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How sleep affects your fitness
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General/Other
"Rest and recovery is the most neglected component in a workout schedule, and this component is highly linked to your sleep.
There are four phases of the sleep cycle:
- Phase one starts when the sun sets and hormones release that make you start to feel sleepy in the absence of light.
- Phase two occurs when a person a person lies down to relax. This phase lasts for about ten to fifteen minutes.
- During the Phase 3, the sleeper falls into a deeper sleep - this too lasts about fifteen minutes.
- Phase 4, the last phase of the sleep cycle, occurs about half an hour after the person has laid down. During this part of the cycle, the eyes move back and forth very quickly. This phenomenon is commonly known as REM sleep (rapid eye movement).
During this last part of the cycle, the first dream occurs. When that dream has finished, the cycle restarts. Ideally, this cycle repeats itself five times per night. Studies have shown that uninterrupted; a person generally sleeps for eight hours and fifteen minutes per night.
Sleep deprivation can cause several problems that affect your health, and your body building routine. One such problem is glucose intolerance, which occurs when the central nervous system blocks the pancreas from producing enough insulin, affecting the body's power to digest food. Increased carbohydrate cravings may also occur – brought on by a need for more energy producing calories that can therefore affect your nutrition plan. Sleep deprivation can also cause a weakened immune system, which can lead to colds or flu and prevent you from working to your maximum potential.
Hardgainers' Bodybuilding Handbook gives a quick test to tell if you are sleep deprived. If you can lie down in the middle of the day and fall asleep within ten minutes, it is likely that you are sleep deprived. If this describes your sleeping patterns, it is important to reduce your sleep debt by catching a few extra Z's every night, though we all know that isn't easy!
In conclusion, you need seven to nine hours of sleep each night for your body to run efficiently. Without this valuable feature, you will have muscle loss, which will lower your metabolism, and affect your drive and focus in working out. Rest and relaxation, though often neglected, is as vital to a healthy body building routine as protein and a spotter!"
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sleep, exercise, fitness
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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4
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29
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100 %
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Motivation!
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General/Other
"1.Find an activity that you love--or at least somewhat enjoy--doing. Just because everyone loves kickboxing and the gym offers 5 classes a day devoted to variations of the roundhouse, jab, and front kick, if you hate it and force yourself to take classes because kickboxing the trend of the moment, you most likely will abandon your exercise program faster than a pro-boxer can throw a one-two punch.
2. Be creative about finding time to work out. Although you may ideally want to devote an hour to your daily workouts, any time you can carve out of your day is good. Whenever you have a half hour or so to spare, fill it with fitness. Some ideas: wake up a half hour earlier and work out then; walk your kids to school if possible, and after dropping them off go for a run and then walk back. Most gyms are now open until 10 p.m. or later--try a late night workout. Of course, you can mix it up, depending on the day. The point is to try to find some time at least three or four days a week to fit in fitness.
3. Bingeing isn't better. Just as you can binge in your eating, you can become an exercise binger--especially after the holidays when all we want to do is lose some extra pounds and get into shape. However, spending two to three hours working out like crazy at the gym or during a home workout is not likely to be something you can maintain. Evidence indicates that people who go too gung-ho from the get-go end up flat-lined by an overuse injury, sheer exhaustion, or just the stress of having to dedicate so much time to working out. There is no need to work out that much. In fact, at a certain point you are getting diminished returns as you deplete your body of energy.
4. Buddies are better. Having a workout partner is great motivation to stick to your exercise program. You don't want to disappoint her or him by not showing up! You may want to sign up for team personal training sessions with your buddy. They're usually less expensive than one-on-ones and can be a lot more fun. One caveat here however: you still need to work out if your buddy cancels on you. Try not to think of your buddy as a prerequisite to performing your workout program.
5. Set interim goals and reward yourself. We all love to be rewarded for a job well done. Why not set up a reward system for meeting the smaller goals along the way to your ultimate goal. Say the latter is that you lose 20 pounds, and reduce your percentage of body fat to 17 percent. That may be reasonable to achieve in about three months. But you can set an interim goal of losing 8 pounds in the first month. Once you reach that goal buy yourself a present, or get a massage--something that makes you feel good about your achievement. (Interim goals can also involve increasing mileage per workout or the amount of weight you can lift during a resistance training session.)"
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motivation, exercise
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created by
thetrainerx
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saved on 2/22/2008
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3
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18
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100 %
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Pre Exhaust Your Targeted Muscle
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Strength Training
"This involves switching up your typical workout pattern, which most likely involves switching up your exercises on chest day. For your first exercise, isolate and target your muscle with an exercise that is specific to one muscle without using many secondary muscles. A good example is dumbbell flys for chest.
After, move on to a broader exercise such as the flat bench press which mainly targets the chest but also uses the triceps. Now your chest is more prone to tiring out before your triceps. Pre-exhaustion is a great way to shock a targeted muscle."
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pre exhuast, target muscles, bench press, shock muscle
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created by
ryan
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saved on 2/21/2008
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4
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33
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66.7 %
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Relive tired muscles with Epsom Salt
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General/Other
"Medical research shows that magnesium and sulphate, the leading components of Epsom Salt, are great for easing muscle and joint pain.
Studies also indicate that Magnesium helps flush toxins and reduce inflammation, which makes Epsom Salt great for the treatment of tired muscle and arthritis.
One of the most efficent ways for the body to absorb more magnesium and sulphates is to soak in an Epsom Salt bath. Just add two cups of Epsom salt to warm water, stay in at least 12 minutes and give your aching muscles and joints a treat.
--Make sure to drink pleanty of water, or you will get dehydrated from the salt bath!--"
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sore, tired, tight
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created by
diverman999
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saved on 2/6/2008
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3
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43
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100 %
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Be sure to measure progress
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General/Other
"An extremely important part of your fitness program is being able to measure your progress. Despite what some believe, body fat testing is not painful, nor is it expensive. Many fitness centers and nutritionists offer these services. Simply ask if they have an expert who can measure body composition. It's also a good idea to take before and after photos and post them somewhere you'll see them every day."
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progress, body fat
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created by
Jen24
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saved on 1/22/2008
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1
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13.1
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100 %
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Pay Close Attention to Food Labels
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Diet and Nutrition
"Nowadays you can't trust labels boasting Fat Free, No Sugar Added, or any of the other phrases that have filled grocery stores as companies try to market to the growing amount of people trying to watch their weight. Often they portray their food as being healthy, when in reality it may have more calories than you think. To avoid being duped by these marketing tricksters, examine the labels closely and do the math on what's really in it."
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food labels, dieting, fat free, sugar free, shopping
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created by
Jen24
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saved on 1/11/2008
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1
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22.8
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66.7 %
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