Diet and Nutrition

Often, people tend to believe that fitness is all about the gym and your workout. Not quite. What you do at the gym is probably 30 percent of the job. The remaining 70 percent is governed by your diet. Try as you may, no matter how hard you workout, if it is a big Mac, fries and a large Coke you're going back to, at the end of the day, it is never going to happen!

As I have mentioned previously, you should be looking at building more muscle and reducing the fat. Naturally, that would entail a diet which apart from carbohydrates, is slightly low on fat and has enough protein. Proteins are rich in amino acids which are required for the growth and repair of muscles. 

Every person has a different metabolism and due to this has different energy requirements. The calories you require would depend on your body fat percentage. If you are leaner then you would require more calories just because your muscles would need energy. Based on your body fat and other physical characteristics, a person's metabolism can be understood to a certain extent. Your 'maintenance calories' indicates the amount of calories you require on a daily basis, just to carry out your basic functions. Ideally, eating that amount of calories *should* result in you maintaining your weight, which is why it is called 'maintenance calories'. 

After this it's fairly simple to work out the math. If you have to lose fat, you will have to maintain a calorie deficit and if your goal is to gain muscle, you will have to maintain a calorie surplus. How much should the deficit/surplus be? It is recommended that you be within (maintenance calories) +- 500. Ideally, sticking to that kind of a diet should reduce/add 1 pound to your body weight per week. Remember, if you are losing weight, it should be fat and if you are gaining, it has to be muscle. Getting your body fat percentage measured is a good way of ensuring that you are going on the right track. Instruments to measure the body fat percentage are usually available at gyms.

In essence:

To lose fat, maintain a calorie deficit of 500, do a proper workout and have a diet which is low fat. You can keep it down to 10-20 percent of your net intake.

To gain muscle, maintain a calorie surplus of 500, do a proper workout and have a diet which is low fat and has enough protein.

Small and frequent meals is the way to go! A good plan would be to roughly distribute your calories among carbohydrates, protein and fat in the ratio 50:30:20. So as long as you approximately adhere to that, you should be getting closer to your goals!

Lastly, nutrition is such a vast topic that it would take a number of posts to do any justice to its significance in fitness and well being. So, stay tuned!

Weight training to burn fat!

Along with a good cardio routine, a proper weight training regimen is important especially if you're looking to add on some muscle. Getting leaner and adding more muscle is indirectly another way of losing fat. It is sort of complementary- lose fat, gain muscle. Muscles need energy to work (in other words, calories), thereby improving your metabolism. And an improved metabolism is what will get you closer to your goals. One of the indicators floating around, the Body Mass Index is a fairly inaccurate measure, in that, it gives you no idea what percentage of your body is fat and what muscle. The key thing to watch out for is the body fat percentage. More on that later.

So, as I pointed out, a proper weight regimen is needed to put on muscle and shed fat. Someone looking to cut down on fat would probably lay more emphasis on a good cardio workout, but again, that doesn't take anything away from the importance of weight training.

If your goal is to lose fat then you can probably do weight training three times a week. Each of those days, 3 exercises each targeting two sets of muscles is usually the way to go. So, one day maybe you can take up chest - bicep, the next shoulder - tricep and finally back - legs. You could go in for either two or three sets per exercise- repetitions of 12-10-8 or 15-12-10. It is recommended that you increase the intensity as you go from the first to the last set of each exercise. Weight machines are always good for starts, one can gradually move on to free weights, as and when needed. You could also look at multi-joint exercises. As aforementioned, if your goal is to gain muscle then you may lay more emphasis on working your muscles and joints. However, if you want a workout more inclined towards weight training, make sure you consult a professional before taking the plunge.

Some DO's and DONT's

• Always remember to warm up before weight training
• Start with light weights at the onset and gradually work your way to heavier weights
• Sometimes people tend to overwork their muscles, not giving them enough time to recuperate, finally leading to muscle fatigue. Give a minimum of 3 days rest before working the same muscle
• Do include body weight and isometric exercises in your workout
• It is a good idea to intersperse your sets with proper stretches
• Take a few seconds between sets; at the same time, do not let the intensity go down
• Drink a little water every now and then
• Always keep aside 5-7 minutes post workout for stretching as muscles tend to get rigid
• Take out one day of the week for rest

Happy training! It would be good to hear from you all what your routines are like!

What is good cardio?

Now that you know what purpose a cardio workout serves, we can move onto different cardio workouts, in alignment with your gym goals. As I mentioned previously, the frequency, intensity, duration and mode are important when it comes to varying workouts. Whatever your gym goal be, you should make it a point to mix and match between these attributes.

Low intensity, long duration: Pick up a moderate level for yourself and continue the activity for more than 30 minutes.
High intensity, short duration: In this you are going flat out, due to which the duration of the session should be short. Depending on what you can manage, ten minutes at a time should be more than enough. Running on the treadmill at top speed for that long is pretty tiring and one must not over exert.
Mixed intensity, moderate duration: In these workouts, you are constantly playing with the intensity, something that would be like a shocker to your metabolism. So, you do a minute at moderate speed and then run flat out for a minute. Repeat the cycle for 20 minutes and you would have really given yourself a fabulous workout! So on the treadmill you could do a 4-4-4-6-10-6-10-6-10-6-10-6-11-6-11-6-11-6-12-4. Notice how you go at a low intensity at the start, alternate between low and high intensity in the middle and then cool down for the last minute. This kind of a cardio workout is known as High Intensity Interval Training.

