What is your favorite "muscle?"

Fast twitch and slow twitch, individuals normally have both types 50/50, so how come no matter how much weight you lift your arms look scrawny or maybe instead you can not keep up with the seemingly endless lunges in your girlfriend’s fitness class. Three major fiber types

■ slow twitch—endurance fibers
■fast twitch-A—resist fatigue and between the two extremes of ST and FT -B fibers
■ fast twitch-B—power fibers


Slow twitch fibers (type one) aid in activities such as long distance running. Use more energy (ATP) and oxygen (aerobic) for continual contraction, which gives them their anti-fatigue characteristics.


Fast twitch fibers (Type Two-B) give body builders their size and strength. These anaerobic fibers are characterized by their ability to accomplish short powerful burst needed for activities such as sprinting or power lifting, but unlike aerobic fibers they fatigue quick.

The Buff Basics

Rapid improvement in the first few weeks of lifting weights is due to the learning process which is a neurological. Muscle fibers do not work in isolation but in chronological order. Slow- twitch motor units are recruited first, followed by fast-twitch A and fast- twitch B, if needed. Muscle fiber composition is genetic, although both can adapt specifically to different types of training and result in increased size.


What does NOT happen
■Increase number of fibers
■Weight train will not improve aerobic capacity but not decrease it.
■Changing muscle type due to training. FT fibers cannot become ST fibers, or vice versa.

What DOES happens
■Increase the size (hypertrophy) of fibers
■Aerobics may decrease strength.
■Both can perform both anaerobic and aerobic, but each performs one better. Training can result in an increase in fiber type size (bigger percentage within muscle) and functional capacity

Muscles by Numbers
■8 reps—Strength
■1 to 3 reps—Neuro-muscular max strength
■5 to 8 reps—Max strength to stimulate hypertrophy
■6 to 12 reps—Size and moderate strength gains

Check out my website for more fitness info www.wix.com/wellbymel/mel

Too much exercise

I know… too much exercise; I can barely get my butt to the gym some days. Let alone worry about over doing it, but for some people if a little is good, more must be better.

Not the case. Really…I promise. You are not the exception to the rule.

The purpose of exercise is to stress the body beyond its norm, forcing it to get stronger and leaner.

Doing cardio for more than two hours a day, an equivalent of burning around 6,500 calories week, is not necessary. It does not provoke any added benefits, but there is potential for many serious side effects.

Keeping up such intensity will induce too much oxidative stress in your body. The undue stress on your joints can actually make them weaker leading to acute and chronic injury. Overtraining causes the adrenal gland to pump out excessive cortisol into the system. Result: a decrease your longevity.

Thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day is all you need to infer the healthy benefits of exercise such as reducing heart disease risks, diabetes and hypertension. Forty-five to 60 minutes for weight loss.

Resistance training follows the same theory. Keep your strength training sessions to 45 minutes to reduce unwanted cortisol (stress hormone) released into the system.

Excessive exercise, like extreme diets, attracts people who feel an extreme need for control in their lives.

Signs you might be exercising too much might show up as exhaustion, depression, a drop in performance and injuries.

Obesogens are Making You Fatter

Obesogen may sound like a made up word, but in all actuality they are very much a real problem...sabotaging your health and your efforts for a thin waist line.

Obesogens are chemicals that alter regulatory systems, which control our metabolism, weight and modify hunger signals by mimicking naturally occurring hormones in the body. So, I guess it is not necessarily as easy calories in verses calories out. And to save you a long and complicated read here is what you need to know.

Obesogens’ Effects on your Body:
• Body is signaled to store more fat and changes current cells into fat cells
• Increased insulin resistance and more insulin is produced = more energy is turned into fat
• Leptin not released (appetite reducing hormone)

Saboteurs to Avoid:
• High fructose corn syrup
• Pesticides in your tap water: atrazine, slow thyroid hormones effecting metabolism, and tributylin, a fungicide in some paint that stimulate fat cell production
• BPA in cans and bottles: increase insulin resistance
• Nonstick pans and microwave popcorn: perfluorooctanoic acid, leads to obesity later in life by affecting thyroid glands
• Shower curtains, shrink wrap used in deli meats and air fresheners: phthalates, lower testosterone and metabolism so you gain weight and lose muscle

These items are already lurking in your home right now. Stay vigilant and protect yourself.

