muscle gain Archives

May 30, 2022 By Vandana Juneja 3 Comments

Natural Bodybuilding vs Steroid Bodybuilding

This topic is one of the most discussed in the bodybuilding community and is very controversial too. Both natural bodybuilding and steroid bodybuilding have been practiced since long and each group feels that their method of body building is “right”. Before coming to a conclusion, let’s first understand the difference between the two and then decide which one is better.

Natural Bodybuilding

Naturally bodybuilders do not use any sort of synthetic steroids or other drugs in order to build more muscle mass or get leaner. They entirely rely on lifting heavy weights, consuming a healthy diet and getting plenty of rest.
Natural bodybuilders may not be able to put on as much muscle mass as steroid users but they build muscles that are long lasting and sustainable.
Besides building muscles that last, they have a better overall health and faster metabolism.
It reduces blood pressure, increases bone density and keeps cholesterol levels under control. It improves your metabolism, reduces your fat percentage and is a great stress buster.

Steroid Bodybuilding

These builders use Anabolic-androgenic steroids. These drugs are a synthetic form of testosterone (the male hormone), are injected into the body for quick benefits but are illegal in most competitions.
Steroids may give you the pump to train at a higher level than you could possibly do naturally. Your recovery rate would be faster, you would be able to train for longer and build more muscle mass but all of this comes with several side effects and are potentially dangerous, in the long run!
Some of the serious side- effects of taking steroids for bodybuilding include:
- Hormonal Imbalances – Suppressed Testosterone Production
- Infertility, low libido, testicular atrophy, Gynecomastia (breast tissue growth in a man)
- Accelerated Hair loss
- Skin issues- Acne/oily skin
- Increased heart rate
- Increased LDL Cholesterol, Hypertension, Increased risk of Stroke/Heart attack
- Liver Toxicity
- Kidney Damage, Fluid retention
- Mental Health Issues, Insomnia, Mood Swings
- Increased risk of premature DEATH.

Which is Better?

After reading the potential side effects of steroids, I’m sure you understand why going the natural way is the better choice! If you are looking to improve your appearance and increase overall health without any negative side effects, then you should stick to natural bodybuilding.

The best way to stay healthy and maintain a muscular body for long is finding ways to increase the natural testosterone production rather than counting on steroids that have dangerous health risks and eventually lose your muscles. If you are willing to train hard, have a proper plan, you will surely achieve your goal without any artificial/synthetic drug support. So, just set your goal and go after it!

To learn more about the natural ways to increase testosterone levels and bodybuilding, check out Healthy Reads or consult a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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March 15, 2022 By Tasneem Jawadwala 16 Comments

Healthy Weight Gain Tips

We’ve heard one too many instances of people having great success with weight loss! In fact, every time I visit the gym, I come across many such success stories. However, I can’t help this sinking feeling that the real strugglers are the ones who want to gain weight and build muscles.

Are you one of them? Ever wondered what you’re doing wrong despite indulging in healthy food and doing every possible workout and increase your appetite? Let’s see how you can gain healthy weight but before that…

Let’s See What You’re Doing Wrong

1. Protein: Gym trainers and dieticians often suggest including more protein, some in the form of powders and others suggest natural sources such as eggs, Sattu, curd, cottage cheese and the likes. However, calculating the right amount of protein required is often missed. One requires around 1.25g/kg ideal body weight proteins to build up muscles. For example if you are 60kg, then the required amount of protein required by you on a daily basis to build muscles is 75g.

If you aren’t having enough or the required amount of protein, you will not see a difference. Hence, take some time out and consult professionals who can help you calculate. To gain healthy weight and build muscles, you also need to watch your carbs, antioxidants and workouts.

2. Carbohydrates: I’ve noticed this as a trend. Most people place so much emphasis on proteins that they forget about carbs. Did you know that if approximately 60% of your diet isn’t from carbohydrate sources, your body will utilize protein to supply energy. Which means, your body will not have enough proteins for tissue building.

