Creatine Monohydrate - What does it do?

Creatine Monohydrate also known as "creatine" in local language, is very much popular among regular gym guys. You will come to know "why" when you read further. When you take creatine, it gives you an ability to generate more strength which will lead to muscle growth. Eg, if your max rep is 6 with 150 lbs, with creatine you will be able to do more rep with much heavy weight.

When you lift weight, there are some processes that take place in muscles that allow you to do more repetitions.I will try to keep it as simple as possible so everyone will able to understand the work of creatine in body. Let see what the process is, Adenosine Triphosphate, or ATP,( 1 Adenosine + 3 Phosphate ) available  in muscles gives away  energy to cause contraction in muscles, when contraction in muscle happens, you are able to lift weight. Hence energy is utilized. Unfortunately, muscle do not have enough ATP to support muscle contraction for more than few seconds, therefore after being used, ATP turns into ADP (1 Adenosine + 2 Phosphate) but the need is of 3 phosphate. So ADP go to cell where creatine phosphate is stored and adds 1 phosphate to ADP once again making it ATP, so now ATP is ready to be use for giving energy. Creatine supplements provides body with phosphate to performs high intensity interval training. Creatine contain phosphate which get located to muscles cells for being use and you are capable of doing extra repetition or sets causing more muscle hypertrophy. Creatine is also naturally available in body. Non veg food are natural resources of creatine. People involve in high intensity weight training prefer this supplements for progress.


Creatine supplements are generally taken in cycles. Creatine are taken pre or post workout but I will publish on how and when to take creatine as well as other supplement in my coming post. Taking creatine will ensure that you muscles are having adequate storage of energy allowing to lift maximum weights for maximum reps on each set. For a person who’s goals is gaining muscle must make sure that his sport nutrition program has creatine. 

Spot Reduction - Avoid being fooled with this Myth

Spot reduction started being rumored in 90’s and many fitness experts supported it, it is a false exercise method which claims that doing exercise on specific muscle group (eg. abs) can decrease the amount of fat in that area. For example, people do 100 repetitions of sit-ups to reduce fat on abdominal region.You may have also come across fitness equipment such as sauna belt, butterfly abs etc etc which assures loss of fat from stomach area, arms, butt or thighs. Many of you must have even tried it. Even, many fitness gurus and film star do promote them on tv. I think many of them would hate me if someday they would come across this post of mine because I m completely against it. 

Unqualified fitness trainers do make mistakes of recommending people to do 100 or more repetitions of crunches for getting toned abs, standing leg raise for slim thighs, triceps extension for reducing fat on arms and many more variation which they discover daily for their members in gym just to make their client happy. These kinds of trainers and TV products who give assurance of reducing fat from a specific region of body like stomach; thighs, arms by using spot reduction methods are merely wasting your money, time and energy. People face dissatisfaction in few days and quit training as they hardly get rewards for their hard work. People are very much desperate to get slim; these trainers and manufacturer of products only take advantages of people’s avidity of slimness and loot their money.
 

In reality, the spot reduction do not fit anywhere in science of body physiology, it is a lie. You will never get a flat stomach by doing abdominal exercises like sit-up and crunches .A member do crunches until he feel pain or burning in abdomen muscles. That burning sensation is just because of accumulation of lactic acid in abs muscles; that pain is not indication that fats is getting burn. Over here I will like to state that, don’t go with what you are feeling but go with the fact. The height of stupidity I came across in my career is I heard Gym trainers telling to their members about this burning sensation is “Woh Toh Fat Jaal Raha Hai”.
 

Spot reduction is not possible because the reason is simple:  There is no col-ligation of muscles and fat. Fat is involuntary organ and muscles are voluntary. Muscles and fat are anatomically different. When you do Sit-ups, the action is due to contraction of abs muscle. Sit ups will strengthen your abdominal muscles, but sit-ups will not help you get rid of the layer of fat that is covering the abs muscles. Same principle is applied on every part of human body. Doing light weight triceps extension 50 times will cause pain (burning sensation) in triceps muscles but it will not reduce fat on arms. Fat is storage of extra calories in body to be use as an energy in future, it depends on genetics of a person that where the fat get store, in some people it get accumulated in stomach area and in some, it is stored in thighs, arms, butt. To reduce fat from body, you need to burn those extra calories by following a proper exercise and nutrition program. When you do it, you will see decrease in fat from overall body. Don’t believe in myths but ask your trainer “why to do the exercise?  Before you ask “how to do the exercise?  When you hire a trainer asking him or her, this question will help you to save your time, money and energy.

10 Code of Conduct to Follow at Gym

Today, I would like to share very essential and valuable points you should follow when you enter your gym. Every work you do needs discipline and obedience towards code of conduct, when you have goal to achieve you need to be focus and have to follow a strict discipline routine to reach the goal.

Every day you visit gym, you should make every day count and gain the possible best result you can get through your workout. I would like to bring in your notice 10 things you should avoid in a gym which are of no profit to you but as a person it shows you as a negative person and mentally this can affect you work out.  For beginner I will request to read it and follow it without fail.

Gym is like your work place, college or any other social place. You should follow the code of gym as you follow rules and regulation in these places.