I eat an anti-inflammatory breakfast every single morning to save my face.

I eat an anti-inflammatory breakfast every single morning to save my face. Read further…you might be a victim.

Inflammation is an under-the-radar deviant trouble-maker, wreaking havoc on everything from your arteries to your skin. It has been linked to various chronic diseases: heart disease, many cancers and even Alzheimer’s.

Inflammation is normal and appropriate when it is an acute response to infection and trauma, but turns negative when inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses are out of whack. This chronic low-grade inflammation response lingers slowly destroying the body.

Your appearance can be devastated by inflammation. When blood sugar (a highly inflammatory agent) goes up rapidly, sugar can attach itself to collagen making the skin stiff and inflexible. Losing this elastic resilience of young skin will give you deep wrinkles and make you look old.

I got your attention now.

Its effects accelerate the aging of the skin by increasing fine-line development and wrinkles, enlarging pores, increasing puffiness, sagging, blotchiness and redness.

Major inflammatory offenders are highly refined carbohydrates such as sugary and starchy processed foods, pollution and smoke, UV rays, partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats along with chronic stress and a lack of sleep.

1) Fight back against inflammation’s attacks by getting more omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty-fish (salmon), ground flaxseed, walnuts or fish oil supplement.

2) Phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables.

3) Exercise keeps inflammation in check.

4) Other anti-inflammatory agents are topical: vitamin C and E, mushroom extract, ginger, cinnamon, ginseng, coenzyme Q-10 and/or alpha lipoic acid.

5) Taking a daily probiotic can boost the immune system.


My anti-inflammatory breakfast:

Oatmeal with cinnamon, flaxseed, cut up green apple and walnuts sprinkled with a few raisins. A probiotic supplement, two fish oil capsules and off to the gym!

Caffeine, Why's Everyone so Hopped Up

Bazillions of supplements boast more weight loss, bigger muscle and energy up the whazoo. I’m not buying it and neither should you.

Although, an old standby may be as close as you can get to any ergogenic effects and it just so happens to be on top of the ingredient list of most of these over-price over-advertised and over-promising pills.

Caffeine has been shown to have performance enhancing property.

It stimulates lypolisis, which is the process of breaking down fatty acids for fuel. Nice.
Caffeine consumed prior to you r sweat session can spare glycogen stored in the muscle. Glycogen is the storage form of glucose and is the main fuel for working muscles. And because a certain amount of glycogen availability is necessary for maintaining exercise intensity, you can increase the duration of activity before running out of glycogen. I.e. working out longer at a higher intensity means you burn through more of your Buddha.

More recently there has been evidence that caffeine has benefits in shorter bouts of activity, too, aka strength training. A reduction in perceived exertion along with a decrease in perceived pain makes working at an increased intensity not so ouchy.

Of course this all sounds ideal until you read further… the ergogenic effects of caffeine dissipate when consumed as coffee. Bummer.

Some other downers on this otherwise highly popular upper, it increases blood pressure and heart rate.

Also, caffeine is a natural diuretic. As little as a two percent decrease of fluid loss can affect performance. So any benefit from caffeine consumption would most likely nevoid any gains, unless you are extremely precautious with extra hydration before, during and after your workout.

Lastly, over an extended period of use individuals can build up a tolerance to caffeine, which would impede fat oxidation and may lead to chronic headaches.

So not all that cut and dry, but it usually isn’t?

Do with this information as you see fit. Me, some mornings I drink coffee for a quick pick me up, sometimes I don’t. I have tried caffeine pills, but usually not. Maybe now after writing this post I will experiment with caffeine again and come up with my own conclusion. Until then let me know what you think.

You don't need all that protein

Active people need more carbohydrates, not protein, than non- active people. Protein supplements are rarely necessary in the American diet. Protein is far from lacking and is much more likely over consumed by most. Still, many people I speak with on a daily basis believe they are in unique circumstances because they lift weights or consider themselves to train at an elite level that requires an increase in protein. Again not likely, almost everyone can meet their requirement by eating 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per weight in kilograms.

