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Tired! Sore!  But, can’t wait to hit the gym again? Know the effects of overtraining and how it hampers your muscle growth.  Overtraining is a new addiction to hit the town and it is legal. A-lister celebrities, like Madonna with punishing workout schedules, have fallen victim to the new disorder and many gym enthusiasts, particularly weight trainers are echoing the rule of more is merrier. The standard guideline on gym time is about five hours a week, but if your training hours run in double digits and have become an obsession, you need to worry because your body is not getting the time to recover from the strains of training. 

THE ROLE OF REST IN MUSCLE GROWTH

The most visible effect of overtraining is stunted muscle growth. For muscle growth to occur, your muscles should receive stress greater than earlier. This is achieved by gradually moving to bigger weights. When you train with weights heavier than your body has adapted to, you push your muscles to the threshold of fatigue, while getting a pump. Once the workout is over, the most important part of the muscle growth sets in, as your torn muscle tissues begin to fuse and grow stronger anticipating an increased workout onslaught, with the help of right nutrients and rest. Adequate rest provides ample fuel to your muscles so that they can regenerate and grow.

TOP 5 SYMPTOMS OF OVERTRAINING

Overtraining is a common occurrence in weight training. It refers to compulsive training without allowing your body the time to rest and recover.  Typically, your body requires 48 hours of rest before you work out the same body part. However, people suffering from overtraining syndrome train excessively to the point of hampering their muscle growth leading to soreness of muscles and stunted growth.

1.      YOU ARE NOT GROWING BIGGER ANYMORE

However hard you train, muscles are not built in the gym, explains the science of muscle growth.  After you have worked out, the muscle fibers undergo trauma and need adequate nutrition and rest to grow stronger and thicker. The repaired muscle tissue fibers increase in thickness and number. This is called muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth and will take place only when the protein synthesis in the muscle tissues remain greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown. This adaptation in your body happens when you rest, not when you lift.

2.       FREQUENT SEASONAL INFECTIONS

When you train longer than required, your body releases more of cortisol, a stress hormone that degrades amino acids stored in the muscle tissues into glucose to fuel the lengthy training sessions. Continuing to remain in this catabolic stage in the long run without adequate rest and nutrition compromises your immunity. Frequent seasonal infection, a clear cut manifestation of lowered immunity is an important sign of overtraining

3.      CONTINUED MUSCLE SORENESS

Muscle soreness is more prevalent in fitness beginners performing resistance exercises, or who are training after a layoff.  It is normal to have muscle soreness for a day or two after a workout, but if you are sore even after the 72-hour mark, you need rest because your muscles are not recovering any more.

4.       INABILITY TO SLEEP

A high-intensity workout floods your body with stress hormones, like epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol.  These hormones increase heart rate, blood pressure and affect muscle function. Spacing out your two workouts allows these hormones to return to the normal level, but continued overtraining is going to make you jittery and nervous. The four-hour sleep window between 10pm to 2am everyday allows you to recover faster from the effects of the workout.

5.      DEPRESSION

Exercise is the best antidote to depression and it has been clinically proven. A study in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2000 found that moderate aerobic exercise is as effective as anti-depressants, but people who train obsessively begin to view their training session as a space filler, or a challenge. They may also suffer from negative body image that gets expressed in increased crankiness, aggression and frequent mood blues. While it is okay to remain sad once in a while, but if your blues last for a week or longer, you need help.

HOW TO OVERCOME OVERTRAINING SYNDROME

1. Start with a nutrient rich meal plan including enough carbohydrates and proteins Carbohydrates are a good source of fuel and help your muscles grow. In the absence of carbs, your body has to degrade proteins for energy. 
2. Many people who over train get stuck in the growth plateau and push themselves to fiercer training sessions hoping for the results to show. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Start by taking a break of two days from the gym.
3.  Go for deep tissue massage to loosen tight muscles and flush toxins and buildup of lactic acid. Even a session of self-massage will work to soothe tired muscles.
4.  Introduce variety in your workout. Same routine day in and day out will become monotonous in a while. Your body will also get used to your workout. Change your workout and keep it engaging.
5. Limit your gym time to one hour at the maximum. After an hour of workout, your testosterone levels dip and stress hormone, cortisol begins to rise. Testosterone is your muscle-building friend and cortisol degrades your muscle. Take a pick? If you think one hour is too less, it’s not, if in the gym your focus is on exercise. Social bonding can happen outside.

