MUSCLEBLAZE

Hello Ziddis! Do you think fitness is only about what you do in the gym? It shouldn’t come as a surprise to know that there are many things that lead to your performance in the gym, making them more important than going to the gym. Recovery, for example, is extremely essential. You might crush your sets and reps, but unless your body is well-rested and fueled up, your progress will stall or, worse, degrade because of injuries. From downtime to food habits, from sleep cycle to rest days, let us understand the foam rolling benefits and how we can recover for better performance, reduced soreness and long-term result.

Foam Rolling Benefits

Have you heard of foam rolling? For those who haven’t, foam rolling is known for self-myofascial release and has gained popularity as a go-to recovery technique. The appreciation it gets is well deserved because it does the work well. By applying pressure to specific muscle groups using the foam roller, you can break up the knots in your muscles and fascia, which is the connective tissue that surrounds them. Here is how foam rolling benefits you in your recovery process:

• Reduced muscle soreness: It eases delayed onset muscle soreness, aka DOMS and makes it easier to move around the next day.
• Improves flexibility: Foam rolling after workouts improves the joints’ range of motion and reduces the risk of getting injured.
• Boosts circulation: Foam rolling helps better blood flow, which means nutrients reach your muscles faster.
• Speeds up recovery time: Regularly using a foam roller can help muscles repair themselves more efficiently after an intense workout session.
• Spending 1 to 2 minutes per muscle group post your workout, especially focusing on tight or sore areas, can help you feel so much more relieved.
• It serves as a great cool down to calm your body, put it in a slower state and relax after an intense training session.

Sleep and Muscle Recovery

You have probably heard this before: “muscles are torn in the gym, fed in the kitchen and built in bed.” Well, if you live by this, you are going to ace your fitness game. Sleep is when your body repairs the micro tears caused in the muscle during exercise. Sleep is also the best time for the body to replenish vital hormones like growth hormones and testosterone to help recovery and muscle growth.

Here is why sleep matters for recovery:

• Muscles are repaired during the deep sleep stage by the process of tissue regeneration.
• Adequate sleep leads to more balanced hormone production. Quality sleep helps in growth hormone secretion and control of cortisol, aka the stress hormone.
• Better sleep improves focus and reaction time, which is important for not just athletes but everyone to have a great day in and out of the gym.

You can improve your sleep quality by:

• Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
• Reducing screen exposure and caffeine at least an hour before your downtime
• Create a night routine to calm yourself down before sleep.
• Aim for 7 to 9 hours of “quality” sleep every night
• A dark, cool and quiet environment can help you sleep better.

Workout Recovery Nutrition Connection

Your post-workout meal is not just for filling your tummy or killing your hunger. It plays an important role in how your body heals and grows stronger. After a productive workout, your glycogen stores are depleted, and your muscles require energy and nutrients. This is what your body needs after a workout session:

• 20 to 30 grams of high-quality protein like tofu, paneer, Greek yoghurt, eggs or lean meat for muscle building and repairing wear and tear.
• Complex carbs like oats, sweet potato or brown rice to replenish glycogen stores.
• Healthy fats from nuts, seeds, fatty fish and avocados to support hormone production and reduce inflammation.
• Electrolyte-rich hydration to replenish the minerals lost in sweating it out at the gym.
• Various gym supplements like protein powders, creatine supplements, and fit foods for healthy muscle building

So, your performance at the gym is directly impacted by your recovery, which is fueled by your nutrition.

Quick Muscle Recovery Steps

Even if you are short on time, never skip recovery. Here is a straightforward routine to help you with effective ways of muscle recovery:

• Foam roll + stretching for 10 minutes post-workout
• Hydration with electrolyte-infused water
• Mix of carbs, proteins, healthy fats and fibre in your post-workout meal
• Quality sleep
• Alternating hot and cold showers to reduce soreness
• Light walks or yoga on rest days

Read Also: Post-Workout Recovery with Vegan Protein Done Right

Takeaway

Workout is not enough to stay fit. When you choose a path to be active in order to be fit, you must also take care of your body and prepare it for an active lifestyle. The stronger your recovery game, the better results you will get. Do not skip the cooldown, prioritise your sleep, make nutritious food for better recovery and do not take rest days for granted. Your future self is already thanking you for taking care of your body!

Hello Ziddis! Hormones may be invisible, but their effects are impossible to ignore. Did you know hormones have the most impact on our health? Their effects show not just in our health but also in our appearance! From mood swings to menstrual health, from fatigue to weight gain, from acne to diabetes, hormonal imbalance shows up in frustrating ways. For women, hormonal shifts are especially brutal and misunderstood. It is a vicious cycle of issues!

But here, we are not just going to rant about what hormones can make us go through, but also about how it can be fixed to a certain extent. With the right food, lifestyle and movement, you can take control of your hormonal health naturally.

