Shaivy Choubey

Hello Ziddis! We Indians have great immunity but we have a stubborn body. Our body often refuses to go through sudden changes. Like our belly fat. Genetically we find losing body fat a much difficult task. Belly fat is very stubborn fat and it can be so because of various reasons like our cultural practices, diet, lifestyle choices, hormonal imbalance, etc. So let us understand this problem better and try to find a solution.

How Does Food Become Belly Fat?

• Food goes through various steps of breakdown before it reaches its destination.
• When we consume food i.e. calories, we burn those to keep the body going.
• The body stores the energy from calories as fats.
• Food that is high in calories like refined carbs, sugary snacks or fried foods leads to more fat storage.
• High-insulin foods like refined flour (maida), white rice or sweets cause insulin to spike.
• This spike triggers the body to store fat
• This fat is stored in the abdominal region of our body
• Fatty foods like trans fats and saturated fats like fried snacks, processed food or canned goods with preservatives are stored in the belly.
• Since they are stored rather than burned, it is difficult to get rid of the belly fat.

Why Indians Have Stubborn Belly Fat?

Indians have stubborn belly fat. This is a fact but why is that so? There are multiple reasons for that.

• Indian food has carbs as a staple. Most staple food in Indian households is rice or chapati along with which potato is relished irrespective of the region. Though balanced on the plate, the necessity of including high carb foods is what makes the base of every meal.
• Indians enjoy their snacks either deep fried in oil or sugary or both. Every occasional and evening snack is calorie-dense.
• Indians though majorly non-vegetarian follow very strict non-veg-day rules where during certain days of the week non veg food is avoided. This can reduce the protein intake required to improve metabolism and maintain a lean physique

How to Solve the Issue of Belly Fat?

Do not worry! This is not a grave issue. The problem of belly fat can be solved with just a few changes in your everyday life. Here’s how:

• Make sure you increase your protein intake
• You can have double the dal than the rice you take
• Swap rice with healthier carbs like brown rice or millet
• Swap normal or refined wheat with whole wheat
• Reduce sugary sweets and indulge in fruits
• Get checked for insulin
• Do not sleep or rest after having a meal. Walking around for a bit
• Take the help of fat burners or weight loss pills by MuscleBlaze to get faster results.
• Have an active lifestyle
• Indulge in mindful snacking

Do Females Also Deal With Stubborn Belly Fat?

Stubborn belly fat is highly observed in females, especially beyond the age of 21. Their bodies undergo major transitions, and hormones are impacted. Women store fats mainly in the abdomen, thighs, hips, and waist regions due to estrogen.

Many women find it difficult to lose belly fat during pregnancy and postpartum because of changes in metabolism, hormones, and muscle structure.

Stress impacts cortisol and can lead to the accumulation of belly fat which also becomes a reason why post marriage, women happen to put on weight.

But there are solutions for this:

Women must engage in cardio but more in strength training to build a healthy metabolism and burn fats.

• Swap for healthy fats
• Under your hormones and eat food according to that
• Add Antioxidants to your diet
• Practice yoga to reduce stress

Takeaway

Dealing with stubborn belly fat can be frustrating but with patience, persistence and right direction you can achieve it. You need to focus on making some lifestyle changes and fat loss can be a cake walk. With correct food choices and swapping unhealthy foods for their healthier replacements you are halfway there. Stay active, stay health, stay happy!

Hello Ziddis! It’s the time of weather change. Morning you want to snuggle in the blanket, afternoon you can survive without AC, evening it starts to rain unexpectedly and the night is just humid or cold. We all feel this uncertainty in our bodies and itch in our throat every day. With weather changing so unpredictably, how can one stay dedicated to their routine? Let us understand this problem better.

Does Weather Change Impact Our Body?

Seasonal shifts always have an impact on our bodies. We don’t always have a way to predict and tackle it. The change in temperature and humidity can affect how our body, especially our immune system reacts and makes us more vulnerable to sickness.

Some of the Common Complaints are:

• Feeling sluggish
• Getting a fever
• Having sore throat
• Experiencing fatigue
• Having joint pain
• Continuous headache
• Allergies

This is the result of our immune system getting weakened as it gets caught off guard, resulting in strain.

Common Diseases During Changing Weather

Some of the common seasonal diseases are:

• Cold and flu due to drop in temperature since viruses thrive in cold atmospheres. Our immune system is less active during this transition
• Fever is our immune system’s response to any disease
• Respiratory Infections and allergies like asthma, sore throat or respiratory tract inflammation can be caused due to air quality concerns or pollen levels.
• Sinus infections can be caused due to changing air pressure where in our sinuses struggle to adjust causing frequent headaches.

Importance of Rest and Sleep

When our body and mind are tired because of such weather fluctuations or we feel unwell because of climate change it is best to rest out and treat ourselves because:

• One needs time to heal the body during sickness
• Resting and sleep are important for the immune system
• Rest allows the body to regain lost energy
• Rest helps fight infections

Should we Train when We are Sick?

