Better Bodies In Training

Source: http://www.teachnet.ie

What is metabolism?

According to Wikipedia, metabolism "is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life.… Metabolism is usually divided into two categories. Catabolism breaks down organic matter; anabolism, uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids”.

The process of metabolism determines the rate at which your body burns calories while at rest (Resting Metabolic Rate or Basal Metabolic Rate), in motion or during exercise (PAEE). Whether you are sleeping, sitting, reading, eating, working, exercising, the body and its bodily functions are constantly moving; these movements require fuel; some moments require more fuel than others. Nonetheless, these body and bodily functions use  of energy is called caloric burn.

What is my metabolism affected by?

It is generally accepted that metabolism is affected by both controllable and uncontrollable factors. The uncontrollable factors include:

1. Sex (men tend to burn calories at a higher rate than women);
2. Age: (metabolism naturally slows 5% per decade after age 40);
3. Hereditary.

The controllable factors include:

1. Amount of lean body mass;
2. Whether you exercise;
3. What you eat;
4. How often you eat;
5. Stress levels;

How to Increase my metabolism?

In weight management (weight loss or weight maintenace,) our concern with metabolsim is how to increase metabolic rate so that you burn not just calories while exercise but also the calories while resting (resting metabolic rate). There are many theories about just how to do this. Very few, it seems have been proven to effectively work for the long term. What has been shown to work for both the short and long run is the following 7 Steps.

1. Don’t skip meals; slows your metabolism causing your body to slow down and burn less fat (fat is the primary fuel source for metabolic activities and other bodily functions, when the body is not exercising).
2. Eat smaller meals; the body makes better use of the nutrients in smaller quantities than in large quanties, after all, anything in excess is either stored, primarily as fat, or excreted like water soluble vitamins.
3. Include a snack between each meal; this reduces the chances you will overeat at your next meal.
4. Eat often: if you eat more often, but in smaller quantities, you will be priming your metabolism to work at an optimum level; also, when there is too many hours between meals, your metabolism actualy slows down to compensate.
5. Increase your physical activity level; the total amount of calories you burn includes your resting metabolic rate and the calories expended in exercise. The more active you are, the more calorics you burn.
6. Include cardio in your exercise program; the fast pace and constant motion of cardio tends to burn more calories than weight training or any other anaerobic exercise.
7. Include Weight training; even though it does not burn as much calories as cardio while working out, you are building muscles which burn more calories throughtout the entire day.

Final Thoughts?

If you follow these 7 steps, I can guarantee that you will see amazing results in the total amount of calorics burn; which will result in losing that unwanted weight. So what are your thoughts? Do you now have a better understanding of nutrition and the two major components: diet and metabolism? What has been your experience with dieting? Do you find that you have a slow metabolism? What, if anything, have you done to increase its efficiency? Your thoughts, suggestions and questions are welcomed.

Source: http://topnews.in

What is Weight loss?

According to Wikipedia, “Weight loss,… is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat o adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue. It can occur unintentionally due to an underlying disease or can arise from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_loss. In other words it is a decrease in body weight (muscle weight and/or fat weight) resulting from either voluntary acts (diets, exercise, surgery) or involuntary (illness) circumstances.

What is the goal?

The goal in any weight loss program is to assist in losing the excessive weight and maintaining a desirable weight for a variety of reasons be they medical in nature, as the case with individuals who are clinically obese, or for more personal and esthetic reasons. The point is that most people attempt to lose weight not by sure luck or chances but because of a very important underlying reason, a reason that should serve as an inspirational force.

How to lose weight?

Losing weight via any non-surgerical procedures, is a simple equation, “Burn more calories that what you consume”. Let me repeat this,Burn more calories than what you consume”. In other words, eat less and exercise more. Again, eat less and exercise more. However, this is easier said than done for most people. Consider the fact. According to the CDC,( US Center for Disease Control) about

1. 67% of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 are overweight or obese:
2. 34% of noninstitutionalized adults ages 20 years are obese:

So, while effecting weight loss is a simple equation, a large number of people either do not want to lose weight or find it difficult to do so. For those that do not want to lose weight, this posting is not for them; but for those who are overweight and who want to lose weight, you might asked, how can I lose the unwanted weight and maintain a desirable weight?

Methods of Losing Weight?

As mentioned earlier, there are two major ways of losing weight. The first is via surgery. Now, I am not a big proponent of weight loss via surgery unless for some medical reasons like being morbidly obese which is classified as being either 100 pounds over the recommended weight for the person or having a BMI of 40 or a BMI between 35-40 with an obesity related disease. This method while being both effective and controversial is very popular with those who have the economic means to afford it. According to http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/oct/17/saving-lives-through-weight-loss-surgery/ nearly 200,000 American each year will have some type of weight loss surgery.