Be sensible and listen to your body if you stop to grow and become irritable. Take a break from your workouts, because your body deserves rest.

For most men who begin to work out the attraction lies in showcasing their massive chest and filled out arms in the tight t-shirts. Now, you know why bench press is the staple of any bodybuilding program and every Monday is the chest day, irrespective of the geography of the gym in which you are working out. A research by American Council on Exercise found this exercise to be one of the most effective moves for eliciting a high level of muscle activity in the pectoralis major, making it a more effective targeted chest exercise than incline dumbbell flys or traditional push-ups. But, did you know that the most revered exercise of today was initially scoffed upon in the lifting communities?  The standing exercises were the only lifts that were deemed manly, and ‘lesser-men’ indulged in lifting while lying down. The scenario changed when these ‘lesser-men’ began to gain appreciative glances of the opposite sex for their broad-chested body. Soon, others jumped the bench pressing bandwagon. Over the years, bench press has evolved, from floor to bridge and belly toss versions but this workout is not for all and there are many who make mistakes while bench pressing. 

HOW TO MASTER THE BASIC BENCH PRESS

The bench press is a compound weight lifting exercise that works out many major muscle groups. This exercise works pectoralis major, as well as supporting chest, arm and shoulder muscles. A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.  Follow the following steps to master the basic bench press.

1. Prepare yourself for bench press, by lying flat on the bench in a relaxed position. Your lower back should not hit the bench directly and it should not be too curved either. You should have your feet flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart, and your shoulders touching the bench.
2. Put your arms straight to either side of you, flex your elbows and bring your hands up to touch the bar.  Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart. When you widen the grip, you increase the amount of pectoral muscles involved and when you narrow the grip more triceps are recruited in the bench press.
3. Stretch by lifting just the bar weight. Hold the bar in the base of your palm, close to your wrist. Squeeze the bar with your hands inside the ring marks of the bar and vertical forearms at the bottom. Wrap your thumbs around the bar. Lift the bar off the rack and position it directly above the middle of your chest. Inhale as you lower the bar down. Exhale, as you push the bar up, away from your body. Extend your arms to just under full extension. Repeat this for eight repetitions as your first set.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR BENCH PRESS

A bench press is a heavy duty workout. In all likelihood, you are going to feel sore after your session of bench press, as it works out several major muscle groups the day after your lifting session. The primary muscles that are involved are pectoralis major, minor located in the chest. The muscles of the back, arm and the triceps are also highly activated when you bench press. Research studies go on to prove that eccentric muscle contractions cause maximum muscle damage. When you do a bench press the bar is gradually lowered to the chest, resulting an eccentric muscle contraction and a higher degree of DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness).

To avoid muscle soreness, you need to prepare ahead for a heavy-duty session of bench press by warming up with a 5-10 minute jog and a set of lightweight bench repetitions. 

THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE FOR BENCH PRESS

The bench press is a strenuous exercise. When not performed correctly, it can wreck your shoulders. Learn the essential tips to perform bench press correctly.

1.      Hold the bar in the base of your palm, close to your wrist. Squeeze the bar.

2.      Put your hands inside the ring marks of the bar and the vertical forearms at the bottom.

3.      Wrap your thumbs around the bar. Do not bench press with a thumbless grip.

4.      Your wrists should perform a straight line bar to wrist to elbow. Don’t bench with bent wrists or they will hurt.

5.      Your elbows should be about 75-degree at the bottom. They shouldn’t touch your torso or flare out 90-degree.

6.      Your forearms should remain vertical to the floor from every angle, from the side as well as the front.

7.      Stick your shoulders back on the bench. Do not shrug your shoulders forward at the top. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to increase stability when you bench.

8.      Raise your chest to the ceiling. Reach to the bar while you lower it. But keep your butt on the bench.

9.     Keep your head neutral. Avoid pushing it into your bench.

10.    Maintain the natural arch of your lower back.

11.    Keep your butt on the bench. Do not raise it while you are lifting.

12.    Keep your breath at the top, hold it on the way down, hold it at the bottom and exhale at the top.

Take time to perfect your technique and give yourself enough time to learn bench press. Learn your individual limitations and weaknesses, for your fitness goals to skyrocket. 

Whether you’re a professional athlete or a serious bodybuilder, you’re no stranger to creatine. In fact, in all likelihood, it is an integral part of your fitness schedule and for good reasons. Yet, all creatines are not at par. Before you make the switch, you should get your facts right on creatine, the most researched supplement so far.

