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Smart Girls use Dumbbells

weight-training
As a sports nutritionist, I have in the past only worked at various Gyms. My primary job was to plan diets. At times I even had to look at client’s workout schedule to be then able to accordingly plan a diet for them. It is during this stint that I realised that most women clients would either only do cardio and stretching or do weights with the same amount of weights for almost 3months continuously. They would lift minimal weight of 2.5lbs/5lbs and that too they did as their trainer told them. I then had to spend extra time with these women and explain to them that they should start their weight training initially with lower weights but gradually increase the weights to higher pounds to achieve the necessary results or the goals they have set for themselves.

Ladies..Wake up!! Today its women power and we women are walking shoulder to shoulder with men in varied fields. There is always this fear I have seen among women who go to gyms to lift weights. So don’t be afraid to lift weights and do as men would do. Or at least get closer.

Don’t worry!!You will not put on those extra muscles that will make you look manly because we women have been blessed with some lovely hormones that give us the beautiful body. So, irrespective of how much ever weights you pick up you will never look manly. It will only tone your body to make you look more beautiful, energetic and fit.

Women are the master of all trade and we often work towards keeping one and all happy. We are very good at multi-tasking and most of us do it with ease. And to be able to perform all of these duties to the fullest we have to have amazing energy levels, great stamina and a strong willpower too. And after doing all this if we want to look good and maintain ourselves there is nothing wrong with it at all.

Many women who are not fit or not into regular exercising often face lot of menstrual problems, pregnancy issues, Post pregnancy weight issues etc.. All of this can be sorted out with regular weight training.

Women can achieve the stamina, long lasting energy, good looks, a toned body and beautiful skin with a good workout. Maintain the same consistency of one day gym and one day cardio.

Listing the benefits of weight training for girls/ladies/mother/grandmother.

1. Strong Bones : Most of the women face bone density issues, especially in old age. Weight training helps you in increasing the bone density. In younger girls it makes it stronger.

2. Lesser Body fat: As you gain muscle with weight training your metabolism will increase, in turn making you burn more calories, thus leading to a toned body and lesser fat %.

3. More Energy: Exercise helps you in boosting your metabolism, thus more energy.

4. Stronger Body: Exercise helps in stronger muscles thus helping you maintaining your daily chores easier like picking up grocery bag and carrying children around, picking a   bucket etc.

5. Fights depression: Exercise releases certain hormones in the body which makes you feel good and enhances your mood too.

  1. Manages chronic conditions: Chronic conditions like Aches and pains in the joints, blood pressure, Heart disease etc., and their symptoms reduce with regular weight training
  2. Eases Menstrual Issues: MS and menstrual pain, one of the biggest concerns for females, is taken care of if Regular exercise is a part of daily routine.

8. Post Pregnancy weight: If you are weight training regularly, even after pregnancy getting back in shape becomes easier.

9. Skin & Hair : As blood circulation increases due to exercise, your skin and  hair become more healthy and better.

10. Thyroid & PCOD: Weight training helps insulin resistance and reduces body fat, thus helping cure both Thyroid and PCOD.

There are numerous such small but good benefits for women in including weight training as a part of the exercise regime.

So go Pump The Iron Girls!!

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Change your workout, change your diet and overcome the Plateau

Change-your-workout
When I started exercising, I lost about 13kgs but, my target was to lose eight more kgs but, that was not happening and it was stagnant. I realised initially with exercising I could easily gain muscle weight but after a while it was not showing any results. If you have encountered a similar situation and stopped going to the gym or given up exercising …don’t …do not run away from such a situation. If your body is not responding to your workout routine or diet routine it’s known as plateaus.

Here are some reasons for the plateaus

  • Same workout routine

If you have been working out for a long time, initially you will get the results you want but, later after a while you will not get it because your body will become used to with the same workout routine. If you want changes in your body you must have changes in your workout routine every four to six weeks. A change is either in the progression of exercises or you can change your entire workout schedule if your body is not responding at all. While, changing your workout schedule be specific on your fitness goal whether it is fat loss or Muscle gain. When you work out continuous progression in the workout is required.

  • Same Diet

If you continue with the same diet plan with no modification, the diet body will not respond after a while. As a result your body will become stagnant. If your goal is weight loss then based on your BMR drop your calorie intake. If your intake of calorie is 2500 in the first month of training cut down by 250 and make it 2250. Bringing about continuous changes is very important. For the muscle gaining add 250 calories in your diet.

  • Same workout routine and same diet

This also results in body plateaus. When your workout routine and diet remains the same your metabolic rate remains same. And when your metabolic rate remains the same you will end up being where you were before e you started exercising. Therefore, change your workout routine and change your diet to break the plateau.

If you are doing the same thing you will be getting same results. It’s important to constantly change the routine in order to break the plateaus.

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Myth about Spot Reduction

Myth about Spot Reduction
One of the common questions as a fitness trainer I have encountered is if spot reduction- reducing fat from a particular area is possible or not?

If a gym client has a problem collecting more fat around the abdominal area or generally a woman collecting more fat around the lower body they always request the trainers to give them more exercises for the abs or the lower body. But, is spot reduction actually possible? or is it a myth?