The other major category of weight loss methods would be to diet, exercise, and take medication or supplementation, or any combination therefore. Now, there are many programs in the market today that emphasis one element over the other. Programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Atkins Diets, etc..., emphasize the dieting and caloric restriction aspect. Gyms, fitness programs,  some bootcamps, etc....emphasizes the exercise component; and some medically approved and non- medically approved program emphasis the taken of some from of medication, pill or supplement, be it Xenical, Apidexin, Full Bar, Nuphedragen, to name a few.

What We Do at Better Bodies in Training?

At Better Bodies in Training we take a combination approach. That is, our weight loss program is a program that includes:

1. Dieting or caloric control;
2. Exercise;
3. Weight loss supplementation or aids that are non-medically prescribed, for some of our clients;
4. Psychological in the way of inspirational and motivational support.

We take this approach because research after research and our own experiences have proven that any effective weight loss program has to be a multi pronged approach. Because while part of the goal is getting the weight off, the other part is keeping it off and maintain a desirable weight for the long term.

Final Thoughts?

While it is true that weight loss can be very difficult, some more so than others, a truly effective program will tackle the problem many fronts. Tomorrow we will discuss the particular details of our program and explore the rationale behind them. In that time, what are your thoughts about the points explored in the posting? Do you understand the simple equation of how weight loss occurs? Do you struggle with actually getting and/or keeping the weight off? Have you consider weight loss surgery? What elements of a the weight loss program are you tackling? Or do you have a multi step approached? Your thoughts, suggestions and if questions are welcomed.

Source: http://inteyesummer.files.wordpress.com

What is exercise?

According to http://www.diabetes.org/weightloss-and-exercise/exercise/what-is-exercise.jsp “ exercise [also known as physical activity] includes anything that gets you moving, such as walking, dancing, or working in the yard” Or as stated by http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153390.php “exercise is the physical exertion of the body - making the body do a physical activity which results in a healthy or healthier level of physical fitness and both physical and mental health.” Whatever definition we use, the central understanding is that exercise is activities that go beyond the daily activities of our day. It involves some form of physical exertion that increases heart and respiratory rates.

What are the benefits of exercise?

Pick up any health and fitness magazine or book, look at any exercise program online or offline, you will find that these sources tend to list many benefits to exercising. These sources state that exercise:

1. Makes you fitter
2. Makes you healthier
3. Makes you feel good
4. Reduces stress
5. Slows down the aging process
6. Reduces cholesterol levels
7. Reduces blood pressures
8. Alleviates depression
9. Reduces Obesity
10. Improves glucose tolerance

Why do you exercise?

If you have yet to begin any exercise program, if you are just starting, or even it you are re-evaluating your current exercise program, it is good to know why you want or need to exercise. Your particular reasons will vary from:

1. seeking to get fitter and in shape (general fitness);
2. seeking to lose weight;
3. wanting to reduce inches so that you can fit into your favorite goals;
4. seeking to increase muscular strength, muscular size, muscular tone, or muscular endurance;
5. wanting to improve your cardiovascular endurance, maybe for blood pressure reasons or maybe to run a marathon;
6. wanting to increase your flexibility or range of motion because you have lost flexibility over the years;

No matter what your current level of fitness is, beginner, intermediate or advance, having a goal or set of goals will help guide your exercise program and help you assess whether or not your exercise program is effective. Moreover, it will help keep you motivated especially during those times when you feel like quitting.

What should you do?

Depending on your goals or reasons for wanting to begin an exercise program, the particular exercises you do will vary. If your goal is simply to increase cardiovascular endurance, then walking, jogging, running or using any cardio machine will make up a large portion of your program. If your goal is to increase muscular strength, tone and/ or size, then resistance training either with bodyweight or external weight like free weight or weight machines will make up a large portion of your regime. Also, if you want to increase your range of motion, be more relaxed, reduce stress, then stretching exercise like yoga will need to be incorporated into your regime. There are agility exercise, balance exercise, coordination exercise, speed and power exercise, etc… The point is that having an exercise goal or goals will determine what training modality you will incorporate into your exercise program.

Having a balance exercise program is extremely important for best results. Thus, any exercise program should have elements of flexibility training, cardio training and resistance training. This does not have to make up the entire exercise program, particularly if you are performing any technical skills training, like boxing, martial arts, gymnastics, etc… For most people however, flexibility, resistance, cardio, agility, balance and coordination exercises will be sufficient components of their exercise program. This latter description is exactly what constitutes our fitness and weight loss bootcamps at Better Bodies in Training.

Is this your experience? Are you participating in any exercise programs? If so, what are the benefits that you have experienced? Moreover, why are the goals that you have set for yourself? We welcome any contributions that you might have as a reader. After all, it is through dynamic interaction with other that we grow our understanding of how training theories and methodologies affect real people.