3. Antioxidants: Fruits and salads are often flawed to be used as a weight loss diet. Vegetables and fruits are the best source of antioxidants that help in tissue repairs, prevent injuries and inflammation. So include vegetables and fruits with selenium, zinc, vitamin C and Vitamin E in your diet on a daily basis.

4. Workout: Your workout should focus more on strength training, however, ensure that you still do some cardio. Cardio will help your heart and lungs function better which in turn will prevent you from falling ill during your program.

Foods That Help in Healthy Weight Gain and Muscle Building

Dates: They are loaded with iron, natural sugar and antioxidants. Eat 4-5 dates before your workout as dates provide you with instant energy and prevent muscle damage.
Sweet Nuts or Pulse balls (Chikkis): These is a sweet dish made up of pulses, nuts or seeds. It is nothing but roasted whole gram, peanuts or sesame seeds and jaggery. It’s a perfect combination of proteins and carbohydrates. Munching on them as mid meal snacks work as an energy booster.
Nut Shakes: A big serving of dry fruits is difficult to consume at a time but having them in a powdered form with milk will supply your body with good amounts of protein.
Fruit Smoothie: Eating fruits with curd will help add some antioxidants to your protein dose. This is probably the most tasty and delicious way to consume fruits!
Combination of Cereals and Pulses: Just eating a pulse at a time will really not help as it doesn’t provide us with good quality proteins. But, when combined with a cereal, it will provide the benefits of both protein and carbohydrates. Options like Dal Paratha (Pulse Flat Breads), Puranpoli (Sweet Jaggery Flat Breads), Khichdi (mix of pulses, rice and vegetables cooked together) and Idli (steamed rice pan cakes) should be considered.
Adding Vegetables to Meat: Eating a separate serving of vegetable becomes difficult. The meal size may exceed if we have 1 serving of vegetable for vitamins & minerals and 1 serving of non-veg preparation for proteins. The best option in my opinion is to combine a nonvegetarian source with vegetables. For instance, Spinach (Palak) Chicken, Tomato Omelet and Capsicum Stuffed with Mince.
Peanut Butter: People often go overboard with regular butter and get major changes in lipid profile but no change in weight. Ideally, one should apply peanut butter on their bread slices for the right fats and protein combination.

The key rule for healthy weight gain is to go for nutrient-dense meals. These healthy compact meals do not require an extreme appetite boost. Focus on healthy weight gain and be patient while you are in a weight gain program as it’s easy to cut on fats but takes time to add on muscles. Remember, it took 9 months to give you around 3kg of weight at birth. Stay at it and be patient.

We hope this article helps you! For more, check out Healthy Reads or you can speak to a GOQii Coach directly for expert guidance and motivation. Subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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August 31, 2020 By Shagufta Raza 1 Comment

5 Alarming Effects of Overtraining & How To Manage Them

Overtraining, in essence, is performing excessive training which your body is unable to recover from – both in and outside the gym. The less severe versions of overtraining may take you a week to recover from. While most fitness experts will tell you that overtraining is worse than undertraining, some people still choose to push themselves which result in alarming physical and psychological effects.

Signs That You’re Overtraining

Can you tell the difference between giving it your all and pushing yourself too hard? Here are some signs, symptoms and effects of overtraining you need to watch out for.