As a teenager we collect less amount of fat despite eating all the junk food. One major reason for this is while in the youth, the amount of muscle mass that we carry is more as compared to an elderly person. Hence, the BMR of a youth is quite high when as a teenager and it remains high up to the age of 24 or 25 years of age. Post 25, the degeneration sets in and the muscle mass starts to decline. Muscle being a metabolically active tissue contributes towards increasing the BMR. With the muscle mass degenerating, the BMR also drops and the individual starts collecting fat all over the body. But, in every individual there is a spot where he/she collects more fat then the other parts of the body.

The collection of fat in particular spots is dictated by an individual’s genetics. When, I say pre-decided by genetics, it means that it runs in the family. It is now important to understand how this happens?

Here we need to understand the role of 2 important hormones in our body

1)      Insulin and 2) Glucagon.

Insulin acts like a transporter of micro and macro nutrients into the liver and muscle cells. Insulin also plays a role of maintaining the blood sugar levels after a high carbohydrate meal by lowering the blood sugar levels and avoids a person from going into Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels).

Glucagon on the other hand is a hormone that again maintains blood sugar levels by increasing the blood sugar level during long hours of starvation or when an individual lowers the carbohydrate intake in his meals. Here, glucagon plays the role of raising the blood sugar levels and avoids the state of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels).

After having simple carbohydrates such as sugar, chocolates, white rice, white bread, some fruits with high glycemic index, potatoes and other starch, the conversion of these foods into sugar is very fast and it increases the blood sugar levels.

Please note the sugar that is stored within the muscle as muscle glycogen is preserved by the body for any high intense anaerobic activity that we perform in our day to day activity (like running fast or lifting some heavy object etc)

In order to loose fat, a person needs to cut down on simple carbohydrates and keep complex carbohydrate in a reduced quantity (as and when required) as well as start in taking good amount of fibres and protien.When carbohydrates are reduced,
the body is deprived of energy so it starts surviving on the blood sugar for energy. The blood sugar levels drop then to normal thereby leading to hypoglycemia. This activates the pancreas to release Glucagon.

Glucagon starts to maintain the blood sugar levels by raising it. Since the sugar inflex is reduced from outside, the glucagon has no option but to use liver glycogen to raise the blood sugar levels. Once, the liver storage of glycogen is over, it moves to the muscle glycogen. Muscle glycogen is not released by the body as it is reserved for a high intense activity. Now glucagon has no other option but to move towards the fat cell to get energy for survival. Here, one more enzyme known as the HSL (Hormone sensitive lipase) which is on the fat cell allows the triglycerides to exit from the fat cell in the form of free fatty acid into the blood stream and it is used up by the tissues as a source of energy.

This is already programmed by our genetics and cannot be changed through any exercise or spot reduction techniques.

Performing abdominal exercises will definitely strengthen the abdominal muscles which will help an individual to increase his or her functionality in day to day activities as well as it will also help in lifting a decent poundage in functional movements like squats, Lunges, Bendover rows, Overhead presses and Regular deadlifts. But, abdominal exercises DO NOT give you a spot reduction. Hence, the intention of abdominal workout is increasing strength of the abdomen and not spot reduction.

Fat loss is all throughout the body because it catogorized as BODY FAT and not fat of the abdomen, arms, back, chest or legs.

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One-Stop Shop Workout – Swimming

swimming
Swimming is a sport or activity of propelling oneself through water using the limbs. Swimming is an activity that burns lots of calories, is easy on the joints, supports your weight, builds muscular strength and endurance, improves cardiovascular fitness, cools you off and refreshes you in summer, and one that you can do safely into old age.

Some people who enjoy swimming want to take it to a competitive level. This can provide the health benefits of a vigorous workout as well as the fun and thrill of competition. The main strokes used in competitive swimming are breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. The distances swum in competition swimming can vary from 50 meters in a pool to much further distances in open water such as the sea.

Swimming can offer people of all ages a huge range of health benefits. You might just feel and look younger, have stronger muscles, and (according to a long time swimmer) better hair. Although you might not have awesome, shiny and chlorine enriched hair, you can find at least ten other reasons to swim.

Swimming gives your body the workout minus the harsh impacts. Another benefit is the living longer factor. You prolong your life and have higher brain activity with a regular swimming program. Control your weight and have a healthier heart plus lower your risk of diabetes, stop asthma symptoms and have a higher quality of life.

Swimming is a great workout because you need to move your whole body against the resistance of the water. There are plenty of reasons to swim! Swimming is a good all-round activity because it:

  • Keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body
  • Builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness
  • Helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs
  • Tones muscles and builds strength
  • Provides an all-over body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming.

Swimming has many other benefits including:

  • Being a relaxing and peaceful form of exercise
  • Alleviating stress
  • Improving coordination, balance and posture
  • Improving flexibility
  • Providing good low-impact therapy for some injuries and conditions
  • Providing a pleasant way to cool down on a hot day
  • Being available in many places – you can swim in swimming pools, beaches, lakes, dams and rivers. Make sure that the environment you choose to swim in is safe.

Before you dive in, Make sure you know how to swim, choose a safe environment, warm up and stretch your muscles and joints before entering the water and don’t overdo it if you’re just starting out.

There you have it. Swimming is an activity that builds strength, endurance, and tones muscles. It’s an activity that you can do all year long, inside or outside, it burns lots of calories, you can share it with your family, it’s low-impact (just in case your bones are creaky), and you can do it until you’re 100! It’s not too late to start if you never learned how (learning new stuff is cool even when you’re adult!). All in all, swimming is a winner, and if you have the inclination, I suggest that you go for it!

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