When you are down with seasonal sickness, you should not train or exercise. This is because:

• Your body is not strong or resistant enough for heavy physical activities.
• It is important to conserve your energy.
• Training, while you are sick, can slow down recovery
• It can also increase your chances of getting injured.
• It can also worsen the symptoms

Skipping a workout might feel like a setback, but taking a break when you’re unwell is essential for long-term progress. Rest doesn’t mean you’re losing fitness. It means helping yourself bounce back stronger.

How to Rest the Right Way

The only right way to rest is to make sure you do not do anything to worsen the symptoms and do whatever is necessary to help your body ease out.

• Stay Hydrated
• Eat Nutrient-Dense Foods
• Include Multivitamins
• Consult a doctor
• Complete the dose of medicines prescribed to you
• Sleep well
• Do not take up heavy activities
• Add some electrolytes to your water

Takeaway

It may feel terrible to have an unplanned halt in your fitness journey. But listen to your body and understand its signs to you. Your body always hints you to about what is best for you. As weather changes, you need to be more aware of how you can acclimatize your body to it. Ayurveda has a solution for this so consult a suitable physician and start taking regular doses of Ayurvedic remedies. Stay hydrated, sleep well, and support your immune system with the right intake. A well-rested body is a stronger body in making!

Hello Ziddis! While we work so hard to make our bodies better and muscles bigger, there are more challenges to it. Muscle imbalances are one of the common muscular issues we know of but it isn’t as spoken about as it should. The naivety around this topic often makes everyone think this is very abnormal. So let’s jump right into this blog to understand more about Muscle Imbalance.

What is Muscle Imbalance or Disbalance

Muscle imbalance or muscle disbalance is what occurs when a set of muscles like the back or the arms stronger than the other, usually an opposing group of muscles. This created uneven tension and bad posture.

This Could Happen for Various Reasons:

• Poor posture
• Bad form while exercising
• Improper workout techniques
• Uncalibrated gym machinery
• Imbalance in push and pull exercise routines
• Not working opposing muscle groups
• Not doing an overall workout
• Avoiding a muscle group in your workout routine

Imbalance Shoulder Muscles

Our shoulders very literally carry all the burden. Be it stress, strain or posture tension. Should imbalance be caused by exercising only one side and ignoring the other? For example, you only do 3 sets of weights by your dominant arm but 1 by your non-dominate arm. This can cause one side of the shoulder’s muscles to grow and develop more than the other because of poor form, overuse of one side and muscle injuries. This can lead to shoulder pain and locking of the shoulder.

What would help is if you can’t do more sets by both sides, do less but an equal number of sets. Make sure your posture is correct and your shoulders are not tightened.

Back Muscle Imbalance

Back muscles can feel imbalanced because of having a sedentary workstyle. Like sitting in the office all day in front of a laptop in an unfavourable position can cause back muscle imbalance. This can cause back pain. When you go to the gym with a very common back pain, you end up exercising other muscles to avoid worsening your injury. By doing chest, arms even abs exercises and avoiding the back this causes an imbalance. Your whole body toned and back slouchy can make your overall appearance bad and put more strain on your back to carry an otherwise built-up body.

Make sure that you treat your back issues before they get worse and get a diagnosis for it in case there is an underlying spine issue.

How to Fix Muscle Imbalance?

Do not worry! This is not as serious if you find out before contracting any major injury. But you must work on making it better for yourself. Here is how you can fix muscle imbalance:

• Understand where you feel the imbalance in your muscles.
• Target those muscles and start training them
• Strengthen the weaker muscles
• Stretch the stronger muscles
• Use a foam roller for muscle soreness
• Use gainers to put on weight so that you can build muscles
• Use creatine to heal and repair your muscles faster and keep them healthy.

What Exercises Can Help with Muscle Imbalance?

Some exercises are better at helping you gain balance in your muscles than others which can cause injuries in this condition. Those are:

• Face pulls
• Reverse Flys
• Lat raises
• Rows
• Pull-ups
• One arm rows
• Dumbbell press

Make sure you pick the one that addresses your underdeveloped target area

Takeaway

Muscle imbalances are common but can be corrected with the right training approach. By identifying which muscles are weaker, performing targeted exercises, and maintaining good form, you can address these imbalances and prevent future injuries. Whether it’s your shoulders or back, a well-rounded training routine that includes both pushing and pulling movements will keep your body balanced. Make sure you are not avoiding what is essential for you out of fear or laziness. Your body will thank you for understanding it better one arm curl at a time.

In today’s blog, we shall talk about how muscle recovery is an essential part of any workout routine, especially the ones related to muscle building and involving weights or HIIT.

Muscle Recovery

Muscle recovery is one of the most important parts of your fitness routine. Maybe even more than exercise. When we work out, our muscles undergo tears and cuts through the muscle fibre due to strain on the muscles. The process of healing those tears is called muscle recovery. It is very important to deal with this with sensibility because this can lead to bigger injuries if overlooked. When these tears are healed, muscles grow stronger.

It Happens in Two Stages:

Rebuild and Repair. During the repair phase, your body sends nutrient-rich blood to the damaged muscle fibres to heal them. The rebuilding phase happens after that and in this phase, the muscle fibres fuse back stronger than before.

