Aerobics Vs Strength Training - The Benefits!

By Faraz A Khan 

Before we delve in the core of the article I would like to inform the readers that neither Aerobics nor Strength training is harmful or hurtful to any individual. Both serve identical purposes as well as individual concerns. It is impertinent to match the exercises with your needs and you must always remember to listen to what your body is telling you.

Lets now discuss the benefits of Aerobics. If you have come this far I am confident you are aware of what Aerobics are. However, for the sake of the newbies and recently motivated health conscious fellow readers, I will in brief describe aerobics and its main functions. Aerobic exercise also known as cardio, is a low to moderate intensity physical exercise that involves stretching and cardio at its minimum. Its main function is to Improve overall health of the individual performing the exercises. The benefits of Aerobics are numerous from improved blood
flow to reduced resting heart rate.

The main aim of the individual performing these exercises is generally to improve overall health or facilitate weight loss. Either of which can be attained simultaneously with the employment of aerobics in the individuals lifestyle. However the lack of incorporation of Weight training in to an aerobics regimen can mean missing out and reducing the efficiency of your workouts considerably. Relying solely on Aerobics would result in a body that has an efficient cardiovascular system but lacks muscle mass to effectively live a healthy life. Performing Aerobics solely not only stagnates muscle growth but further reduces muscle mass, this can be a very important factor as one reaches old age since muscle mass becomes much more valuable than a healthy cardiovascular system.

To combat the aforementioned problems with Aerobics alone we introduce weight training. Weight training also known as Strength training, or working out - in its simplest form is exercising with resistance, the resistance can be in the form of weights or elastic bands etc. The benefits of Weight training are numerous, from increased strength to improved cardiovascular system, to increase in bone density and loss of fat.

Weight training has an upper hand on Aerobics in several areas, for one it does not come with any negative side effects such as those of decrease in muscle mass with aerobics. It is also easy on the bones and joints as it does not have to be as high impact as Aerobics. As for the benefits it provides all of that of Aerobics plus some. With an ideal weight training regimen you can expect to improve your cardiovascular system, whilst gaining strength (muscle mass) that will come in handy as you get older. Weight training does not have to involve heavy weights and require you to have big muscles to start, on the contrary, as long as there is resistance and adequate regimen is followed you can be sure the reap the benefits of Weight training.

So from the above analysis we can conclude that weight training has the upper hand on Aerobics when it comes to improving your health and living a healthy lifestyle. However, it must be mentioned that an incorporation of both Aerobics and Weight training can be exponentially advantageous for the individual, since Aerobics compliment weight training and vise versa. I hope I have effectively addressed your concerns, I would recommend checking out the source for a true in depth analysis of this issue and much more on a breadth of topics from weight loss to healthy living. Good luck!

Note: The aforementioned substance incorporates research as well as personal experiences to arrive at the opinions stated in this article.

I hope I have been of some help to you all, with the right information and knowledge you can gain the same benefits by working out less and enjoying life more! Below is the link to the website by a personal fitness trainer/owner of a very successful fitness centre located in the heart of Toronto. (Fitness Solutions Plus)
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/04/23/aerobic-exercise-or-strength-training/

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How and What to Eat Before/After Weight Training Workouts

By Abdul Matynne 

This particularly holds true if you are trying to sculpt your body through weight training routines. While a wholesome and well balanced diet is crucial, you will need to ensure that you are giving your body the specific food types that are needed to build muscle tissue. So, here is a look at what you ought to be eating before and after weight training workouts.
 Inside This Article I will Reveal you:
1. What is a good pre weight training food?
2. Pre-workout snacks
3. What is good post exercise food?
4. Post-workout meals
5. What should you drink post-workout? and
6. How much protein should you take when weight training?

1. What is a good pre weight training food?

Working out on a full tummy can lead to gastric distress; however, it is also essential that you give your body the right type and amount of fuel to prepare it for a grueling session. Regardless of how efficacious your exercise regimen is, it will prove futile if your body is starved of vital nutrients.

So, eat a heavy meal of 600 to 800 calories 3 to 4 hours before weight training. This will ensure that you get the proper nutrition and the food is digested before you start working out. As you get closer to your workout time, choose smaller snacks, opting for a liquid meal an hour before the session that will give the body all the glucose that it needs. You can consume a small snack of 400 to 500 calories about 2 to 3 hours before weight training.

