Fitness advice

Fuel Your Workout Properly

Corie

As men we want bigger, stronger, and more defined muscles; whether we are athletes, body builders, or just individuals who are not happy with our current fitness level and physiques. We push ourselves to reach a higher altitude of fitness. My goal in these paragraphs is to help encourage the proper nutrition that will give you the edge needed to perform at a higher level during workouts.

Fitness includes cardiovascular maintenance, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, and nutrition. Many people believe that fit individuals involved in a regular fitness program need not be concerned with their nutrition. Your loved one may state, “Oh honey you are fit and you can eat whatever you want”. Men, you like to take good care of our cars so, why shouldn’t we do the same for our bodies? It doesn’t matter if it is a bucket or a Benz, the fuel we put into the car has everything to do with its performance. The same goes for our bodies. The proper fuel, amount of fuel, and the time fuel is ingested into the system is important for optimizing muscle growth.

Resistance training breaks down muscle tissue as it stimulates muscle-fiber growth. Protein builds muscle, carbohydrates produces sugars and starches we use for energy, and fats are stored energy we did not use. We must digest the proper amount of protein in our diet at the right time to insure a positive protein balance. This ensures that the body can exceed the muscle breakdown process. Also, these nutrients are necessary to stimulate our growth hormones testosterone and insulin, which exerts control on muscle growth. Cheaters inject these growth hormones because they are not discipline enough to properly eat and workout consistently.

The exercisers who do have the intent on losing weight should not cut back their calories too much. A low caloric intake may hinder muscle building and hamper your body’s ability to recover from the muscle breakdown process. My experience as a personal trainer and exercise physiologist has shown that most women respond to 1000-1200 kcal daily and men 2000-2500 kcal daily. I teach my client to consume 40-50% protein, 40-45% carbohydrates, and 10-15% of healthy fats. These percentages help insure muscle glycogen is utilized during resistance training, as is creatine phosphate which may become depleted while combining cardiovascular exercise and resistance training. 3.5 to 4.5 grams per pound of protein and 3.5 4.5 carbs per pound of body weight will help you reach the correct percentages (Monique Ryan, ACE Fitness Vol. 13 issue 5). Healthy fats are fats consumed from complex carbohydrates and lean proteins. Brown breads, oats, wheats, and grains are complex carbs. Lean proteins, turkey, fish, poultry, lentils beans, and low fat red meat. Exercisers must be aware of low fat diets when training for muscle building. Very low fat diets may compromise testosterone levels. This hormone is needed in men to build our muscles. Those of us who take protein supplements search for whey protein, which is the purest form. Casein is also a high-quality protein found in many sport drinks. Soy protein is lactose-free and a high quality vegetarian protein. William Evans, Ph D., a researcher on aging and performance at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences and Veterans Administration recommends 150-200 percent of the RDA for protein maximizes the muscle tissue and is the macronutrient most closely associated with muscle building. According to the American Council on Exercise, research has shown that combining these nutrients before and after your workouts stimulate the hormone insulin, which in turn allow the protein to enhance muscle building.

The timing of when you ingest these nutrients have a significant effect on how your body responds to training. One 1-1.5 hours prior to training and immediately after training has shown to display the best results for muscle building. Consumption of the proper amount of carbs and protein with this the suggested time frames gives the body enough time to digest and absorb the nutrients and enhances its ability to recover and rebuild the broken down muscle tissues and depleted glycogen levels.

Other considerations during your muscle-building workout are water. Research as shown that consuming 4-8 ounces of water (not supplemented drinks and shakes) for every 15-20 minutes of activity. Athletes have been taught to check their weight after serious workout because one should replace weight loss with water. Weight loss is a sure sign of dehydration. One should replace weight loss with 20 ounces of water for every pound loss. Those who are taking supplements should pay close attention to weight loss during workout. Creatine is highly known for causing dehydration and is sometime included in many supplements such as weight gain, protein, and other forms of recovery based products.

Plan your meals and snacks accordingly. These recommendations should give you the edge needed to get you over that plateau. I assure you that you will see the cuts and definition in your muscle that you desire.

Corie is located in Kansas and is an ACE certified personal trainer.

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