1. What is creatine
2. How does it help build your muscle
3. Why should you move to creapure from creatine monohydrate
4. How should you use creatine

WHAT IS CREATINE

Creatine is an essential amino acid produced by the body.  It plays a key role in transporting and storing energy in every cell. The body processes creatine in the kidney and liver.

Research shows that creatine is more effective in high-intensity training, and explosive activities, like weight training, as well as sports that need short bursts of energy, such as football, baseball or sprinting.

Creatine plays a key role in transporting and storing energy in every cell. The adult human body contains 80 g-130 g of creatine.

With normal activity, you get to spend only 2 to 4g creatine per day, but if you are active physically and mentally, the need for creatine increases to 5g per day.

The body produces half of the creatine needed daily, and the rest needs to be ingested through food and supplements. 

HOW CREATINE WORKS

Though creatine is not an energy drink still it gives you enough energy to sustain more reps.

1. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy currency stored in your muscle cells in the energy reserve, phosphate creatine reservoir (PCr).
2. Each time muscle cells contract during a workout it loses a phosphate and changes into ADP (Adeno-di-phosphate). The dichotomy is that the body can’t use ADP to gain energy.
3. Hence it dips in the energy reserve, phosphate creatine reservoir (PCr) during an intense activity to borrow a phosphate to transform ADP into ATP, the acceptable energy currency for the body.  Here, lies the paradox.

WHY SHOULD YOU MOVE FROM CREATINE TO CREAPURE

Creatine has a critical role in managing your energy mechanism. This much is sure that fierce workouts and intense sports activity deplete your energy reserve causing fatigue. Now, if you want to move out of your fitness rut, you need to do that do a set or two more and here you need an extra dash of energy provided by creatine. Count on the purest creatine, Creapure to power your fitness sessions and see the difference.

1.      Purity

Manufactured by AlzChem AG in Germany, Creapure is the purest form of creatine available. While most creatine available in the market has a creatine content of around 99.9 percent, Creapure is 99.99 percent pure creatine, which makes it the best creatine available for fitness fanatics and athletes, as the difference of 0.09 percent could have a substantial effect on their performance.

2.       More muscle

Purer than other creatine available in the market Creapure with a higher concentration of phosphocreatine replenishes your ATP reserve sooner, which enables you to last longer in the gym. Your number of reps increase which will show in your muscle growth. The benefits of creapure will show in a larger muscle mass. Initially, the muscle swell will come from water because creatine pulls water in your muscle cells to trigger protein synthesis, but later it will be muscles, an outcome of your extended workout.

3.       More power

The users of creatine also notice a smaller decrease in muscle pH during exertion. Certainly, creatine supplementation is extremely beneficial in sports that require speed, such as sprinting, long jump, swimming. For bodybuilders engaged in intensive strength training creatine supplementation works to improve performance in the areas of maximum strength and endurance.

And, if the creatine is creapure, the purest creatine available, ergogenic benefits multiply.                                                   

HOW TO SUPPLEMENT CREATINE

Usually, creatine is taken in loading and maintenance phase. In the loading phase.

1. 20g of creatine is consumed for 5 days to saturate muscle cells with creatine.
2. Rather than having it all in one go, break it in four doses of 5g spaced out in a day. Mix it with 200 ml of water and non-acidic beverage of your choice.
3. 5 g suffices for maintenance therapy lasting for 21 days, preferably post-workout.  

RECOMMENDED SERVING

A daily dose of 5 g is recommended.

1. Endeavour to take creatine with caffeine-free beverages, such as water, fruit juice or warm tea (which improves solubility).
2. Once you start to supplement creatine, please ensure that you drink enough fluids. It’s recommended to drink 100 ml of liquid for 1 g of creatine. Avoid storing creatine and consume it fresh, because creatine does not stay stable for long in liquids.

Since all creatines are not equal, now is the time to move on to Creapure, the purest creatine available and see your fitness standards and performance catapult to a new league.

Are men from Mars and women from Venus when it comes to losing weight? Women seem to agree. It looks like men are blessed as far as weight loss is concerned. If you’ve doubts, ask a bunch of dieting women for verification. Somehow, men just need to cut portion size and exercise a bit to lose weight whereas, for women, weight loss is a subject that seems to envelop their lives and lifestyles. Rare is a woman who is content with her weight. Flabby arms, an extra tyre of flesh around the midriff, buttocks and stomach are the sore points in a woman’s life and her trials and tribulations, with diet begin once she reaches teenage years.

