Fitness N Sport

Archive for November, 2010

Are you a fitness enthusiast who is looking to improve your health or lose weight? A high protein diet is what everyone is talking about these days. Just make friends with these health enthusiasts and observe them consuming lots of protein.

Why the emphasis on protein?

Protein is what is required for your muscles to grow. Strength training is needed to build lean muscle mass. With more lean muscles, our metabolism will be boosted. We will immediately feel fitter, more energetic, and healthier. Energy conversion is more efficient as a result of your super charged metabolism. You have more energy for work, family and other social activities.

Your muscles are not growing as you are exercising. While you workout, stress is placed on your muscles, forcing them to respond. To cope with the additional demand, your muscles will start to grow. However, remember that muscles grow only after the workout – while you are resting.

Ever experienced soreness the next day after your workout? It’s a good sign – your muscles are building up. To keep pushing on with your exercise program, you will have to recover quickly. Never force your muscles to work if you are still feeling very sore. Try working on another body part. You risk injury if you continue to force your muscles to work.

The key here is to get plenty of rest and consume the necessary amount of protein so that your muscles repair and grow quickly. The fitter you become, the faster you recover. That is what you will experience.

In reality, not everyone takes in the amount of protein that they need. Protein already exists in our daily meals. Usually, most people don’t keep track of the amount of proteins they consume. As a general guide, you should eat 1g of protein for every pound you weigh. If you weight 100 pounds, your daily protein intake should be 100g.

Professionals always take smaller meals each day to condition their body. This is another way of improving your metabolic rate. A body that is used to starvation will start to store fat. The body stores fat because it doesn’t like to starve!

You don’t grow fatter eating more meals. You grow slimmer because your metabolism increases! That means you will be eating a small meal every 3 hours or so. Divide the protein you need by the number of meals you will take each day and you will get an idea of how much you should eat.

In the midst of your daily activities, you can always sneak in one or two shakes to supplement your protein needs. This will help make up the shortfall in protein. Don’t skip a meal just because you don’t have the time. Find the time.

Protein shakes are one of the easiest supplement to prepare. They come in powder form and all you have to do is to add water (or milk) and use a blender to create the shake. Some people even get addicted to the great taste!

Learn more about protein shakes and how a protein shake a day can benefit your health.

Looking to boost your metabolism? Even if you are living in cave, you would have heard of a high protein diet. Surround yourself with health enthusiasts and observe them consuming high protein meals.

What is the role of protein in your sports workout program?

Your muscles will need an adequate amount of protein to grow. When we follow an exercise program, we want to increase our muscle mass. The more lean muscles, the higher the metabolism. We start to feel more energized as we continue to workout. A higher metabolic rate means the body is better at converting food and oxygen into energy. Listlessness is gone forever from your daily activities.

Muscles don’t grow during a workout. We are actually sending “instructions” to our muscles that we will be placing stress and demand on them. Due to the workouts, our muscles start to grow. But bear in mind that the muscles grow only after a workout is complete.

Remember those sore muscles the next day after an intense workout? That is a sure sign that your muscles are responding. Now in order to continue with an intense workout, you need to be able to grow and repair quickly. Don’t force a workout if your muscles are still hurting. If you really wish to workout, try to exercise another part of the body. Sore muscles undergoing extreme stress will be easily injured.

The faster you recover, the better you are able to cope with your exercise program. As you grow fitter, you will take less time to recover. That is a fact.

On a daily basis, not everyone consumes the amount of protein that their body needs. Everyday, we take in proteins from our daily meals. In general, most people you come across don’t track the amount of protein that they take in. As a general rule of thumb, you should consume one gram of protein for every pound that you weight. For instance, if you weight 120 pounds, then you should eat 120g of proteins daily.

It is advisable to split your meals into smaller meals so that your body doesn’t go into starvation mode. This is also another method of boosting your metabolism. If your body goes into starvation mode, it starts to evolve and gets better at storing fat. The body stores fat because it doesn’t like to starve!