Remember to avoid food items that cause gas build up in the digestive tract such as beans and broccoli. Your meals should comprise of a wholesome amount of carbs, protein and very little fat. Replenishing your body with the right amount of fluids is also essential; consume no less than 17 to 20 ounces of fluids 3 to 4 hours before weight training and follow it with another 7 to 10 ounces a few minutes before the workout to get the body prepared for the taxing session.

2. Pre-workout snacks

• A whole grain toast with a spoon of peanut
• butter
• Fruit juices
• Cereal with low fat milk
• Minestrone soup
• Yoghurt with fruits
• Salad with light/low fat dressing
• Chicken breast with whole wheat bread
• Fruits
• Grilled chicken with pasta (whole wheat)
• Steamed vegetables

You can also combine these snacks to create a complete meal that includes chicken breast with pasta, a salad for starter and fruits for dessert.
3. What is good post exercise food?

The type of food that you eat right after weight training will have a huge impact on how well and fast you build muscles. Nutrition is important to help your body recover from the strenuous exercise regimen and regain the lost nutrients.

As a matter of fact, the first sixty minutes after the workout session are the body's golden hour, when the glycogen stored in the cells is used up and the enzymes responsible for the conversion of glucose to glycogen are highly active.

So, any sugar consumption is diverted directly to the muscle tissue to replenish the lost glycogen. A post workout meal also performs the vital function of replacing the lost fluids and rehydrating the body. You should give your body a diet rich in fluids, potassium and other minerals and vitamins along with carbs and protein for quick recovery.

Food items such as brown rice, whole grain breads, popcorn, potatoes, fruits etc are rich in carbohydrates and help to replete the glycogen stores. Ideally, you should consume at least 50-100 gm. of carbs post workout.

You should also include lean proteins found in chicken and turkey breast and tuna in your meals; these help in muscle rebuilding. Bananas, raisins and potatoes are a rich source of potassium, so they help to replace the mineral lost during workout. You should also include lots of fluids in the post workout diet to rehydrate the body. Try to consume 20 ounces of water for every pound of body weight after an exercise routine.

4. Post-workout meals

• Sandwiches made from two slices of whole
• wheat bread with a lean protein in between and any type of veggies are easy
• to make, taste great and will give your body all the nutrition it needs.
• Baked chicken breast with rice or pasta
• A bagel with peanut butter
• Potato steamed or baked with a topping of low fat cheese and some fruit.

5. What should you drink post-workout?

A lot of people have trouble eating a big meal after an intense weight training routine. If you are one of them, you should consider using a post-workout recovery drink. These preparations help to replace the lost fluids and the glycogen store in the body.

While there are several products available in the market that can simply be mixed with water to make a wholesome post workout drink, you could also whip up a delicious recovery drink at home with regular ingredients found in your refrigerator. Simply use 1 scoop of whey protein in any flavor of your liking, ¾ cup low fat milk and one banana; blend it all together to make a refreshing smoothie.

6. Is sugar good after weight training workout?

Liquid carbs and even sugar that eventually gets turned into glycogen are essential nutrients in the post-workout period. After an intensive routine, your body will have used a lot of the stored glycogen which will need to be replenished quickly to keep you going.

When you drink liquid carbs with a high glycemic index, you give the muscles all the nutrition they need when they are in a state to soak up the carbs fast. The glycemic carbs also spike up the insulin level in the body.

This will ensure that the carbohydrates are directly sent to the muscle cells.

7. How much protein should you take when weight training?

This is a very common question coming from people interested in muscle building. While protein is crucial for the repair and rebuilding of muscle tissue, overloading on protein will not help as it will simply be flushed out of the system.

Most people with average weight do not need more than 70 gm. of protein each day. If you are into muscle building, you can increase the daily recommended dose to 140 gm. but it would be best to not exceed that amount. Although excess protein will not harm healthy people, it will prove detrimental for individuals who suffer from renal problems and also those who are overweight or diabetic.
How insulin affects weight training?

Insulin is an important storage hormone that redirects the various nutrients to their right places; for instance, insulin is responsible for storing the glucose from the food into the liver and the muscle cells while the amino acids are used for muscle tissue repair and build up. Diabetics develop a condition known as insulin resistance in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the hormone fails to store glucose in the cells; this is one of the primary reasons why diabetes may lead to weight gain and vice versa.

A post and pre work out diet and recovery drinks which are rich in protein and glycemic carbs illicit a very strong response from insulin which results in a powerful anabolic muscle building period. It is normal for body builders to manipulate the amount of insulin in the body through proper diet, exercise and even supplementation.