Increased Heart Rate: Check for the elevated resting heart rate. A healthy resting heart rate range is 60-100bpm (beats per minute) and usually, the fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be. If you’re overtraining, you may notice your resting heart rate will be 10-15 bpm higher than usual.
2. The Gaining or Losing Dilemma: This issue can be extremely problematic for people who gain weight unintentionally. The unexpected weight gain can lead to excessive workouts. The hormonal and inflammatory effects of overtraining can lead the body to lower thyroid function, crank out stress hormones, ramp up inflammatory cytokines, and create an overall environment that favours fat storage.
Muscle Soreness: This is common when you exercise regularly. However, if you’re experiencing soreness for longer than 72hrs, you need a break as this could be a sign of overtraining. If you are aiming to build muscle, recovery is equally important. If your muscles aren’t recovering, it will have a negative impact on muscle gains and can also lead to muscle loss.
Sleep Quality & Insomnia: Generally after a good workout at the gym, you may feel exhausted and fall asleep in no time. But you may notice that even after you have hit the gym and you are exhausted, you are still struggling to fall asleep. This can be linked to an overload on the hormonal and nervous system.
Injuries: If you’re always getting injured or soreness which isn’t healing, then this could mean your body can’t cope with the pressure. Give it a break and take it slow. It’s absolutely vital to rest so that your body regains its strength.

The other signs and effects of overtraining may also include nausea, decreased appetite, allergic reactions, head colds/persistent upper respiratory tract infections, changes in menstrual patterns, decreased coordination and loss of strength.

How Can You Manage It Effectively?

Now that you’re aware of the effects, let’s take a look at how you can manage and take possible precautions!

When you are weight training, ensure that you don’t exceed more than 45-75 minutes.
The right nutrition is the key to recovery. Make sure you plan your meals to ensure you’re refuelling effectively and getting the right amount of nutrients in your diet with your Pre and Post workout meals. You may require expert advice on this. You can subscribe to GOQii to get personalized advice from a coach and an expert.
Quality Sleep: Physical recovery happens between 10pm to 2am. So getting in some early nights in will aid your recovery.
Heart rate devices are a great tool to measure recovery rates. Try these awesome GOQii Trackers.
Plan Regular Rest Days: An excessively sore or weak muscle should be given adequate rest. A good rule of thumb is to wait for 48 hours before working the same muscle group. If that muscle group is still sore, you may need to wait even longer – sometimes up to 5 days.
Avoid eating late, sugary foods (or other stimulants). Follow a healthy diet and plan regular rest days until you’re back into a regular sleeping pattern.

We hope this article helps you overcome all the hurdles to your training. Remember that giving it your best is okay but never overdo it. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For more articles on training or for some effective and easy home workouts, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by fitness experts on GOQii Play.

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July 1, 2019 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 20 Comments

Building Muscles With Proper Diet & Exercise

Body building has always fascinated me. My weight training journey began at the age of 16 and since then my goals have been very clear – building muscles and lifting weights! They became my passion.

But I realized that just lifting weights to achieve a fit body was not the solution. Anything to do with fitness requires dedication and hard work coupled with smart eating and proper rest. This ultimately helped me achieve the results I was seeking.

You must be wondering how I managed to achieve what I was seeking. Well, the idea germinated in my mind after I watched a movie, ‘Pumping Iron’ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger – my body building idol. Arnold is perhaps the greatest bodybuilder of all time! It was his personality and muscles that I admired and got kicked about lifting weights.

It’s funny – I am half as tall as him, yet I wanted to have a body like him. I set out on the path of building muscles. Within a short period of time, I learned the techniques and secrets of building muscles – which I am about to share with you.

For many of us, gaining muscle would mean spending countless hours in the gym and we seldom think a good diet is important. Remember that our body needs calories and nourishment to feed growing muscle mass and to adjust to varying amounts of activity.

I am going to tell you about building muscles through a three tier process namely proper diet, good exercise and good rest. Each of these tiers is equal and important. Let us take a closer look at each of these processes.

1. Proper Diet

To build muscles you need a proper diet that consists of micro and macro nutrients. Micro nutrients are vitamins and minerals whereas macro nutrients are a combination of protein, carbs and fat. Eating each of these micro and macro nutrients in the right quantity is important to build proper muscle mass.

Just pumping iron or what we call ‘lifting heavy weights’ in the gym does not serve the purpose. One needs to create a proper balance between the two.

