can replace this lost fluid with no physical consequences. However, if the fluid deprivation is serious enough or is prolonged, it will become more serious and medical intervention will quickly become necessary.

A high protein diet, especially when it is being used by an endurance athlete may be problematic for a number of reasons including the increased risk of serious dehydration. A moderately increased protein intake may be beneficial for the athlete in training, however, once it becomes greatly increased, the risk of serious dehydration becomes increased as well. Studies have shown that a possible three out of every four Americans are chronically dehydrated to begin with. A small loss in body fluid, as little as 2-3% can lead to a negative impact on cardiovascular health and athletic performance (Source Quinn, 2004).

The Many Roles of Protein in the Body

Most people think that protein’s only role is to build and repair muscle. These same people also think that protein is a magical element that you can eat all you want of and never get fat, but that is not correct either. Protein can be stored in the body as fat if you eat more than you need; that myth has been destroyed time and time again. Protein is also far more important than it is often given credit for, including some very vital roles that can be negatively impacted by dehydration. These functions include:

- Maintaining ph balance of the blood

- Formation of enzymes and hormones

- Plays a role in the immune system

- Builds connective tissues

- Forms the cell membranes

- Plays a role in the central nervous system

- Helps to maintain the fluid balance in the body.

(Source Nelson, 2009)

Acidemia is the abnormal acidity of the blood which can be caused by a number of factors including increased lactic acid in the muscles (Increased lactic acid build up is what makes you sore after an intense workout). Another cause for this condition is prolonged and severe dehydration especially when it is caused by intense athletic effort- for instance a strength training or endurance athlete.

Extreme Protein and Decreased Hydration in Athletes

A study working with endurance athletes showed that an average to moderately increased protein diet was acceptable but that once the intake reached what could be deemed “high”, dehydration risks increased greatly. Using 150 pounds as the average weight for the study, the participants were divided into three groups. The first group, the “low” protein group was given a diet that provided about 68 grams of protein per day. The second group, the “moderate” group were given about 123 grams of protein per day and the third group, the “high” protein group were given 246 grams of protein per day, the total making up about 30% of their daily calories, an amount that is consistent with that of the average high protein diet.

Upon conclusion of the study, researchers found that as the protein level went up, the hydration level went down. Standard blood work showed some troubling results as well. The blood urea nitrogen level (BUN) was abnormal, showing that there was a decrease in kidney function. Urine tests showed that the increased protein level also lead to a more concentrated urine as well (Source: Quinn, 2004).

Too much protein in the diet can be harmful for the endurance athlete as well as for the average person. The right amount of protein should be found and maintained for everyone. Increased protein can also lead to:

- Decreased levels of glycogen in the muscles and liver, further leading to dehydration as glycogen helps the muscles to retain water.

- Decreased endurance

- A lessened maximum effort

- Decreased serum glucose levels

(Source: Quinn 2007).

The American Heart Association recommends that the diet contain no more than 35% of its daily calories from protein, a safe amount for anyone, including elite athletes. There are some medical conditions that should get increased protein amounts, however those people should only do so on the advice of their own doctors.

The Best Suggestion for Prevention of Dehydration

Protein is vital to everyone, from the couch potato to the weekend warrior to the marathon master- but everyone needs different amounts and levels of protein. It is very important to find the right amount for your own personal health and activity needs, however there is also a warning that should go to everyone – drink more liquids whether you are increasing proteins or not.

Unless you are on a fluid restriction from the doctor, you should be getting enough liquids every day. A bonus of drinking enough water is possible weight loss- many people mistake feelings of thirst for feelings of water and eat when all they needed was a glass of water (Source: Roizen and Oz, 2006).

How Protein Supplements Can Fit In

Although the suggestion of adding extra protein to the diet is not the goal, finding the right amount is. A protein supplement, especially one that has additional vitamins and other benefits, can be a good way to hit that intake goal without having to consume a lot of extra calories to do so. For the elite athlete, a quick protein supplement can be a great between-meal snack or can serve as part of the after workout recovery process.

Profect, from Protica is available in three sizes:

- 25 grams of protein in a ready-to-drink 2.9 fluid ounce vial

- 50 grams of protein in a ready-to-drink 3.4 fluid ounce vial

- 200 grams of protein in a 10 fluid ounce bottle

It is also available in several different flavors including:

- Blue Raspberry Swirl

- Grapefruit-Mango

- Fresh Citrus Berry

- Cool Melon Splash

- Passion Fruit

- Orange Pineapple

- Ruby Melon Twist

- Fuzzy Peach Nectar

 

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Buying Discount Whey Protein To Create A Healthier Lifestyle

March 17, 2011 Nutrition 0 Comments

Buying Discount Whey Protein To Create A Healthier Lifestyle

Actually, whey is a very common part of dairy milk that has been used in liquid form for generations. But in recent years, it has become possible to buy it powdered. This has made a huge difference for dieters and health conscious people. Adding the protein to a healthy diet is considered essential by many. Once you decide to include it in your regular diet, you may appreciate buying discount whey protein to keep within your budget.
Whey tops the list of nutritious proteins. Many experts consider it actually to be the best. Recommended as the healthy alternative to meats, whey is highly soluble and is put to use by most bodies very quickly. Unlike animal meats, which may be difficult to digest, whey is an easy addition to your diet.Some people need more protein in their daily diets than others. Rather than omitting whey from your diet when it seems the cost is high, you might consider buying it at a discount rate. There are high quality versions that can be purchased for sale online. You can also find good products at major discount market chains.
High quality versions of whey powders are available for sale online in bulk. You can find the products at discount supermarkets as well, but it is easier to find large bulk items at online factory websites. Look for factories that sell 100 percent pure whey. You will get more protein per serving cost this way.
Whey blends combine isolate with concentrate to come up with a tasty whey product that includes carbohydrates and flavoring. These blends are good for making protein shakes. They dissolve quickly in water or milk and your body absorbs them quickly for energy.
Whey shake mixes often include high fiber and low carbohydrates. This combination is very useful for losing weight and has the added benefit of promoting colon health. The high fiber controls appetites, and is actually more than what may be found in your usual breakfast cereals.

Diabetics may safely use whey concentrates. They are good for people who are on gluten free programs. They also have no trans fats, which is generally good for most everyone. If losing weight is not an issue, then these concentrates may be used to create pancakes, muffins, and even cookies.Buy online from a factory that will ship directly to you. When you omit the middleman you save on the cost of the protein products. You will enjoy knowing what products the company has to offer.
When you see USDA certified on the website, you know the company is making a high quality protein product. Look also for terms such as non fat, non denatured, and Kosher style. Made in the USA with these terms on the label will help you know you are spending your money wisely. Discount whey protein can be purchased factory direct, in bulk, at great savings to you. You will then have the highest quality possible for a great price.

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