HOW FAT BURN DIFFERS IN MEN AND WOMEN?

Surplus calories get stored in the body in the form of triglycerides. The body dips in its calorie reserve of triglycerides and breaks those down through a process called lipolysis to fuel the muscles.  When we talk of losing extra layers and tyres, the research gets focused on fat metabolism immediately. Many studies show that men and women may process, store and use fat differently both while doing exercise and while at rest.  

1. MORE MUSCLES IN MEN

To start with, men and women share different body types. Men are large and more muscular because of testosterone hormone and have less fat. For a man, healthy body fat percentage hovers around 10-15 whereas a woman has any day more body fat as compared to a man and for her the healthy body fat percentage is 20-25. Does more fat percentage in a woman make her fatter? No, because this extra fat is part of her physiology.

2. WHERE IS THE FAT

Also, the fat storage region varies for a man and a woman.  In a man, the surplus energy from excess calories or fat is stored in abdomen. Whereas, in a woman it is spread more evenly and gets concentrated in her hips and thighs (the classic pear shape). Health wise, the pear shape has fewer health risks than the central or abdominal obesity. Moreover, belly fat shows a good response to basic regular exercise, ideally 30 to 60 minutes a day, even if you don’t lose weight. On the contrary, the spread out fat shows less noticeable results to diet and exercise.  

3. HOW FAT MOLECULES RESPOND TO FAT BURN

How quickly fat will get burnt is a lot dependent on the storage site of the fat, physical activity level and gender. The first step in fat burn involves mobilizing fat from the storage spot.  When fat molecules get nudged from its site of storage, it can be broken down further through lipolysis. The hormones that induce lipolysis are epinephrine, growth hormone, testosterone and cortisol. Doing cardiovascular workouts and endurance training, like lifting weights go on to increase your body’s sensitivity to epinephrine, a hormone and a neurotransmitter that’s also known as adrenaline. For such physically active people, lower levels of epinephrine are required to trigger fat burn. Epinephrine goes on to target alpha and beta receptors. With more sensitive receptors readily available, the body is in a better position to burn fat.Here lies in the catch: pear-shaped obesity in women is not as responsive to these receptors as the abdominal obesity in men. Now, you know why once chips cross the lips of women they always land on hips.   

It’s not that in weight wars, the scales are always skewed in favour of men. Nature has designed women in such a way that she has below-mentioned advantages in terms of weight loss

1.      RESPIRATORY EXCHANGE RATE IN MEN AND WOMEN

Have you noticed your breath when you climb uphill? It goes short and swift and when you meditate, it is slow and long. In one breath you normally breathe in more oxygen and breathe out less carbon dioxide. The ratio between Co₂ and O₂  is called Respiratory Exchange Ratio. Those who have a lower RER burn fat for fuel and it has been found that women have lower RER. On the contrary, men have higher RER and burn glucose for fuel.

2.      HORMONE LEVEL

Fluctuating weight in response to hormones is no secret to a woman. The primary hormones in a woman are estrogen and progesterone. When estrogen declines in menopause, metabolism slows down and women gain weight easily. On the contrary, over-secretion of estrogen also leads to accumulation of weight. In the right amounts, estrogen seems to help increase the rate of fat metabolism both at exercising and rest. The hormone estrogen helps to stop the production of the lipoprotein lipase hormone. This is an enzyme that triggers fat to be stored in the body tissues.

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS FOR MEN AND WOMEN

The science behind sustained weight loss is to save calories and burn more calories. Men seem to win the battle of bulge because they have more muscles, which is a metabolically active tissue and burns more calories even at rest. Along with building muscles, both sexes can benefit by making certain tweaks in their diet plan.  The tried and tested weight loss tips for men and women include:

1. Whey protein is extremely helpful to lose weight for both men and women. It is rich in leucine that helps build muscles, along with exercise. Moreover, whey protein keeps you full for a longer duration to and helps control food cravings.
2. Water helps in weight loss, but there are conflicting opinions on the right temperature.  Some believe (influenced by the West) that you should drink cold water as your body has to expend energy to raise the temperature of the cold water. Traditional Indian wisdom suggests that you should drink water as hot as tea, to melt body fat. We would say that you should remember to drink a glass of water every two hours. Usually, we mistake hunger for thirst.
3. Have a totally salt free diet once a week. Many times weight gain is a result of water retention. A salt-free diet helps control water retention.
4. Restrict your calorie intake with meal replacement shakes. Rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, meal replacement shakes provide adequate nutrition in fewer calories.
5. Recruit fat burners for effective weight loss. Fat burners have herbal ingredients like green tea, guarana, garcinia cambogia extracts to boost your metabolism.  Choose a fat burner that does not interfere with your appetite and raises your body’s temperature so that you end up spending more calories throughout the day.

