Fit Tips

 

Dream Big

Research suggests that after resistance exercise the greatest amount of muscle growth (anywhere between 30-50%) takes place when you are asleep. This exponential growth in muscle particularly occurs during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase of sleeping commonly seen during your deepest phase of sleep. Unfortunately this growth potential is often missed by many individuals due to a lack of nutrients being available to take advantage of this growth phase. It’s for this reason it is a good idea to take a slow release protein rather than a quickly absorbed protein allowing a constant fuel source to be provided to your muscles allowing you muscles to grow to their greatest potential.

 

 

1 BURGER, 90 MINUTES ON THE TREADMILL

How long would you have to run on a treadmill to burn off the extra calories you would gain from eating one of your favourite fast food burgers? No idea? Well, what if we told you that a Hungry Jacks double Whopper and cheese* would require you to run for 97 minutes at 9.6 Kph on a treadmill to burn off the extra Kilojoules you just ingested. A double quarter pounder and cheese from MacDonald’s* will have you on the treadmill for a further 64 minutes while an individual chicken piece from KFC* will add another 31 minutes to your treadmill time. * Registered Trademarks of their respective owners.

 

EXTRA CALORIES IN THE DIET. LOOK FOR A FAT BURNER WITH HIGH LEVELS OF GREEN TEA CATECHINS

In a 12 week study involving 12 men aged 27-48 years, subjects were given either a high dose of green tea catechins (593mg per day) or a low dose (78mg per day) (23). The results of this study (Refer figure 1 below) demonstrate that ingesting a high dose of green tea catechins for 12 weeks may increase your fat burning capacity by as much as 31%!

 

 

HOW MUCH PROTEIN SHOULD I BE HAVING?

A general misconception has been formed about how much protein to consume due to various recommendations. Here is a convenient and easy way to work out how much protein you should consume daily.

Recommended protein intake for adult individuals who are inactive or sedentary is 0.75g/kg/day. This means that if you are a 70kg office worker that does no exercise, your daily protein intake would be 0.75g x 70kg = 52.5g per day.

Those involved in strength (weight) training are generally advised to consume around 1.6-1.7g/kg/day, while those involved in endurance training (e.g. triathlon) are generally advised to consume around 1.2-1.4g/kg/day (Lemon, 1998).

 

 

THE RIGHT FRUIT FOR YOU

With so many people becoming healthier, a misconception has been formed about fruit being the enemy to reaching dieting goals. It should always be remembered that fruits provide vitamins, minerals and fibre making it essential to Human diets. However fruits also provide carbohydrates which if consumed in excess can be stored as fat. So what is one to do? The answer is simple, enjoy your fruits just don’t go overboard. Here are a few tips to choosing fruits to aid your dieting goals.

  1. Try green apples as they have a lower GI
  2. Eat bananas before they go soft, as they turn to sugar
  3. Eat strawberries & blueberries at night as they are low in carbohydrates
  4. Look for a high quality Multi Vitamin with antioxidants to include in the daily diet

 

BRANCH CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (BCAA), ELITE ATHLETES NEW BEST FRIEND

BCAA’s are Branched Chain Amino Acids consisting 3 essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. They are considered essential amino acids because the body does is not able to manufacture these amino’s itself and therefore human beings cannot survive unless these amino acids are present in the diet.

Studies have shown that BCAA's help to stimulate protein synthesis and inhibit its breakdown, so BCAA's have powerful anabolic and anti-catabolic effect on the body.

Unlike other amino acids, BCAA's provide energy directly to the muscle tissue.

In fact during prolonged athletic activity, BCAA's serve as a valuable fuel source - providing as much as 15% of the body's total energy needs. If you do not consume enough BCAA's when needed (i.e. during intense physical activity, illness, or dieting) you may break down muscle to liberate BCAA's for more urgent demands in other tissues. BCAA’s are quickly becoming a necessity to any elite athlete’s diet.

 

 

CREATINE, DO RESULTS REALLY MATCH THE HYPE?