Regardless of your fitness goals, nutrition is vital and unless you eat properly, you will not be able to build muscle or even lose weight. It is particularly important for people struggling with obesity to understand that starving yourself will not lead to weight loss, instead the metabolic rate will slow down in response making it more difficult to lose weight.

If you are not sure about the food items that you should eat before and after weight training regimens, get in touch with a nutritionist for proper guidance. While weight training is hard, it can yield stupendous results when combined with appropriate dietary practices.

Abdul Matynne is the author of the ebook, "The Ten Commandments of Weight Training", a guide with Muscle Building Nutrition and Workout Plans.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abdul_Matynne

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Best Lower Abdominal Training Exercises For Killer Abs & a Flat Belly

By Faviano Torres 
At last, the best lower abdominal training exercises for killer abs and a flat belly are now available for free to millions of weight-watchers out there. Many people fret about the fat found in their stomach area or around their abdomen because they cannot often wear swimsuits and fitted tops and shirts. Others feel horrible and disgusted when they face the mirror if they feel a fatty bump around their tummy. Read this article and get the most of it for free by becoming familiar at last with the best lower abdominal training exercises for killer abs and a flat belly.

Many people have engaged themselves in rigorous fitness training routines, weight loss exercises, dietary supplements, neuromuscular therapy, and even boot camp instructions, but still they end up getting more frustrated because they do not get the result they want. They want to tone down their abdominal muscles.

However, these people are clueless when it comes to the proper way of doing it. At last, the best lower abdominal training exercises for killer abs and a flat belly are available to you, but make sure you first understand the anatomy and physiology involved.

There is no such thing as lower abs, though most people thing there is. There is only an area that is composed of a group of muscles found at the base of the abdomen or the lower fibers of the rectus abdominus. This is the one holding up the pelvis in posterior position. Below are the best exercises that can help tone up this area.

1. Aerobic Dancing - A popular form of weight loss method that many people prefer, this is an effective way to tilt the pelvic muscles and trim the tummy. It involves many twists and turns, bending, stretching, and other complex moves around the abdomen so you can be sure to lose those unwanted bulging fats in that area.

2. Biking - This is another good exercise that helps tone the stomach and pelvic muscles to give you your dream six-pack abs. This works extremely well if you go for mountain or hilly biking.

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Top Three Weight Training Exercises For Women

By Mohamad Alodah 

Weight Training Exercises For Women should be done using free weights or body weight methods rather than relying on machines that only provide a limited range of motions. Therefore, you are exposing your joints to more movements.

I will explain three exercises for women to include in their
routines, and that way you won't limit your joints to limited movements.

Perform Lunges Instead Of Using Leg-Extension Machines

I would pick lunges over leg-extension machines any time of the day, and I challenge you to test it out and see for yourself. Lunges are effective in building the thigh muscles all around and give nice movements to your hips and knee joints.

You also work on coordination and balance since you are not sitting (in the case of the leg-extension machine, but you are exercising one leg at a time with the various forms of lunges.

Frog Leaps Instead Of Using The Hamstring-Curls Machine

This is a powerful exercise for your legs, and it will give your hamstrings a good muscle stimulus. Again, the "frog leap" exercise requires balance; therefore, I recommend you to start with a slow pace and gradually increase it to the maximum.

One more bonus that is wonderful to have for many fitness trainees is that you will burn more calories than using the Hamstring Curls Machine.

This leg exercise is basic and simple to follow, but it is not easy to do because it is a physically demanding type of movement. However, the rewards are worth trying; so I encourage you to practice until you become good at it.

Instructions: You will be basically standing wider than a hip-width apart and your feet pointing straight forward. Bend the knees to almost half-way down; then spring your whole body forward mimicking the frog leap. When you land on your feet, make sure you bend the knees to absorb the impact as smoothly as possible. Repeat for the desired repetitions. But usually for this explosive movement exercise doing 5 to 10 leaps/repetitions is sufficient.

Body Weight Squats Instead Of Using The Leg-Press Machine

Performing body weight squats is a challenge for so many individuals due to not getting used to it because of sitting on chairs for longer period of times. Many individuals in underdeveloped countries and remote villages that live a primitive type of lifestyle and have no chairs can actually do full squats and chat with others for an hour or two with no issue whatsoever.

Squat movements have other physiological benefits besides building strong legs, but this will be talked about in another topic. But I strongly recommend to those doing body weight squats that you gradually practice to perform full squats until your muscles can do this with no discomfort.

Mohamad's expertise is in the health and exercise area, you can visit fitness and wellness for women for more related topics. He also writes about different topics such as home mortgages and loans.

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