Sunday, 22 April 2012
Don't Waste Your Workout
Refuelling with the wrong foods after your session will not only result in longer recovery times, it may also offset all your hard graft in the weights room. Sports nutritionist Laurent Bannock (guruperformance.com) outlines the foods you need to avoid.
Brown rice
it's true that we need carbs after a session to replace lost energy and help shuttle protein into muscle cells. But you need high-GI carbs,like those found in white rice, rather than the slaw-release carbs found in brown rice, which take too long to enter your bloodstream.
Salad
Of course salad is healthy but it's no good to you as a post-workout food. Salad and vegetables take a long time to digest and there is insufficient fast-acting protein and carbs in them to help the body recover properly,while oil-based dressings just slow the digestion of it down to a snail's pace. For a much better effect, have your salad in the evening.
Burger
Fast food such as burgers usually contain both protein and carbs but are also loaded in fat and salt., which will slow down digestion significantly and delay the vital nutrients getting to your muscles? Burgers are also high in calories so you'll consume more than you've burnt off in the gym, which will never help you get lean.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate may be high in antioxidants, but you need to avoid all sweet treats after a workout because high-sugar foods offer the body very little recovery support - all you get is a sugar high followed by the inevitable crash where you'll want to reach for more. if you do crave something a bit sweeter after a session then go for fat-tree chocolate milk,which ;research has shown has the ideal carb to proton ratio for muscle recovery.
source:Men's_Health_UK_May2012
Chocolate Milk -A Good for You -Sports Beverage
A perfect sports beverage may be sitting in your refrigerator: milk. Make that fat- 0 free chocolate milk and you're following the latest sports nutrition guidelines to enhance muscle recovery after exercise.
Just as your car requires gasoline to run smoothly, exercising muscles need stored carbohydrate, known as glycogen, for energy. Sports nutrition experts agree that sufficient amounts of carbohydrate and protein are required after exercise so muscles can fully recover.
William Lunn, MS, PhD, an assistant professor of exercise science at Southern Connecticut State University, conducted research published last year in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise demonstrating the benefit of combining carbohydrate with protein to encourage optimal exercise recovery.
Carbohydrate replaces stored glycogen, and the amino acids in protein help repair muscle tissue. In addition, the combination of carbohydrate plus protein can reduce muscle soreness. Consuming the correct amount of carbohydrate and protein within the first hour after exercise provides the greatest recovery benefits. Aim for consuming 0.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight within the first 30 minutes after finishing exercise lasting longer than one hour and 1 gram of protein for every 4 grams of carbohydrate.
If you weigh 150 pounds, that works out to 75 grams of carbohydrate and 19 grams of protein. Optimal exercise recovery strategies also replace fluids and the electrolytes sodium and potassium that are lost in sweat. Plain water can replenish fluid losses, but beverages that contain electrolytes provide more rapid recovery.
WHY CHOCOLATE MILK?
According to a 2010 article in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, chocolate milk contains the optimum combination of carbohydrate and protein to promote muscle recovery. Penny L. Wilson, PhD, RD, CSSD, LD, a dietitian at the Ironman Sports Medicine Institute in Houston, says her clients love drinking chocolate milk after workouts because it helps them feel better and tastes wonderful.
Milk also is a good source of the electrolytes lost in sweat. One cup of chocolate milk contains 152 milligrams of sodium and 425 milligrams of potassium. One cup of the well-known sports beverage Gatorade, which contains carbohydrate but not protein, has 110 milligrams of sodium and 30 milligrams of potassium. In addition, chocolate milk tastes great, is widely available, is cost-effective, and contains additional important nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D.
Several research studies compared the effects of chocolate milk vs. other sports beverages on recovery in a variety of athletic situations. College athletes love the taste of chocolate milk, notes Katie Jeffrey-Lunn, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, owner of FitNutrition, LLC in Connecticut.
Distance runners, swimmers, and college-age soccer players have all shown improved post exercise recovery when they drink chocolate milk within one hour after finishing exercise.
Julie Upton, MS, RD, CSSD, cofounder of Appetite for Health, recommends chocolate milk to adults as well as child athletes, and she relied on it herself when she competed in the Trans Rockies trail race.
WHY NOT WHITE MILK?