If your goal is to lose fat, then a mix of these workouts on a daily basis would serve you well. The target heart rate is a term often heard and for all practical purposes is the rate at which you should do your cardio. It is around 50-85 percent of the maximum heart rate. So for 20 year old's, who typically have a maximum heart rate of 200 beats per minute, the target heart rate should be around 100-170 from low to high intensity. You can calculate your own from any calculator on the internet.

If your goal is to gain muscle, then you can stay away from high intensity cardio workouts. You can restrict yourselves to cardio sessions three times a week and concentrate more on weight training . However, warming up pre-workout is essential. For that you could do a 5 minute walk or a jog at moderate speed, just to get the muscles going.

The key is to not get caught doing the same routine day in day out. They become ineffective and more of a chore then! Along with varying the intensity and duration, you can take your pick between the treadmill, cross trainer, stepper and the bicycle trainer. Other options are kickboxing, skipping and swimming. Even doing body weight exercises without a break for a fair duration of time would qualify as a good workout! As I said, anything which gets your heart rate up there for an extended period of time is 'good cardio'. Share with us your cardio routine!

Cardiovascular exercise explained!

Any gym would in the least have a cardio section and a section dedicated to weights. While any form of activity actively involves cardiovascular training, the intensity of the workout is pivotal. In simple words, anything which gets you huffing and puffing would qualify as a cardiovascular exercise, be it walking, jogging, running, skipping, swimming or rowing. A sport or any physical activity which may not be above the target heart rate may not be good enough for your gym goal. And if running outdoor is not an option for you then the gym is pretty convenient.

How does cardio exercise work?

Any cardiovascular exercise is aerobic in nature and requires a steady flow of oxygen from your heart. As you exercise it becomes more and more difficult for the heart to keep up with the oxygen requirement. It is around this time that you may stop, or otherwise it may cause pain due to the secretion of lactic acid. The purpose of cardiovascular exercise is to train your heart to gradually increase its ability to transport oxygen. Elevating your heart beat during an extended period of time does exactly that. As a result, your metabolism improves, your cells require more energy to cope with the demands of working muscles and you burn calories.

Essentially, cardio exercise helps you to burn fat by boosting your metabolism. The frequency, intensity, duration and mode of a cardio workout are important determinants. By varying one or two of these factors, you force your body to respond to a slightly different stimulus each time. Exercise at the same pace, for the same interval of time does little to boost your metabolism as the body gets used to the same workout. Hence, varying your cardio is important. A simple way to do this would be by going that extra minute longer every few cardio sessions or varying the intensity.

Now, whatever your gym goal may be, cardiovascular exercise is here to stay. What may change is the duration and intensity. If your goal is to lose fat, you would concentrate more on cardio than say, someone who wants to gain muscle. Even doing weights would burn calories, but does not compare with cardio when it comes to training of the heart.

Also, warming up by doing a few minutes of low intensity cardio and stretching your muscles post workout is critical. The next few posts will give a better idea of how to vary your cardio workouts.

First steps - Setting the gym goal

Having taken the first steps towards a healthy way of living, you decide to enroll in the local gym. The first few days at the gym can be pretty intimidating. There are all kinds of equipment in front of you and you have no clue which one is for what. Everyone else seems as if they really know what they are doing, and in the best shape! The sight of well toned women and buff men, running tirelessly on the treadmill. Then there is the dude in the sleeveless shirt throwing caution to his newly gained muscles, hair thrown back with a bandana, the sighing and puffing at the bench press, ears firmly plugged into their music players. Add to that, all the jargon that gets thrown at you! Cut to chase.

The first few days at the gym are what decide whether you adopt it for keeps. Often, lack of information leads to a weaning interest and ultimately the gym gets thrown into the back burner. Also, not a lot of us have the luxury of a personal trainer!

Before hitting the gym, the most important thing to do is to be clear with what your gym goal is. Whether it is to lose fat, gain muscle or maintain yourself- that should be set out clearly.

To help you begin, I will list some of the goals that you may have.

- You are slightly on the heavier side and need to shed a few pounds
- You are on the thinner side and need to gain weight by adding some muscle
- You are happy with your frame and intend to maintain

 Ideally, when we talk about weight loss, it should not lead to muscle attrition. You only want to target the fat. Similarly, if you want to gain weight, you should be looking at gaining muscle, unaccompanied by any fat.

These are broadly some of the goals people usually have. Others could be getting washboard abs or dropping your body fat to athletic proportions. Remember to not be overly unrealistic with your goals. Do you have a goal set for yourself? Drop in with your set of goals :) Those of you who are already into gymming can tell us what your goals were and how successful you were!