Quick Muscle Recovery: Why It Matters

When you are working out to build strong muscles and improve your fitness levels, quick muscle recovery is needed. During exercises especially when things get intense, we are constantly pushing our muscles to their limits which causes microtears. These are internal so often go unnoticed unless it starts hurting and impacting your performance. The quicker these tears are repaired and muscles recovered, the faster you can resume your workout and avoid injuries.

If this is ignored the recovery is slower or stunted and can cause stiffness, fatigue and lack of strength. What impacts the rate of muscle recovery is:

• Rest days: How often you rest impacts your recovery
• Nutrition: The right nutrients can make a world of difference.
• Supplements: Some supplements like creatine help in faster muscle recovery
• Sleep: How well you sleep is very important
• Hydration: Staying hydrated helps flush out toxins and reduces muscle soreness.
• Your protein intake
• Nature of carbs you consume
• Anti-inflammatory foods rich in omega-3

Post-Workout Recovery: Best Practices

Your post-workout ritual is more essential than the workout itself because that sets the tone for how your muscles will repair themselves. Focusing on recovery can help you feel less sore, maintain your energy levels, and prevent injuries in the long run. Here are some practical tips to boost post-workout recovery:

• Stretching: To make the transition between other things and work out smoother and check if there is any pain or injury.
• Cool Down Session: To conclude the workout slowly
• Foam Rolling: To deal with any muscle pull
• Massage Target Groups: To check for any soreness
• Post-Workout Nutrition: Having a balanced meal to prep yourself for more energy
• Hydration: By replenishing electrolytes
• Quick Snack: Like a protein bar or peanut butter scoop
• Active Recovery: Like yoga, walking, meditation

Takeaway

You need to pay attention to your body. It communicates for recovery in many ways. Hence it is believed that when you feel sensations you can’t explain that is your body’s sign language. Microtears are not visible externally hence it is important to be on the safer side and give your body the time it needs to recover and relax. Make sure to hydrate, nourish and rest. Remember, recovery is not just about resting but actively finding ways your muscles can heal quicker.

Hello Ziddis! The climate around has gotten very lethargic and you need to push yourself really hard to feel energized to take up activities. Feeling low on energy feels like a mood these days. But caffeine can only give you a high for a while. But this high also ends in lethargy. To have a caffeine-free way to boost energy you require a natural energy booster. There are plenty of ways to do so. Here’s how!

How to Gain Energy Fast with Natural Energy Boosters?

You can get an instant energy boost from natural sources too. Here are a few:

• Go for a walk in nature or during the early hours of the day.
• Stretch whenever you feel stuck in the same place.
• Listen to energetic songs. Songs according to the activity can make your mood better.
• Scroll through some memes but keep the duration short.
• Practice deep breathing.

Energy Booster Drinks Without Caffeine

Skipping caffeine does not have to come with the cost of feeling drowsy all day and being low on energy! We all think that coffee or caffeine-induced drinks are our only option for energy-boosting drinks. But you do not have to make a compromise anymore. If you’re searching for a caffeine-free drink to refuel, try these alternatives:

• Electrolyte-infused water: This keeps you hydrated and makes up for the loss of minerals during intense activity
• L-Carnitine drinks: Popularly known to burn fat, this is a drink you can add to beverages for an extra kick of energy
• Green smoothies: Having a drink made with spinach, kale, broccoli and other natural leafy greens. This not only gives you a natural boost but also makes you feel energized.
• Coconut water: Coconut water is naturally filled with electrolytes. It gives you hydration, glowing skin and a burst of energy
• Green Tea: While a few teas have caffeine properties, decaf green teas are a great way to feel refreshed without having caffeine.

Natural Energy Boosters for Long Term

You need to understand where your lack of energy comes from. It could be the deficiencies you may have, stress, loads of work or actual physical activity throughout the day. To tackle the low energy syndrome and give yourself a natural energy booster, check these methods out:

Get yourself to check for any deficiencies like Vitamins, especially vitamin B.

If you have Vitamin deficiencies, change your diet according to a dietician’s suggestion

• Stock up on fit foods and energy supplements
• Try some vitamin supplements
• Make sure you spend time in direct sunlight in the early morning sun
• Do not take hydration lightly
• Add leafy greens to as many meals as possible.
• Practice yoga, especially Pranayam.
• Have some ashwagandha supplement for stress relief.
• Ensure you get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

Energy Booster Workout

We may think that all workouts end up at the expense of energy. But that is not true. Some exercises are lighter and energise you to tackle the day. Here are a few energy-boosting exercises:

• Jogging
• Brisk Walk
• Yoga
• Pilates
• Stretches
• Breathing exercises
• Lightweight lifting
• Short hikes

Takeaway

Boosting energy does not need to come with the health compromises and complications that caffeine can bring. With simple steps and natural remedies, you can be caffeine-free and energized. Just remember to be consistent and train your body for a routine. A smart way to feel motivated to do these activities is by attaching exercises to hobbies like gardening would require you to bend or walk with heavy buckets of water, dancing is great cardio and so on. Make your surroundings pleasant and you will naturally draw more energy without even needing caffeine to power you through the day.