Say you were doing everything right to gain pure muscle including: challenging weights, ideal intensity and duration of cardio and a model clean diet the most let me repeat that, the most your body can add in pure muscle is about one to two pounds in a month, closer to one for most, or 12 pounds a year. Eating a diet with 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight gives you the hypothetical equivalent of one pound of muscle a week, more than twice your body’s actual ability to build. So as you can see protein consumption is nowhere near the limiting factor in this equation.

One major misconception about protein is that it is major energy source, but that is untrue. Protein’s main purpose within the body is making hormones, enzymes and repairing and building structural tissues such as muscle. Any extra consumption of protein that surpasses the body’s daily requirements is converted to fat as storage never to be used in the form of protein again. So more protein does not equal more muscle.

Carbohydrates are the primary energy source for muscles and the brain. Carbohydrates also aid the body in using fat. Carbohydrates, unlike protein, do have a storage form that is used for exercise. The storage form is called glycogen, which is stored within the muscles. Keeping your glycogen stores full allows you to get the most out of your next workout.

The best time to top of the tank is within half-hour of working out, by eating or drinking a good source of simple carbs along with your protein. Simple carbohydrates are recommended because it increases blood glucose and insulin and stimulates glucose uptakes to the muscle. This is the one time when this is a desired effect, because there is a window of opportunity and a specific destination, your muscles not your gut, for the sugar to go. Chocolate milk is said to be the perfect combination of simple carbs and protein. Plus it is an excellent source of calcium essential for muscle and bone development and maintenance.

One last thing, it is true some athletes do indeed need more protein, closer to 1.2 grams per kilogram instead of .08, but they are not bodybuilder, as some might expect. Increases protein is actually recommended for endurance athletes such as marathoners. So take your weight in pounds divided by 2.2, which will give you your weight in kilograms. Then multiply by 0.8 to get your recommended grams of protein per day and carbohydrates for an active person should be about 60 to 65 percent of your daily caloric intake.

Automated eating...take the guess work out of lunch

Variety may be the spice of life, but too many options may make it difficult to make the right choice when we are trying to lose weight. The solution is referred to as automated eating, coined by Dr. Oz, heart surgeon, renown author and of course Oprah’s health guru.

Automated eating makes it a thoughtless process to consume the correct amount of calories to lose weight and eat the right kinds of food to fulfill our nutritional needs. By no means do I expect anyone to eat like a Zombie, I just want to make it as easy as possible to achieve your goals.

So what does automated eating really entail? What you are going to do is have a few meal options for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner which you will rotate throughout the week. You want to make sure the meals you chose have the right nutrients to fulfill your health needs.

Example:
Breakfast for me is almost always fat free yogurt, Go Lean Crunch with fresh blueberries or strawberries and/or bananas and walnuts. The yogurt provides me a serving of calcium and the Go Lean Crunch is high protein and high fiber. Fruit is a great source of vitamins and antioxidants and walnuts have essential fatty acids.

Lunch tends to use any of these ingredients in varies combinations, Boca soy burger, spinach, 100% whole grain pasta, black beans or some other dark green vegetable. Soy and black beans are healthy meat alternatives. Whole grain pasta, veggies and beans are also a great source of fiber, potassium and other disease fighting nutrients.

Dinners have more variety because I eat with my family, but the same idea is going to apply. We have about ten different meals that we rotate during the week. Automated eating is still incorporated because we know dinner will include a lean protein such as chicken, shrimp or fish. Also, there are usually green leafy vegetables and a whole grain such as brown rice.

Snacks should be considered mini-meals, too. Depending on what you are craving snacks options can be endless. One good rule to follow is to stick with whole foods and stay away from processed junk. Low fat popcorn, fruit, nuts, seeds, string cheese, baby carrots and dip, even a bowl of high-fiber low-sugar cereal are all healthy options. Called mini-meals because snacks should include protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat just as a full meal should.

Over time you can swap out your menu items so you do not get bored.

Health is our own greatest gift to ourselves...Mel