Exercising muscles crave quickly digested carbohydrate to promote refueling, and chocolate milk contains twice the amount of carbohydrate as white milk. Kevin Anello, MEd, RD, LD, ACE, a certified personal trainer at Eat Right Get Fit, LLC, notes that 16 ounces of chocolate milk provides 66 grams of carbohydrate and 16 grams of protein, which is right on target with established guidelines for optimal exercise recovery.
Anello recommends chocolate milk to his clients to promote recovery from all types of exercise, including moderate to intense aerobic or anaerobic training as well as athletic events.Reach for a glass of fat-free chocolate milk after your next exercise session and your muscles and your taste buds will thank you! 4
GOING DEEPER
Elite athletes who want to maximize their performance can get an edge with a little help from Dan Bernardot, PhD, RD, FACSM, in Advanced Sports Nutrition: Fine-Tune Your Food and Fluid Intake for Optimal Training and Performance, second edition. www.humankinetics.com
source:Today's_Diet&Nutritions_April2012
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Good Karma
These practices, drawn from the yoga tradition, can sow the seeds of positive change in your life.
1) Start the day with a positive intention
It could be something like, I nourish the lives of the people around me" or "I am totally present with everyone I meet" or "I get my work done efficiently so I can spend time in nature". Notice how your intention guides your day.
2) Get clear about your motivations
One key to creating positive karma is to act with a positive motive. For example, when you're about to make a critical comment about someone, check to see why you're doing it. If you discern a hidden feeling of envy or self-righteousness, consider buttoning your lip or offering a compliment instead.
3) Act for the good of others
Certain acts and thoughts create positive samskaras-which ultimately result in positive life experiences. Decide to do something kind every day for a week. Give up your extra latte and put it into a personal fund to donate to a charity. Have lunch with the person in your office whom everyone ignores. Pick up litter on the nature strip. Recycle. Serve a meal at a homeless shelter. Each day, jot down in your journal what you did and how it felt
4) Break a bad habit
Sometimes just letting go of a minor habit can shift a karmic pattern and make a subtle but profound difference in your life. For one week, decide that you won't give in to one of your indulgent or unproductive habits. Begin with something fairly simple, such as noticing your inner state at the moment you reach to turn off the alarm instead of getting up to practice. Choose to do something different, such as getting out of bed and rolling out your yoga mat. Be gentle with yourself as you work with your habitual patterns. If you slip up, forgive yourself and try again next time!
5) Make an offering
The root of most negative karmic patterns is some form of selfishness. One antidote to this tendency is the practice of offering. When you do something positive, take a moment to inwardly offer it for the benefit of others. This helps ensure that your action is surrounded by beneficial motivation. Its one of the most powerful ways there is to create positive samskaras for yourself and for the benefit of the world around you.
source:Yoga_Asia_May-June2012
10 Tips to Ensure Weight Loss
1) COMMIT TO THE CHALLENGE.
Accept losing weight and improving fitness won't be easy and commit to it.
2) MAKE A PLAN.
Write down work and family priorities and schedule training around it.
3) PREPARE MEALS A DAY AHEAD.
If you don't have healthy meals at hand, you're more likely to reach for a less nutritious prepackaged snack.
4) EAT FIVE TO SIX SMALL MEALS A DAY.
Fill those meals with complex carbohydrates like fruit and vegetables, protein from meat, eggs, fish, and the good fats found in nuts, coconut, walnut, olive and flax omega oils.
5) DRINK 3L OF WATER EVERYDAY.
The human body is 75 per cent water. Water flushes toxins from the body, energises and improves mental clarity.
6) TRAIN FOR AT LEAST 30 MINUTES.
Five or six times a week,
7) G0 HARD.
The higher you raise your heart rate, the longer you'll burn calories after you stop exercising.
8) DITCH THE SUGAR.
An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood sugar balance and triggers the release of insulin to keep blood sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so eating sugary foods means rapid weight gain.
9) REDUCE INTAKE OF "HARD CARBS".
Get your dose of carbohydrates through fruits and vegetables rather than "hard carbs" like rice, pasta and potatoes. Bread and pastry are no-nos.
10) SACRIFICE PLUS PAIN, EQUALS GLORY.
Be prepared to make sacrifices if you want to see changes. That means changing what and how you eat and dedicating time to quality exercise.
source: Fitness_New_Zealand_Feb-Mar2012
Friday, 20 April 2012
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