In the long run, weight loss equals to consuming fewer calories and spending more. In one study out of England, men and women were each put on commercial weight-loss programs. Two months in, the men had lost twice as much weight as the women — and three times as much body fat. But by six months, the rate of weight loss had evened out between the genders. Therefore, have patience and persist with your diet plan and exercise. The result has to show, sooner or later. 

Do you skip warm up to save time and get started on the workout right away? Then, go back in time to your school days and remember your physical training class always started with a good ten minutes of warm up. While you giggled doing all those stretches, it did ensure that your muscles became elastic and flexible enough to endure the runs and exercises you would do after that warm up. True, to its name, warm up increases temperature of your body and blood flow to the muscles. While there is no hard and fast rule on how long should you warm up, 10-20 minutes are enough to prep your body for the intense training sessions ahead.

The pre-workout phase of your weight training session is usually divided into two phases: a general warm-up phase and a stretching phase. It is always recommended that you perform your warm ups followed by some stretching.

Performing a warm up routine raises your body temperature and increases the circulation of blood and oxygen throughout the body. A warm up with stretching initiates the circulation of blood and oxygen to the soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, skeletons and helps prepare your body for higher performance during the workout.

Regular stretching helps improve your joint flexibility by increasing the range of motion. This helps relieve joint’s stress or tension and decreases the probability of injury. It even accelerates the process of healing associated with muscles, joints or bones. Warm ups and stretching are usually performed before and after your weight training which may vary from 15 to 30 minutes as per your availability of time. 

HOW A PRE-WORKOUT WARM UP IMPROVES YOUR OVERALL WORKOUT PERFORMANCE

When you relax sitting in the chair, most of the small blood vessels (capillaries) within your skeletal muscles are closed and produce a relatively low 15-20-percent of blood flow to the muscle cells but when you exercise for about 10 to 15 minutes, the blood flow in the skeletal muscles increases to about 70 to 75 percent because of the opening of blood capillaries.

Enhanced blood flow ensures an increase in muscle temperature. The increase in blood flow to the muscles helps the hemoglobin in your blood release more oxygen to the muscle cells. More blood to muscles along with the availability of more oxygen helps your body perform more efficiently during the workout. An increase in muscle temperature contributes significantly to faster muscle contraction and relaxation. This also ensures that your muscle metabolism and nerve transmission are enhanced for faster and smoother coordination. Top 5 benefits of a warm up are:

1.  INCREASES MENTAL FOCUS

An engaging warm-up helps you focus more effectively which in turn helps you learn the workout lessons much quickly and allows you to enjoy the physical activities while you progress towards your fitness goals. Warm up routine allows your mind to remain relaxed and positive and keeps up your concentration throughout the workout session. In a way, warm up routine helps you get mentally ready for tough workout sessions and makes you endure discomfort during the workout easily.

To sum up, warm ups and stretching go a long way in improving your technique, skill and coordination during your physical training.

2. ENHANCING THE RANGE OF MOTION ALONG YOUR JOINTS

Proper warm up assists your joints to extend safely along your joints for a full range of motion. This helps enhance the range of motion along your joints makes sure that your limbs are flexible enough to perform more difficult and strenuous workouts.

PREVENTS INJURIES

The primary goal of any arm-up is to prevent injury during your intense physical activity. With right warm up and stretching, you allow your muscles to undergo a greater range of motion which subsequently decreases the chance of excessive soreness, tendinitis, strains, overtaxed muscles or fatigue. Warmer muscles ensure that there will be no acute injuries such as hamstring strains which are quite common due to improper workouts.

TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE WARM UP

• Get ready for your warm up routine which may include light cardiovascular activity for about 10 to 20 minutes as per your requirement. The cardiovascular activity can be in the form of jogging or can be done using a treadmill or a recumbent bike.
• It is always suggested that you don’t follow the same warm up routine every day when you go for the workout. For instance, if you have to perform upper body weight training, you may consider warming up on a rowing machine whereas, if you have to workout your legs during the weight training routine, you may consider warming up on the treadmill or exercise bike.

It’s time to get wise and follow the right set of warm up exercises for your workouts. Warm ups and stretching prevent your injury while you work out and help you achieve your fitness goals easily without much complication.