With age comes wisdom, but you’d be a fool not to consider some modern supplements like beta-alanine. A research study found that during a cycling test, when middle-aged men and women took 2.4 grams per day, time to exhaustion was increased by 45%. Put simply, you will exercise like you were young again, but don’t limit yourself to 2.4 grams. Other research suggests you can take 3.2 to 6.4 grams per day and keep improving results, even on rest days. Subjects that were weight training experienced the same advances in performance and recovery.
The FADS Diet
Farming may have made the human race prevail but the switch from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle changed your genetics. The FADS gene helped metabolize plant based foods and Omega-3s, where previously your genes were geared toward meat absorption. Research in Nature Ecology & Evolution found the gene was associated with bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and bipolar disorder if your dietary habits didn’t fit the gene you were lumped with. FADS was more prevalent in southern Europe so take a test from 23andme.com to see if your stomach’s DNA should be running down beats or picking leaves.
Appetite for self reflection
Its no secret we eat ore food n the company of friends but researchers in the University of Nagoya discovered if you’re a loner (or narcissist), eating in front of a mirror or photo of yourself ups you enjoyment of food. If you’re a hard gainer add a little self reflection and if you’re trying the shed keep yourself out of sight if you intend to admire your improvements.
Take Charge of Your Fitness Journey
Muscle gains are awesome, but coupled with getting healthier, and increasing longevity will vastly improve your overall life.It’s no secret that regular exercise improves cardiac function, muscle metabolism, lower stress, bone density, less mental cloudiness and more.
During this time of year, people become hyper focused on the extreme body makeover, how to get ripped and how to cheat the longterm system. Commercially speaking, ads are pushing us to buy the best protein powder, join the best gym, and wear the best training gear.
News flash!: There are no shortcuts. No, what you wear isn’t going to change your weight status. Yes, you have to meal prep, yes, you need to go to the gym, yes, you need to drink a ton of water. Don’t beat yourself up if you had a cheat meal for your birthday or a night out. When you start to deprive yourself, you set yourself up for failure. Setting realistic goals will propel you forward on your journey to get optimal results.
What Calories Matter
When we want to drop weight we automatically go to the ‘less food, less weight’ mentality. So yes, we will cut about a 500 caloric intake a day and see immediate results. A few weeks later, we see a stall in progress. You hit the treadmill, you’re running 2 extra miles a day, you’re lifting more – yet still.. no progress.
You’re asking yourself, ‘Where’s my progress?’, well, your progress is going to stay in the gutter if you can’t get your hands on calories that matter. What do I mean by ‘calories that matter’? Eat protein. There are a lot of options for protein if you’re not a traditional carnivore. Eat fiber – fiber can be found in fruits and vegetables. Carbs are great – but eat whole carbs like barley, brown rice, quinoa, sprouted whole grain bread. The list is endless, and so is your food options. So load up on a 2000 calorie a day diet and burn 500-700 calories in the gym. That is the way to do a calorie deficit.
What’s Your After Burn Look Like?
One of the biggest barriers people face sticking with a regular exercise program is the time it takes to do. Carving out an hour or two to hit the gym can seem daunting and on some days might be unrealistic. Have no fear as short bursts of intense exercise can deliver many of the health and fitness benefits you get from hours of conventional cardiovascular or strength training. If you have just 30 minutes, you can perform a high intensity weight training session, helping you get fit in a fraction of the time it used take. Research has shown that short bursts of intense weight training can increase your muscle strength by 50 % in as little as two months. Also, high intensity weight training builds muscle faster, burns more calories after 22 hours, burns fat and takes significantly less time than traditional programs. This method is known as HIIE (high intensity intermittent exercise) training (or as some call it HIIT) and is used by top athletes the world over. I incorporate this type of training two times per week as part of my training regime. In addition to the time saving this type of training really aids recovery time between exercise sessions.
Smart Goals
I have always loved the chase of a goal over the actual moment of achievement. The chase is what gets me out of bed every morning before 5:00am. The internal challenge, the calculated risk, the art and science of problem solving, the hype of meeting a deadline, that sparks motivation and drive that is unbelievable. This means maximizing every moment of your day. It means blocking out dedicated, non-negotiable chunks of time on your calendar to put in the work to achieve the goal. I applied a trick early in my career: cut your deadlines in half. From small tasks to big projects “work expands to fit the time allotted” if you give yourself two months to get something done, you will probably take two months to finally do it. However if you have only two days to complete that same task and its treated as a priority you’ll find a way to make it happen. Give it a shot as you pursue your next goal, use your instinctual hunger for competition with yourself. The most important rule “always look at goals from the end, not at the end” mentally place yourself already where you want to be and it will happen!
What Keeps Your Body Fueled?
Vilified by the weight loss world, carbs are, in fact, the Holy Grail for high intensity endurance athletes. However, a paper in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning may have taken some shine off of everyone’s favorite Macro. When cyclists scoffed 80 grams of carbs before. During, or late in an intense cycle, they performed no better who has the zero carb placebo. However, blood glucose levels shot through the roof for those that consumed carbs mid workout, which meant a crash afterwards. I believe the best way to maximize your workout is sipping a Branch Chain Amino Acid (BCAA’s) mix with 25 grams of a good complex carb maltodextrin powder. This blend will keep your body fueled for maximum performance and recovery.
Don’t Forget the Massage!
As we say in powerlifting “pain is weakness leaving the body” and the ensuing soreness shows you got the job done. Many turn to massage to ease the pain and soreness from training but massage doesn’t ease your post workout pain (according to several researchers papers), but this rub-loving egghead with a strong notion of common sense has disproved this theory. A paper in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that after getting a beating via leg day, a 30 minute massage helped decrease the significance of soreness, muscle performance and damage (though didn’t eliminate them completely) as it still took me 10 minutes to walk a flight of stairs after a heavy squat session! Research has shown that the best time to dust the cobwebs from your wallet and body is every four weeks as part of a de-load from training. Your return will be a rested one and ready for new gains.