Lift Yourself Up!

It is well known that being overweight increases your chances of having a heart attack. Increasing your metabolism by building muscle is one way to burn an extra 100 calories each day, lose some weight, and maintain a healthy heart.

You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to get the benefits from strength training. Maintaining a healthy lean body is essential for everyone - men and women alike. As we age, we all are susceptible to losing sight of our toes, and having that “Wide Body” look. There is no time like the present to start a regular training regimen. The results will give you a healthy body weight, essential lean body mass, and help avoid other complications as we age, like heart disease or diabetes.

If you have already started a strength training routine, you want the best results for your efforts, so pay attention to what and when you eat before and after your workout, as well as how often you train.

Before your morning workout, eat something first, don’t skip breakfast. Your blood sugar and glycogen (Carbs) are at their lowest early in the morning. If you don’t replenish them your body is likely to preserve fat and you may feel sluggish. Carbohydrates give you quick energy for your morning workout, like juice, fruit, toast, or even a sports drink. If a "bar" is easiest for you, an energy bar would be better than a protein choice. Energy bars have more carbohydrates, which provide the quick energy.

Afterwards, it is important to eat within 45 minutes. This is when enzymes restore muscle and protein. Therefore you want to eat a snack that contains protein and carbohydrates. You might try a Peanut Butter or Turkey sandwich, yogurt with fruit, bagel with cream cheese, or a handful of nuts, All are good choices. This snack, within 45 minutes of your workout will maintain or build muscle, replenish glycogen levels, and reduce the amount of fat your body stores.

The way muscle is built when you lift weights the muscle fiber is torn, during the next 48-72 hours the muscle fibers are repaired and made stronger, which increases your muscle mass. Overtraining is generally regarded as one of the biggest and most common problems body builders face.

When a competitive bodybuilder has trained hard over the course of a training schedule they can become extremely fatigued due to lack of required rest from previous workouts. This is thought to decrease muscle growth and inhibit strength gains. Sufficient recovery time is an important factor for bodybuilding at any level. Many serious bodybuilders train almost every day (even several times a day for professionals) and it is important that sufficient recovery time (usually 2-3 days) is allowed between training the same muscle groups. You may want to alternate upper body and lower body workouts, to allow time for recovery and growth.

Overtraining can also lead to a weakened immune system, making it harder to fight off a cold or infection.

Tunes to Move You

There have been many times when I dreaded spending 45 minutes to an hour on a treadmill just staring at a wall or watching a blip crawl around a screen. Then I discovered what so many others had already learned. Music is a powerful motivator. I tuned in to my favorite radio station, and all seemed right with the fitness routine. Right up until the song ended and the commercials started. Time to find a new workout motivator. I found one of the best fitness partners when I got an mp3/ipod music player.

During the Olympics I was reminded again how music can be used to get them pumped up for competition and for motivation during workouts. Every time I noticed Michael Phelps, he had his ipod to get him psyched up and focused. It must have helped some, look what happened in the swimming competitions.

Music is a natural performance aid and can change my mental state from a mediocre workout level to inspiring me to perform at a peak level. Also when I am tense, another style of music can calm me, and mellow my mood.

Nothing can get you in the fitness mood like music. When listening to music during training, I get totally absorbed in it. I shift my focus from the minor aches and pains I may have from working out and just get into the rhythm of the beat. The result is I work harder and your body appreciates it and rewards me with the results I want.

When I was in the military, we used marching and running cadences to accomplish this. Ever hear “I don’t know, but it’s been said…Air Force Wings are made of lead” or “Ain’t no sense in lookin down, …Ain’t no discharge on the ground.” well never mind, that’s a topic for different blog.

Personally I have found that ZZ Top albums like Afterburner, or Eliminator, are a perfect pace for my workout. I have the tunes loaded on my ipod, and after about 5 minutes of warm up, I’m ready to hit it hard.

So if you’re in the mood, make yourself a playlist, and get into it. If you don’t feel like researching your own tunes, go online. There are sites that sell workouts in mp3 or ipod format. Search on combinations of: fitness mp3/ipod or cardio mp3/ipod.

Enjoy!