Consume smaller meals, more frequently, is always the recommended approach. In other words, you will have to have something to eat every 3 hours or so. Divide the amount of protein you need by 6 and you arrive at the amount of protein that you should consume on a daily basis.

If you find that you don’t have enough time to consume 6 meals due to work or family commitments, you can always prepare a couple of protein shakes. This will help supplement your protein needs. Don’t ever skip a meal as that will reduce your protein consumption.

Protein shakes are so easy to prepare that there shouldn’t be any excuses. Use a blender and mix ice cubes and water with the protein powder and you have your protein shakes ready. You may even find yourself falling in love with the taste!

Learn more about protein shakes and how a protein shake a day can benefit your health.

As an athlete, it is vital to protect your feet from injury. Your feet are often overlooked during sports and exercise, but it is important to pay close attention to what your feet are telling you about your health. The American Podiatric Medical Association reports that improper foot care during exercise is one of the main reasons why you may experience various foot ailments. The APMA also puts great emphasis on proper foot care maintenance while exercising because constant pressure is put on your feet.

Maintaining proper fitness requires that you wear the right clothes and the right shoes. Consult your podiatrist prior to beginning any fitness program or participating in any sports, in order to prepare your feet for proper care. Pay close attention to the health of your feet and your athletic career – no matter how serious – will be as pain free as possible.

Keep Your Feet Active and Prevent Common Foot Injuries

Whether you participate regularly in sports or just periodically, it is important to be on the lookout for some common foot and ankle problems. One of the most common sports injuries tends to be ankle sprains. Immediate attention from your Spring Hill podiatrist is necessary in order to provide proper treatment. Sometimes a simple sprain can be an ankle fracture that requires more treatment than a sprain.

Athletes are also at a high risk for developing Achilles tendon disorders, which are an inflammation of the tendon that runs down the back of your lower leg. This can progress into a degeneration of your Achilles tendon, which can be caused by repetitive activity. By keeping your Achilles tendon stretch, it can help to eliminate your heel pain.

Additionally, athletes may experience heel pain which is often caused by plantar fasciitis – which is the irritation and swelling of the thick tissue on the bottom of your foot. Faulty foot structure is the most common cause of plantar fasciitis, but it can also result from wearing shoes that are worn out or not designed for the specific sport you are participating in. If your pain continues, a trip to your podiatrist will be in order.

Winter is Around the Corner: Prevent and protect your Active Feet from the Cold and Injuries

For athletes who ski or snowboard, it is extremely important to take the extra precautions in protecting your feet from the variables caused by the cold. High speeds that are attained on skis and snowboards can expose your body to injuries. In winter sports, your healthy feet may experience conditions that they are not normally prepared for.

Some ways to prevent cold feet include:
• Wear properly insulated footwear
• Wear socks made of a wool blend or acrylic blend fibers
• Feet chilled in snow should get back indoors immediately

If you keep your ankle perpendicular to the ground while skiing it will bring out your best performance and will also protect your feet from injuries. While snowboarding your feet are perpendicularly bound to your board. It is important to wear large, sturdy, insulated snowboard boots to accommodate for the twisting of your lower body.

Foot problems associated with winter sports may include:

• Frostbite
• Blisters
• Neuromas
• Shin splints
• Sprains and strains

If you exhibit any signs of injury or trauma to your feet, it is important to consult your Brooksville and Spring Hill podiatrist immediately. Your podiatrist can properly diagnose your pain, as well as provide you will preventative measures to further avoid injury.

Dr. Charles Chapel of Chapel Podiatry is a leading Spring Hill podiatrist and Brooksville. Offering an array of podiatric treatments, including Spring Hill and Brooksville diabetic foot care, heel pain, and wound care, Dr. Chapel is qualified to handle any foot care need for patients of every age.