Hormonal Health

Hormones are chemical messengers that regulate every function in our body, be it sleep, appetite, stress, metabolism, fertility, skin and hair health or even mood! For women, hormones take more control, like estrogen, progesterone, insulin, cortisol, and thyroid can make a big impact on a woman’s health. When these hormones are balanced, life feels like La La Land! Women’s skin, hair, digestion, menstrual cycle and energy levels all fall into a rhythm. But if they are out of balance due to stress, diet, major changes, environmental impact, sleep cycle issues or medical conditions like PCOS, thyroid or insulin resistance, symptoms start showing up!

Here are some signs that your body gives to communicate that your hormones might be out of sync:

• Irregular or painful periods
• Hair thinning or hair loss
• Weight gain or difficulty losing weight
• Acne and other skin issues
• Fatigue
• Sleep cycle disruption
• Hot flashes
• Low libido
• Mood swings
• Anxiety
• Depressive episodes

If you checked some of these, you might want to check yourself. You are not alone, and change is possible, but you would need to act quickly!

Hormone Balance

Your body thrives on balance. Balancing your hormones is extremely important. Rather than going for the quick fixes from the clickbait you see on your social media, your goal must be to create an environment for your body that helps your hormones regulate themselves naturally.

Here are 5 ways you can fix your hormonal balance:

1. Eat in sync with your cycle

• During the follicular and ovulation phases, you must eat lighter, fresher foods like leafy greens, lean proteins, fruits and seeds like pumpkin seeds and flax seeds.
• Luteal and menstrual phases require you to feed your body with warm and comfortable food like complex carbs, healthy fats and seeds like sunflower and sesame seeds.

It is also important to include these foods throughout your cycle:

• Healthy fats for estrogen and progesterone support
• Proteins for stabilising your blood sugar and supporting hormone creation
• Fibres to help detox excess estrogen

2. Balance your blood sugar

Spikes and crashes in blood sugar can wreak havoc on cortisol, insulin and even reproductive hormones. Fixing it requires some lifestyle changes like:

• Not skipping meals, especially breakfast.
• Include protein and fat in every meal
• Avoid excess caffeine
• Reduce intake of refined sugar

3. Prioritise your rest and quality sleep

While hormone imbalance causes sleep cycle issues, it is also caused by sleep cycle issues

• Aim for 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep
• Create a consistent bedtime routine
• Limit screen light before bed

An increase in cortisol or lower melatonin levels can cause disruption in the whole system.

4. Move your body wisely

Exercising can support hormonal balance, but if the intensity is too much, this can backfire.

• Try to strike a balance between cardio and strength training
• Involve yoga and pilates in your workout routine
• Sync your workouts to your cycle, like high-energy movements during the ovulation phase and gentler workouts closer to periods.

5. Manage your stress

Chronic stress is one of the biggest culprits for hormonal disruption. It raises cortisol, which then interferes with progesterone and causes insulin imbalance.

• Practising breathwork and meditation can help
• Taking breaks and going outdoors
• Schedule a downtime like you schedule work meetings.
• Have a relaxing morning and night ritual.

Hormonal Health Tips for Women

We also have some additional natural ways in which many women can balance their hormones to lead a more fulfilling life, which is not governed by continuous hormone disruptions. Here is what you can do:

• Seed cycling: It is a natural method of using different seeds during different phases of your cycle to support estrogen and progesterone. Some fit foods have a mix of seeds. 
• Adaptogens like ashwagandha and shatavari: These can help you regulate stress and the menstrual cycle.
• Stay hydrated: Hydration is very important, especially if you are active. It will help keep bloating and cramps at bay
• Gut-friendly foods: A healthy gut helps your body remove excess hormones. Include probiotics like curd and fermented food, and also a good share of fibres in your meals.
• Watch for nutrient deficiencies: Any nutrient deficiency can cause hormonal changes. Make up for these nutrient deficiencies by adding multivitamins to your routine.

Get checked for foods that cause inflammation: Bloating, acne, and weight gain can be linked to an inflammatory reaction in your body. Get checked for foods that trigger it.

Hormonal health is not one-size-fits-all. No two women could have the exact same problem, so their solutions will be personal too. Make sure to get an opinion from your gynecologists or doctor before you make significant changes in your diet and lifestyle.

Read Also: Why Women Should Lift Heavy – And No, It Won’t Make You Bulky

Takeaway

Hormonal health is not just a woman’s thing”. It is the foundation of your well-being and health. While imbalances can feel overwhelming, you have the power to support your body naturally. By focusing on nourishing food, gentle movement, enough rest and stress relief, you can guide your hormones back to their right place and quantity!

Chase balance and health will follow!

