Group items tagged

Creatine and protein shakes are commonly used by weightlifters and athletes looking to bulk up or improve their overall physical fitness levels. Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in fish and meat and produced naturally in the liver, kidneys and pancreas, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Protein shakes are supplements used to fuel the body with protein in an effort to build muscle.

Creatine works by supplying the muscles with additional energy during a workout. This can help you increase the intensity of your workouts, although it has been shown to be ineffective for some people, the University of Maryland Medical Center notes. Protein powders are primarily used immediately following a workout to help replenish the body with much-needed proteins lost during an intense lifting session. Muscles are made of protein, considered the building block of all bodily tissues.

Contrary to what some people believe, protein supplementation is not necessarily a healthy way to lose weight, cautions Mayo Clinic dietitian Katherine Zeratsky. Meal-replacement shakes that are high in protein cannot replicate or achieve the nutritional value of whole foods. Zeratsky recommends focusing on eating healthy, well-balanced meals and watching your calorie intake to lose weight safely.

Oatmeal can help you stave off your hunger and take inches off of your waist. Cravings are caused by a drop in blood sugar. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which will keep you fuller longer and stave off any snack attacks or sugar cravings. Fiber also allows you digestive system to work better, ridding you of any bloating or constipation and leaving you with a firmer midsection.

Eggs are full of vitamins and nutrients that burn fat and build muscle. Eggs contain vitamins A, D, E and B12, which the body uses to metabolize fat. They are also a great source of protein, which the body uses to build muscle. A study at Louisiana State University found that those who ate eggs for breakfast daily lost more weight than those who ate bagels, the Quick & Simple website notes.

You need fat to lose weight, believe it or not. Monounsaturated fats are a good thing, and you can find them in cooking oils such as olive oil and canola oil. Good fats also help lower your cholesterol and lessen food cravings. Olive oil has also been shown to help prevent Alzheimer's disease, and to help deliver nutrients to the brain. Other foods high in monounsaturated fats include olives, avocados and almonds.

The amount of regular exercise teens get drops off severely once they enter college, especially among males, researchers in Canada say.

24 percent decrease in physical activity during the 12 years from adolescence to early adulthood

The steepest declines were among young men entering university or college.

“It's changing up your workouts on a very regular basis to make sure that your body doesn't get used to the task

doing the same workout over and over, the body's muscles dull to the routine

mixing up exercises, sets and reps, muscles become “confused,” forcing them to work harder

Glucose, which is transported by your bloodstream to organs and tissues after eating carbohydrates, provides an essential source of energy for both your muscles and brain when working out. As energy and glucose needs to increase with exercise, it's important to eat enough carbohydrates in order to fuel your workouts. Having low blood glucose levels during exercise harms performance and can lead to physical and mental fatigue, sometimes resulting in weakness, dizziness and hypoglycemia. Glucose also prevents the body from using protein for energy.

When glucose isn't needed for immediate energy, the body stores it as glycogen in the liver and skeletal muscle. Glycogen stores are especially important when working out, as the body's energy demands may exceed the amount supplied by glucose in the bloodstream after prolonged exercise or when exercising with insufficient carbohydrate intake. According to Iowa State University, during low-intensity workouts, glycogen stores can be used to increase glucose levels in the bloodstream for as long as 90 minutes -- whereas during high-intensity exercise, glycogen stores provide energy for only about 20 minutes. Active people therefore need to replenish glucose regularly by eating plenty of carbohydrates. However, in less-active people with adequate glycogen stores, additional glucose is stored as fat.

Daily calorie requirements depend a number of factors such as age, activity level and genetics, so each person may burn energy at a slightly different rate.

According to experts from Columbia University, research has shown that you should consume an additional 2,270 to 3,630 calories per week to build as much as a single pound of muscle during that time span. This equals about 500 additional calories per day. A typical 180-lb. male needing about 2,700 calories per day would therefore require at least 3,200 calories. Furthermore, an hour of intense weightlifting burns 500 calories. Added up, this same person may consume as much as 3,700 calories on lifting days just to properly bulk up.

Every day, a topflight athlete or bodybuilder needs approximately 0.68 to 0.9 g of protein per pound of body weight. Most people who want to build some muscle will probably settle for less than the high end but more than the 0.36 g recommended for the average person. Without the proper consumption of protein, the muscles may not grow at a rate that is in accord with the actual amount of growth facilitated by strength training sessions.

People who exercise on work days are more productive, happier and suffer less stress than on non-gym days,

University of Bristol researchers found that employees who enjoyed a workout before going to work - or exercised during lunchbreaks - were better equipped to handle whatever the day threw at them.

It also found that people's general mood improved on days of exercise but they became less calm on non-exercise days.

Commercial Crunch

McMaster University in Canada found that short bursts of exercises were just as effective as long sessions.

Dance, Dance

Participants in this ongoing study were five healthy students on the Stanford University men’s and women’s swimming teams

For the first two weeks of the study, the students maintained their usual sleep-wake pattern

The athletes then extended their sleep to 10 hours per day for six to seven weeks.