Many people want to look better and try to improve their bodies. Personal trainers, fitness models, and nutritionists can give you the answers to most of your questions, but people often neglect this and try to do everything through questionable articles and dubious sources. We’ve gathered some popular questions that a fitness trainer is likely to be asked and we will try to answer them as best we can. But if you’re really determined, it’s better to go to the professionals like https://www.fitnessbaddies.com/.
What Should You Know Before You Start Running? Isn’t It Harmful?
Running is becoming more and more popular, and so this question is becoming a bit of a myth. And the fact that this kind of activity is bad for the knee joints is probably the most popular of them. Usually, such myths are born when people neglect the rules of training and take the wrong approach to the process.
Running can be harmful to health only when the load does not match the physical fitness of the person involved. After all, its volume is individual and depends on several factors: age, level of training of leg muscles and the body as a whole, the presence or absence of excess weight, equipment, history of injuries, running technique, and regularity of sports.
For example, weak glutes and anterior thigh muscles can cause instability in the knee joint. And running shoes with insufficient protection and fixation of feet during running lead to increased impact loads.
However, when the running load is adequate to your abilities, the process is only beneficial to both your cardiovascular system and your joints. Studies show that runners live an average of three years longer and have a 25-30% lower risk of premature death than people with low physical activity.
Before you start running on your own, follow these four steps:
- Get a comprehensive examination by a sports medicine doctor to understand your body’s current condition and readiness for exercise. This step includes examinations by several specialists, laboratory tests, and cardiovascular function tests. This will help you avoid overexertion and prevent injury.
- Choose the right running shoes and equipment. Running shoes should be soft and elastic enough (for good cushioning) and have good foot support. Clothing should be appropriate for the season, as well as moisture-wicking and thermoregulating.
- Dial-in a functional minimum: prepare your corset, abs, glutes, and legs for exertion. Functional training is a repetition of the movements you see in life and consists of exercises that help you develop your athletic performance comprehensively: endurance, flexibility, flexibility, and endurance. endurance, flexibility, mobility, coordination, and movement control.
- Work with a coach on your running technique, because it’s harder to retrain than it is to start from scratch. Even small adjustments to your footwork and posture can seriously reduce your risk of injury.
How Do You Build Muscle Mass Without Supplements Such As Protein And Creatine?
Athletic training, genetic code, diet, metabolism, and even environment are all important factors that determine the dynamics of gaining muscle mass. The formula for effective pumping: a harmonious combination of regular strength training, a competent approach to the diet, and a careful approach to the recovery process.
- Start every workout with a warm-up. It’s an axiom.
- Work with your own weight. Such load does not lead to intensive muscle growth, but it activates a significant number of muscle fibers and increases their density.
- Perform exercises with weights. This is the next step after working with your weight. If your purpose is accelerated muscle growth, you can choose the mode of training to failure with 8-12 reps and 70-80% of maximum load. The optimal number of sets is three or four. To create metabolic stress, we recommend taking 30-120 second breaks between sets.
- Pay special attention to nutrition and keep track of your calorie intake. Your goal is to provide your body with the necessary amount of energy in the form of fats and carbohydrates, as well as the building material for muscles – proteins. It is sufficient consumption of the latter that will allow you to pump up without sports nutrition. It is possible to effectively build muscle mass by creating a surplus of 10-20% of calories from the daily norm. The ratio of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates should be 35: 25: 40. Eat regularly in small portions and avoid starvation. Reconsider the percentage of calorie surplus as you grow muscle.
- Do not neglect recovery. Active muscle fiber growth and regeneration occur during this very period. It usually takes 48 to 72 hours, which means you should not train more than three times a week. Exhaustion and overexertion slow down the processes of muscle mass growth.
What Is Better: Crossfit Or Regular Weight Training?
There is no definite answer to this question because everyone has their own goals. It is correct to ask the question: what is better for me? Let’s sort it out together.
Bodybuilding workouts – Classical training with weights suits those who want to reduce fat and gain muscle mass, to emphasize the development of muscles or work out certain areas.
Workouts with weights are designed so that each muscle group is worked individually in a series of isolated movements, where the priority is the quality of each of them, rather than their functionality. Also, be prepared that the overriding aesthetics determine the strict attitude towards the diet during exercises with weights.
Crossfit – This type of training is notable for the variety of types of load and its high intensity, as well as the fact that it hits several targets at once: destroys extra calories, increases the functionality of all muscle groups, and increases their endurance.
If your goal is to become more athletic, endurance, and strong without focusing on specific muscle groups or growing muscle mass, then CrossFit meets these requirements. But if you haven’t had any serious exercise before, be careful: beginners have a higher risk of injury when performing intense and complex CrossFit exercises.
How To Lose Weight Without Losing Or Even Gaining Muscle Mass?
At first glance, these goals seem opposed. To lose weight you have to create a caloric deficit, while to gain muscle mass you have to consume more than your daily allowance so that your body uses the extra energy to build muscle.
But it is possible to burn fat without losing muscle mass. This process is called recomposition (change) and requires a specific approach to diet and exercise. A common approach to body recomposition is the “cyclic” diet.
Its essence is to alternate days of eating without carbohydrates with days when carbohydrates are consumed. Thus, on training days, you provide your body with an excess of calories, and on rest days you reduce their amount, maintaining a small deficit.
Be prepared for this process and follow a few simple rules:
- Include more protein-rich foods in your diet. And be sure to control your water balance.
- Adjust your training program: do not work up to your limit. Also, concentrate on strength exercises with weight and a small number of repetitions.
- Check your progress regularly. Also, adjust your nutrition and training program according to your results.
- Monitor your weight and body condition. If you began to gain kilos, but your body became less trim and muscular – reduce your carbohydrate consumption on training days. And if the weight began to increase, but the proportions and shape of the body do not change – keep the dietary regime, because in this case, the increase is due to the muscles, not fat.
How Do You Keep Fit If You Work From Home And Spend A Lot Of Time Sitting?
Schedule small breaks during the day to devote time to exercise. It is great if you have a minimum set of equipment: a mat and dumbbells, which will provide a complete home workout. Before the class, do a top-down warm-up to warm up your joints and muscles. To do this, start at the neck and move to the lower body.
Then do a simple comprehensive workout: do squats and lunges, push-ups, twists, abs bar, and deadlift with a comfortable weight to load your back muscles. Over time, increase the load – complicate the exercises and add weight. For example, you can start doing side lunges, dumbbell squats, push-ups with a narrow grip, barbell for side abdominal muscles, and “boat” for back muscles.
In addition, you can find a suitable distance training program. During the quarantine period, sports organizations, fitness centers, streaming services, and sports brands have prepared a huge amount of paid and free video content for every taste to exercise at home.
You can easily choose the exercise regimen and direction that’s right for you, and then download a home workout app or open the sports section of video services on your TV and work out at home.