Hello Ziddis! Everyone wants to get fit, but what does ‘fit’ even mean? Can you get fit without discipline? How do you know whatever you are doing is leading the way to make you fit? There are tonnes of questions when it comes to fitness, and we try to answer all of them. Today, we will help you build a workout routine tailored to your fitness goals! Fitness is not a one-size-fits-all, and that is why building a workout routine centred around YOUR fitness goals will require your participation more than anything. So let’s build a lifestyle together!

Fitness Goals

Before we pull up our joggers and lace up our shoes or start grabbing the heaviest dumbbells on the rack, let us figure out what your ideal fit self looks and feels like. Your fitness goals can be varied, and they will determine what kind of workout you do and how often you should do it.

Here are some common fitness goals that can help you understand or give an idea about yours:

• Fat loss: Prioritise a mix of cardio and strength training with a calorie-controlled diet.
• Muscle gain: Focus on resistance and weight training with progressive overload. This can be supported by high high-protein diet.
• Improved endurance: Engage in intense cardio like running, cycling or swimming and increase the duration or speed over time.
• Better flexibility: Try yoga, pilates, stretching, or mobility work to improve your joint health and reduce the risk of injury.
• General wellness: Combine some movement like a brisk walk with some light weight training and functional fitness in your routine, and maintain a nutritious diet to keep your health up to the mark.

Being specific about what getting fit means to you can help you form an actionable plan to achieve your goal sooner.

Do You Need a Workout Routine?

The short answer is YES! A longer one is us helping you devise a workout routine. If you have a goal, just staying active is not enough. A routine provides structure and consistency.

Here is why you need a workout routine:

• It keeps you accountable
• It helps you track your progress
• Stops you from overtraining and getting injured
• It brings some clarity
• You break down your goals into actionable
• This gives you a fair shot at your fitness goals

Without a plan, you might either undertrain some muscle groups, skip some important workouts or even skip your rest days or neglect a part of the workout that could be more relevant to your goals. A workout routine ensures that your effort is targeted towards your objective.

How to Build a Workout Routine

Creating a routine is not about picking a template from an influencer and following it. Your plan needs to be customised. Here are a few ways in which you can customise your workout routine to fit your goals:

1. Assess your current fitness level:

Knowing your capabilities and limits is necessary to start on the right note. By overestimating your fitness, you increase the risk of injuries. This also helps you set realistic expectations and timelines.

2. Set a clear goal:

Your workout routine should bring you closer to your fitness goals. Take a moment to go through the goals we spoke about earlier and pick one for yourself.

3. Decide on possibilities:

Answer these questions. 

• How many days can you dedicate to working out per week?
• How much time do you think you can work out for during each session?
• What time works out the best for you?

Based on these, you can understand what you can do for your fitness routine

4. Divide the workouts:

Depending on how many days a week you can dedicate to working out, you can figure out what needs to be done.

• 3 days/week: full body session every alternate day
• 4 days/week: divide your training into 2 days for the upper body and 2 for the lower body
• 5 to 6 days/week: Push-pull-leg could be the right approach for you, or you can try muscle-group specific training.

5. Choose your type of training:

• Strength training
• Cardio
• HIIT
• Yoga

Pick from these or spread them across the week.

6. Progressive overload:

It is important to improve yourself and push limits.

7. Ideal workout routine:

• Monday: Cardio
• Tuesday: Strength training
• Wednesday: HIIT
• Thursday: Legs
• Friday: Core training
• Saturday: Yoga
• Sunday: Rest day

Beginner Workout Routine

If you are just a beginner, then it is normal to feel overwhelmed. You do not need fancy equipment or gym access. You need a well-planned workout routine. Here is an example of a 3-day full-body workout plan to help you get started

Day 1: Strength training

• 10 squats
• 8 knee push-ups
• 10 glute bridges
• 20-seconds plank

Go for 3 rounds of this circuit and remember to take breaks in between.

Day 2: Cardio and Core

• 20 minutes of brisk walking
• 10 crunches
• 15 mountain climbers
• 1 minute of side planks.

Repeat this circuit twice, and remember to warm up and cool down after the training

Day 3: Full body mobility or yoga flow

• Cat-cow stretch
• Downward dog
• Child’s pose
• Standing forward fold
• Seated twists

Each pose should be held for 30 seconds, and repeat this flow twice.

Tips for Beginners

If you are new to the fitness habit, do not be overwhelmed. Follow these tips to stay safe and make the most out of your training:

• Start with 2 to 3 days per week to build the habit of showing up
• Do not compare your progress to others
• Focus on form
• Stay consistent
• Protein up by drinking a shaker bottle full of protein before or after a workout
• Stay hydrated

Read Also: How to Build Your Own Workout Routine

Takeaway

Building a workout routine is not just for athletes or influencers. Anyone who wants to make themselves fitter and better or live healthier can try it. Your fitness goal should be a reflection of what you think you need, not what others do or where they are. Everyone’s body is different, so make sure you realise what your body needs from your workout. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned fitness enthusiast, show up for every session, and your future self will thank you!