Due to many hyped up marketing campaigns by differing nutritional companies, the every day athlete has become sceptical to the actual results that can be achieved by creatine supplementation. However science doesn’t lie and creatine supplementation has been proven to enhance muscular strength within a very short period of time in responders. In fact a recent study compared the maximum amount of weight able to be lifted for one repetition in the bench press exercise prior to and after seven days creatine supplementation. After only seven days creatine supplementation muscle strength had increased significantly. With this in mind it must be stated that some individuals don't seem to be able to increase their muscle creatine concentrations to the degree that is necessary to see any benefits in performance. These individuals are known as non-responders but advances in creatine research have led to a reduction in non-responder subjects to creatine supplementation. However, in the Myocytin research conducted at Southern Cross University, EVERY SINGLE ATHLETE increased their bench press performance, upper arm girth and body mass. That means that EVERY ATHLETE in the Myocytin group responded to Myocytin . This is likely attributed to the fact that Myocytin is scientifically formulated to facilitate creatine retention within the skeletal muscle. Therefore when you purchase standard creatine it is like a lucky dip in that you may benefit or you may not. Independent scientific research suggests that an athlete ingesting Myocytin may have a higher likelihood of experiencing gains in body mass and athletic performance than an athlete ingesting standard creatine (Rogerson and co-workers, 2003).

 

 

COENZYME Q10, WHAT YOUR BODIES BEEN MISSING OUT ON

You may have heard of Antioxidants but what do they actually do? Antioxidants reduce the risk of free radical cell damage due to stress, poor diet and lifestyle. They also help protect against free-radical damage. Knowledge of these benefits of antioxidants has led scientist to revealing a highly potent naturally occurring Antioxidant known as Co-Enzyme Q10 (CoQ10).

Benefits of CoQ10 include providing optimum nutrition at a cellular level, supporting cardiovascular health and improving energy production in the body to mention a few. Although the body can synthesize CoQ10, situations can arise in which the body’s capacity to produce is insufficient to meet the CoQ10 requirements. Ageing, poor eating habits, stress and infection all affect our ability to provide adequate amounts of CoQ10. Because the heart is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body, a CoQ10 deficiency can affect heart functions. Knowledge of this has led health experts to highly recommend the consumption of Antioxidants such as CoQ10.

 

 

LACTIC ACID, FIGHT THE BURN.

The familiar feeling of an extremely uncomfortable burning sensation known as Lactic acid is behind more than 85% of reasons for exercise stoppages. Lactic Acid is a large accumulation of hydrogen ions (H+), causing our muscles’ pH to drop and therefore become more acidic as exercise intensity increases. A reduction in muscle pH directly reduces the muscles ability to contract powerfully and maintain efficient performance throughout exercise sessions. This results in increased muscle fatigue. However research by scientists has uncovered naturally occurring Amino Acids known as Beta-Alanine which plays a direct role in reducing Lactic Acid concentrations. Beta-Alanine facilitates the synthesis of Carnosine, a naturally occurring di-peptide found predominantly in type 2 muscle fibres. Carnosine acts as an Intra-muscular buffer preventing this build up of lactic acid allowing maximal contraction of muscles and a delayed onset of fatigue allowing you to perform at your best for longer. Say goodbye to the burn.

 

 

STAY ACTIVE, STAY LEAN

Resistance and general exercise activity keeps our metabolism ticking over. Weight training not only builds muscle but also provides a mechanism to increase our Basal Metabolic Rate. A sound resistance exercise program combined with an aerobic activity such as walking, jogging or cycling are so important to those of us wanting to lose weight. Straight out dieting does not lead to the best weight results rather a combination of diet, supplementation and exercise is key to maintaining a healthy leaner figure.

 

 

HYDRATING FOR WEIGHT LOSS

During dieting we are often so concerned about our food intake and exercise that we often forget the crucial aspects to achieving our goals, hydrating properly and getting adequate sleep.

Water not only helps to keep us healthy, it triggers the neurons in the brain into thinking we are actually full, which helps us from feeling hungry. This is combined with the fact drinking water helps us evade consuming soft drink, coffee and alcohol which all can provide a dramatic amount of calories to our daily intake.

 

 

 

Useful Nutritional and exercise science research links