Fitness | GOQii

August 17, 2018 By Urvashi Sareen Leave a Comment

Fluid Replacement and Athletic Performance

I am not sure how many of you know that hydration and athletic performance is connected? In this blog, I am precisely going to tell you this aspect. Adequate fluid replacement helps maintain hydration and, therefore, promotes the health, safety, and optimal physical performance of individuals participating in the regular physical activity.

Dehydration can compromise athletic performance and increase the risk of exertion heat injury. Athletes do not voluntarily drink sufficient water to prevent dehydration during physical activity.

The two main factors influencing early fatigue and impaired performance (both physical and mental) in all types of sports and exercise are depletion of body levels of CHO ( Full form) and/or fluid. Fluid replacement is probably the most important nutritional concern for athletes. As an athlete exercise, fluid is lost through the skin as sweat and through lungs when an athlete breathes. If this fluid is not replaced at regular intervals during exercise, the athlete can become dehydrated bringing about metabolic changes.

Hypohydration (total body water below normal) impairs the body’s ability to regulate heat resulting in increased body temperature and an elevated heart rate. Perceived exertion is increased causing the athlete to feel more fatigued than usual at a given work rate. Mental function is reduced which can have negative implications for motor control, decision making and concentration.

Gastric emptying is slowed, resulting in stomach discomfort. All these effects lead to impairment in exercise performance. Most types of exercise are adversely affected by hypohydration, especially when they are undertaken in hot conditions, and negative effects have been detected when fluid deficits are as low as 2 %

Recommended water intake before, during and after sport/workout

Before Sports

Drinking fluids prior to exercise appear to reduce or delay the detrimental effects of dehydration.

1 to 2 hours before sports: 4 to 8 ounces of cold water
10 to 15 minutes before sports: 4 to 8 ounces of cold water
A good meal with containing water (e.g. fruits).

During Sports

Every 20 minutes: 5 to 9 ounces of a sports drink, depending on weight (5 for a child weighing 88 pounds, 9 ounces for a child weighing 132 pounds)
Any time a child feels thirsty
Encourage drinking fluids during timeouts and breaks
Encourage drinking from their own fluid container and avoid sharing with others
Encourage the ability to drink whenever they want and not to wait until they are told to take a break
Adjust fluid needs during practice according to the weather, the amount of equipment worn, and practice duration and intensity.

After Sports

Post-exercise hydration should aim to correct any fluid lost during the practice and help the body to recover from the sports activity:

Within the first 30 minutes after exercise, drink chocolate milk or a specially formulated sports drink containing protein and carbohydrates such as Gatorade G3 Recover. Not only do they hydrate but, the protein helps the body recover from exercise by enhancing muscle repair, and the carbohydrate replenishes glycogen stores in muscles, which are a source of fuel during prolonged exercise of an hour or more.
Within two hours: 20-24 ounces of a sports drink for every pound (16 ounces) of weight loss
Replace all fluids lost during exercise plus any lost after exercise through urination
Eat a good meal with foods containing water

Given the above before, during and after sports water intake recommendations, one should follow these properly for healthy and active life

August 13, 2018 By Nilakhi Nath Leave a Comment

Why is rest as important as training?

Our world is becoming healthier with people opting for healthy living ideas like clean eating and being fit by staying active. The first attempt at to keep ourselves healthy is by being active. However, being active also means to take good rest after any physical activity. Our body requires rest period in between our workout days, there are a few, who tend to overdo it though, i.e. they over train their body. You may see this group of people working out all seven days intensely without a rest period or a rest day.

Why is rest so important? And what happens when you don’t give rest to your body?

Rest means a state when the body is inactive. Inactivity helps the body to relax and gives time to recover strength after any kind of exertion.

Our body requires rest because every time we workout we are tearing our muscles and continuous workout without a rest period may cause further injury to the muscles. Resting your body helps in repairing and healing of the torn muscle fibers and enhances the performance.

But, what do you tell those few who have this inbuilt need to be active everyday? How do you make them take some much needed rest?

Well, I would say, tell them what happens when you do not give rest to your body.

Here’s what you should be sharing with them:

Injuries & drop in performance:

Muscle sustains tiny tears when we workout, rest after training helps in healing those tears. When we do not give rest to the muscle and over train it then it leads to serious injuries.

What happens when you do not sleep for more than 24 hours? You are drowsy, concentration drops and so does your performance. This is exactly what happens with your body when you over train it. The performance drops due to injuries and inadequate rest of the muscles.

Longer recovery time:

Due to over training of a muscle, the amount of time taken for recovery increases. If you are working out 4-5 days a week and taking rest for 2-3 days in between the time taken by the body to recover is shorter whereas when you do not give rest in between your training sessions then the body needs extra time to repair the damages caused by over training. Bigger the damage, longer the recovery time. You can keep your rest period short by taking adequate rest in between your training sessions.

Loss of motivation to train:

As you over train the muscles, the performance drops and it also affects your motivation level. Due to inadequate rest the muscle loses the capacity to grow and instead bear severe injuries. These negative changes in the body affect a person’s motivation level and leads to loss of interest in the training program. With low interest one might feel forced to do the workout instead of looking forward to it.

Immunity:

When your muscles are over trained and injured, the energy reserved for the proper functioning of your Immune system is directed towards the repair of the damaged muscles and bones. As a result your immune system doesn’t function optimally.