Protein: One needs to eat sufficient amounts of protein to build good muscle. The rule of thumb is that an average person needs one gram of protein per kg of his body weight to maintain his muscle mass, skin and hair. But an individual who is exercising needs almost 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kg of his body weight to build muscles. For example, if you are 150 lbs(pounds) or 68kg, you should eat between 150 and 225gm of protein each day if you want to consistently gain muscles.
Proteins are found in eggs, meat, fish, cheese, milk and soya beans. Muscles are active tissues, unlike fats. Like every active thing, muscles also need proper maintenance. In order to maintain muscles, the body needs to burn calories and that’s one reason why our basal metabolic rate (BMR) goes up. More the muscle mass in the body, more the BMR level. Increase in BMR level avoids gaining fats in the body and is very helpful for fat loss as well.
Carbs: Including carbohydrates in your diet in the morning and post workout is essential. The primary function of carbs is to provide energy. Carbs intake should be monitored very closely. One gram of carbs gives 4 calories. A number of carbs that get utilized as energy and the extra carbs that are still present, get stored as fat.
In order to avoid carbs getting stored as fat, we need to limit their intake. You can get Carbs from Sugar which provides the energy required for daily activities. Sugar may be available in three forms, lactose, fructose, and sucrose obtained from milk, table sugar, and fruits respectively. Carbs from Sugar Starch can be found in rice, beans, peas, and other grains. And lastly, carbs from fibers. Fibrous foods help in quick digestion of food and can found in some green vegetables, whole grains, peas, dry beans, bran, and soya beans etc. Fiber is also good to remove waste from your body.
Fats: Most people are of the opinion that fat is our enemy. Although, it gives 9 calories per gram. That’s much compared to carbs and proteins. The function of fats is to give energy during an emergency such as when the glucose level of the body dips to a low and there is no source of energy (Adenosine Tri Phosphate) and there is no food available in the body. In such a case, the body uses stored fat as the source of energy for that period of time.
You can get fats from olives, peanuts, sunflower, fish, nuts, flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds, soy products such as tofu or soy milk. Fats build healthy cells. Without a healthy cell membrane, the rest of the cell cannot function. Fats help the body use vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins, meaning that the fat in foods helps the intestines absorb these vitamins into the body. Therefore the diets should contain carbs, proteins and fats. You can get vitamins from the inclusion of green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli.
Water: is the other important nutrient that is important for our body. One who is exercising should always hydrate himself or herself well. Water provides cushioning and lubrication between joints. Pain problems around joints are a very common among bodybuilders and strength athletes. Maintaining hydration and joint health is a very important part of your training over the long haul.

2. Proper Exercise

The second tier of building muscles is through proper exercise. Without exercise, it will be impossible to build huge muscles. When we exercise there is a wear and tear process that takes place within the body and the immediate reaction of the body is to repair those muscles.

The greater and deeper the damage to the muscle, the bigger and stronger the muscle will be repaired. It is therefore important to schedule the exercise program in order to achieve great results. Weight training should be done 3-4 days a week and this should be coupled with cardio exercise on the balance days of the week when you are not weight training. With weight training, you will be able to build muscles and get stronger. With cardio, you will be strengthening your lungs and heart and it will help you increase your stamina.

3. Rest and Recovery

This is the last and final tier of building muscles. This aspect is the most neglected tier of the three. You train hard in the gym, nourish your body with proper nutrition but if you do not give enough time for your body to recover through proper rest, the body will not utilize the nutrients in a proper manner to build muscles. After a hard day’s work when you finally go to sleep, that’s when the damaged and tired muscles get repaired. One needs to sleep for at least 7-8 hours to obtain good results.

Muscle can only get stronger and bigger by stimulating it through hard exercise, helping it recover with high-performance nutrition and giving it rest.

Disclaimer: Before making sudden changes in your lifestyle, you may want to consult your doctor and trainer

If you found this article helpful, do view LIVE shows on building muscle and weight training exclusively on GOQii Play. Download the app now!

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