Archive for April, 2008

Exercise at Home or at a Gym

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Making the decision of where you will go to exercise is a very important step in reaching your goals of fitness. A lot of factors will go into this decision, and each one should be evaluated well in advance before you start exercising. Once you have made a decision on where you will exercise, you can move on to deciding how you plan to work out.

As you can imagine, exercising at home has many advantages. The finance department is one of the best advantages. With gas prices being what they are today, it is quite obvious that you’ll save money on fuel as well as wear and tear on your vehicle by choosing to exercise at home. Keep in mind that working out at home does require a bit of financial obligation. Firstly, you have to buy a home gym if you’re going to be weight training, or at least some dumbbells.

Even though you may plan to only run, it is very important that you have high quality running shoes. This statement applies to any type of equipment that you may purchase to use at home. If you go out and buy cheap equipment, you’ll probably end up getting hurt or getting frustrated because you aren’t making the progress you had hoped for.

Along with the financial gains, exercising at home may also help those who don’t like to work out in public. You also won’t have to worry about child care or be concerned about the latest trends of exercise gear as you most likely will be exercising by yourself at home anyway. If you are worried about how you look in gym clothes, it is very comforting to know that the only person who has to be with you when you exercise at home is you. Also, when you exercise at home, you don’t have to worry about time at all.

Memberships to a gym can often be quite expensive and may include other amenities that you don’t need such as child care or swimming pools, etc. that you must pay for regardless whether you use the facilities or not.

Those of you who are motivated by being with people you know or come to know while working out away from home, a gym may be a better location to work out. At the gym, you’ll also have more of a selection of equipment as well, far more than you’ll have at home. On the other hand, if you need services other than just weights and equipment, then obviously the gym is the place for you to work out. For instance, if you plan to swim a triathlon, you’ll find the swimming pool at the guy to be just what you need to prepare yourself. Swimming is also a great exercise for your body and cardio, as it will work muscles in your body that you probably didn’t even know you had.

Gyms can also offer you classes that you may find very motivating. If you attend class on a regular basis, you may be motivated enough to continue with your training. As you meet new people in class, you may even consider helping them along in their efforts.

All in all, making the choice of exercising at home or at the gym is a choice you should make based on your goals, personal preferences and finances. The most important decision you’ll need to make is to determine what type of environment you want to be in and how you want to accomplish the fitness goals in your life.

Once you have given it some thought, weighted out the pros and cons, you’ll have no problem making the choice. Always keep in mind that once you’ve made your choice, you can always switch your exercise environment if you aren’t happy with the choice you made.

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Eating and Exercise

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Anytime you exercise, you do so in order to try and maintain good health. You also know that you have to eat well so your body will have the energy it needs to exercise and maintain itself for the everyday tasks of life. For making the best of your exercise, what you eat before and after your workout is very important.

No matter if you are going to be doing a cardio workout or a resistance workout, you should always make it a point to eat a balanced mix of protein and carbohydrates. You can determine the percentage of carbs or protein you consume on whether or not you are doing cardio or resistance exercise and the intensity level that you plan to work at.

The ideal time for you to eat your pre workout meal is an hour before you start. If you plan to work at a low intensity level, you should keep your pre workout meal down to 200 calories or so. If you plan to exercise at a high level of intensity, you will probably need your meal to be between 400 and 500 calories.

Those of you who are doing a cardio session will need to consume a mix of 2/3 carbs and 1/3 protein. Doing so will give you longer sustained energy from the extra carbs with enough protein to keep your muscles from breaking down while you exercise.

For resistance exercise, you’ll need to eat a mix of 1/3 carbs and 2/3 protein as this will help you get plenty of energy from the carbs to perform each set you do and the extra protein will help keep muscle breakdown to a minimum while you exercise.

Eating after you exercise is just as important as your pre workout meal. Anytime you exercise, whether it’s cardio or resistance, you deplete energy in the form of glycogen. The brain and central nervous system rely on glycogen as their main source of fuel. If you don’t replace it after you exercise, your body will begin to break down muscle tissue into amino acids and convert them into usable fuel for the brain and the central nervous system.

Keep in mind that mostly during resistance exercise, you’ll break down muscle tissue by creating micro tears. What this means is that after a workout, your muscles will instantly go into repair mode and protein is the key here for muscle repair.

Once you have finished a cardio session, you’ll need to consume mainly carbohydrates, preferably those with high fiber. Rice, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta and northern fruits are excellent sources. Try to consume 30 - 50 grams of these types of carbs. It is fine to eat within 5 - 10 minutes after your workout.

Once you’ve finished a resistance workout, you will need to consume a combination of carbs and protein. Unlike cardio workouts, resistance workouts will break down muscle tissue by creating micro tears. You’ll need protein to build up and repair these tears so that the muscles can increase in size and strength. The carbs will not only replace the lost muscle glycogen, but will also help the protein get into muscle cells so it can synthesize into structural protein, or the muscle itself.

After your resistance exercise, you should wait up to 30 minutes before you eat so that you won’t take blood away from your muscles too fast. The blood in your muscles will help the repair process by removing the metabolic waste products.

I found an interesting article about Protein Powder the other day. It gave me a better insight about its usage also! Look for a reprint here in a couple of days.

 

Water and Exercise

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

The human body is made up of over 75% water, and as we all know, we cannot live without water. The fact is, we can only survive for a total of 3 days without water. Water has however, been replaced in most diets by soft drinks and other sugar sweetened refreshments. Keep in mind that water is healthier and necessary for leading yourself towards better health and longevity.

Your own personal need for water can vary greatly due to exercise, weight and temperature. Research has proven that over 2/3 of adults do not consume the water they need on a daily basis. By drinking water on a regular basis, you can replenish your body and keep it well hydrated and functioning as it should.

A majority of us wait until we are thirsty before we drink water. Keep in mind, this way isn’t a reliable gauge of the water needs for the body. By the time you are thirsty, you have already lost two or more cups of the body’s water supply. Therefore, drinking water regularly is much better than simply waiting until you are thirsty.

It is very important that you don’t substitute beverages containing alcohol and caffeine for water. The reason behind this  is that those types of beverages act a a diuretic and can cause you to lose more water through increased urination. You may think and feel as if you are getting more water through these beverages, although the fact is, you are letting it go almost as fast as you consume it.

Anytime you exercise, you need more water. Due to perspiration, your body will lose quite a bit of water. For each pound lost due to exercise, you need to drink 2 cups of water. Even when you lay down to sleep, your body loses water. By drinking a glass or more of water before you go to sleep, you can wake up with your body functioning as it should.

It should become more obvious that when you are sick, you’ll need more water than any other time. When you get a cold or the flu, your body can become dehydrated quite quickly. You can help to prevent this by drinking more water at times when you become sick.

There are several mixed opinions as to whether purified water will actually provide more benefits. This is a subject you should explore yourself to determine the best type of water for you.

Always make it a habit to drink water on a daily basis. It has been recommended that you drink 8 glasses of water a day. There is now mixed opinions about how much water a person should drink each day. You should keep a bottle of water with you at all times and drink throughout the day. You should also teach yourself to drink water instead of other beverages that don’t replenish the nutrients your body needs.

Go here and here for additional information.

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