Sharing these points would certainly take some time but, it will help those who over train themselves to see great results.

To see great results you got to train smarter and not harder!

August 11, 2018 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi Leave a Comment

All that you need to know about Creatine

If you regularly workout in the gym chances are that often you could get some sorts of advice in terms of what you should be eating, which is the right protein supplement that you should take etc etc..

Getting advice is one thing and but, nobody should take any supplement or put anything in their body without weighing the benefits and risks first. This goes for everything from beer to marshmallows to the amazing amino acid called Creatine.

Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine. Creatine is a well known substance, and while it offers benefits in terms of muscle and strength gain, it can also generate an energy boost that assists muscle recovery and decreases muscle fatigue.

When you take creatine in the powder form – it is in your blood stream for about 1 – 1.5 hours. For muscle growth, the creatine must be absorbed into the muscles. If you are working out and deplete your creatine supply in your muscles and you have creatine available in the blood stream, your muscles can replenish their creatine supply from the creatine in your blood.

It is a naturally present nutrient in foods like meat, to some extent in certain types of fish but in low quantity. It gets stored in the muscle & regenerates ATP to produce explosive power output

Everyone from gym users, bodybuilders, power sports players to endurance athletes can see lean muscle gains, increased endurance, speedy recovery and improved performance with creatine

It is recommended to take creatine monohydrate with a simple carbohydrate source to help it absorb more quickly. A good time to take creatine would be right after your workout and early morning after waking up..Highly absorbed post workout and first thing in the morning.

On rest days, creatine can help muscle recovery and can be consumed early morning after waking up along with simple carbs.

Creatine draws water to the muscles, so if you are not drinking enough water, dehydration and muscle cramps occurs. Also, due to the accumulation of creatine in the small intestine, you may experience stomach pains, diarrhea, upset stomach. So drinking water and proper dosage is highly recommended.

Best taken in a cycle, 2 months on and 1 month off, 5 gms/day

August 10, 2018 By CHARMI GOGRI 36 Comments

Do’s and Don’ts of Yoga – Some RULES to bear in mind as you practice YOGA

An old friend asked me what is yoga? Her interpretation of people doing yoga was thus- people twisting and turning their bodies like pretzels, chanting and sitting like a statue, Is that Yoga ?

Well, I took this question as an opportunity to explain to my friend as well as many others about what is yoga and what are its basic dos and don’ts by writing this simple blog. My colleague Parwage has already written a piece yesterday on Yoga for the beginners: some myths and benefits and therefore will not delve deep into what is yoga. For novices however I will explain again that YOGA is a system- a holistic system of refining the body, the mind and the spirit in unison. Ultimately, it is well-being, peace and bliss. Yogic postures help strengthen the endocrine system and also bring the emotions under control through concentration and relaxation. This ability to remain in relaxed equilibrium has an important psychological effect.

Yogis, through their physical training, gradually learn to keep their psychological equilibrium unaltered to preserve a perfect psychological calmness in whatever environment they happen to find themselves. Yoga is the only way by which the highest objective in life can be attained. To decipher the great science and the benefits which it claims, it is essential to understand few basic do’s and don’t of YOGA which we often tend to neglect.

Do’s:

“Early to bed and early to rise makes man healthy, wealthy and wise” is a universal adage. Yoga practitioners should go to bed early, have a sound sleep and get up early in the morning, attend to nature’s call, wash the mouth and teeth thoroughly, take bath and start yoga in fasting mode. It can also be practiced 1 hour after a liquid diet, 3 hours after refreshments or 5 hours after full meals.

One could practice yoga even before bath but, after practice one should wait for some time and then take a bath.

Yoga should be practiced on a leveled floor in a room where doors and windows are kept open for air and light.

It is helpful in many ways to practice yoga in a place, where morning tender sunrays fall.

One should not practice yoga directly on ground, on cement or mortar floor. One should spread a carpet, a blanket or a clean cloth, sit on it and start yoga practice by facing east or north in the morning, west or south in the evening

One should practice yoga calmly without any haste or exhaustion. If one is tired he or she should rest for a while in a comfortable posture.

One should try to practice yoga everyday regularly, preferably at the same time.

While practicing yoga, one should concentrate on yoga alone and try to keep away the other thoughts.

During the practice of Yoga asanas, the dirt in the internal organs of the body is directed towards the urinary bladder, So soon after completing yoga, one should pass out the urine.

During yoga practice, if anyone feels to attend nature’s call, he must go and attend to it immediately. One should not hold it back forcefully for a long time. One should also not try to suppress sneezing, cough etc. If one feels thirsty one can drink a little water as well.

If one sweats during yoga practice, he or she should slowly wipe it out either by a cloth or with the palms. It is better if it dries up automatically in the air.

Pranayama should follow the asanas and meditation should follow Pranayama.

Always lay on your back after finishing postures. 2 to 5 minutes with relaxed breathing.

Movements should be slow in every case. Sudden movements should be avoided.

Dont’s:

Women should refrain from regular yoga practice during their menses or pregnancy. However, for them there are specific set of asanas to be done.

Don’t have a full tummy while doing yoga, wait until 2 to 3 hours after large meals.

Don’t touch (shower) or drink water for 30 minutes after doing yoga.

During illness, after operations, when there is a bandage either for sprains or fractures, one should refrain from Yoga Practice. They can resume yoga after consulting experts.