1) Do not waste your time chit chatting, many people get stuck to the bench, leg curls etc even after finishing sets. Leave bench as soon you finish. Talking while doing reps is wrong. Be focused on your training instead of chit chatting.

2) Don’t be lazy to place plates on rack after you finish your sets. All people will be amazed at heavy weights you are lifting but they would really appreciate you when you remove them from bar and place it properly at racks. Remember, everybody is equally important and pay the same amount of money you did.

3) Please make sure you carry a towel with you to gym. If people are running away from you, don’t be surprise, because it could be your own stinking body. Use towel to wipe your sweat from time to time.

4) Only dog mark their territory, if you use bench press and leave your sweat on bench, it is definitely unhygienic and it can put a tag of stinker on you. Be a gentle man and use towel before you lie down on bench or wipe it if you see your sweat on bench after finishing the set.

5) Remember everybody enter the gym only after they pay for using it, don’t be mean and keep the dumbbells with you even while you rest in between your sets. Let others use it. This friendly gesture would help you to stay in happy mood.

6) If you see any beginner, please don’t be a coach or mentor to him. Keep your knowledge to yourself because you don’t know about his medical history or any problem he must be dealing with related to his health. Apart from that, this can create conflict between you and gym staff.

7) Don’t not show dominance on entertainment facility provided in gym. Changing music or TV channel as per your wish is “not to do” things in gym. You can only request to gym staff about it.

8) In India, 80% and more numbers of Gyms do not hire certified trainers, “saste mein kaam ho jata hai”.  But taking training from such people will certainly land you in terrible physical injuries. Be careful when you take personal training from any “trainer”, trainers are good at talking. Their charges are high, but quality is zero. Don’t waste your money and risk your health. Ask for a certified trainer before you join any gym.

9) For boys, stop staring at people with huge muscles or at girls who enter gym. “Ogling” is a bad code of conduct and you should certainly not do that in gym. For women, you are requested to complete your workout in given time. Gym is not a place to sell your home made sweets, sarees, beauty products or you’re catering services. Leave treadmill and cardio machines when your time is up and let other people use it.

10) Last but not least, don’t make fun of people in gym.  People stare at people who are fat or too thin, gym is not only for muscular people. This people dare to challenge their body and should be respected.

Portion Control for Fat loss

Controlling your portion is one method you should follow when you decide to lose fat from your body. In past, if you try to recollect, it was all large portion which causes you body fill with extra fat. Big fried chicken piece bucket, extra large caramel popcorn with large coke, big bucket of ice cream etc etc I m sure you must have recollect everything now.  Now, we are going to reverse all things. Now, it’s time for small portion of meals. Smaller portions are going to help us get rid of fat. Every time we see any delicious food our portion sizes get bigger. So now, it’s time to avoid the cravings for delicious food and feed your body only the amount the body needs to be active.  

Now let see what is portion control? Portion control is dividing your meals in small parts according to your body’s requirements for energy to be active till the next meal. Breakfast portion should be bigger because we have to be active for whole day. After 8 hours of sleep, body has nil carbohydrates so we refill our self with breakfast. Then as day goes by, portion will get smaller and smaller. All portions should contain slow digesting food so you always feel loaded and don’t wish for eating something. Food rich in fiber and proteins will always keep you full and satisfied for long.

The difficult part of maintaining portion control is when we visit some eating place. I know it is quite difficult to keep resisting our self and we excuse our self for one day and jump on whatever comes in front of us like a twightlight wolf.

Well it’s not at all wrong to eat your favorite food once in a while. But if this excuse becomes habit, obesity will strike you with health problems. There are still some techniques we can use to enjoy our favorite food and escape gaining fat. Portion control is one method for this problem.

I would like to mention some pointers on portion control method for fat loss. Portion control is completely about self control. Remember nobody is snatching your favorite food away from you or it’s not end of the world, tomorrow you can still eat your favorite food so just taste it today. Say this to yourself when you visit a food place. It’s hard to not to eat at restaurant, buffets, parties when you are hungry but we can do something about it so that you enjoy your favorite food but at same time restrict gaining of fat in body. Here are a few ideas to help you out:

•    Always take half portion food of how much you think you can eat.

•    When you plan to eat out, drink water so you already have your stomach half full.

•    Never eat out of portion you decide when you enter food place. Always keep count of all food stuff you are eating.

•    Choose a small plate to take food. Doing this will makes your meal look larger.

•    Keep away from buffets as much as possible, even if you go to buffets, do not go for second round.

•    If you plan to visit restaurant in evening, reduce the portion of 5 meals of next day but do not skip any meals.

•    When your eat, judge quality of food and not the quantity.

•    Always eat like a child.

Know Your Body Type First

If you are planning to join a gym, decide what is your intention?  Remember exercise is not the only component which gives complete fitness, following an efficient diet and complete rest is a necessary too. Many gym members do not have knowledge on how to achieve fitness. Today we will try to cover at least some part of essential diet steps need to be taken for achieving you complete fitness goal. A person goal should be to achieve an Ideal body composition. Ideal body composition include appropriate balance of muscle mass, bone density and fat percent in body and it should be goal of mesomorph, ectomorph and endomorph where ectomorph and endomorph need to put extra efforts compare to mesomorph. There are three goal generally set by people. Let see what are they and how to achieve it.

Weight-Gain Diet: Ectomorph
People who have “Ectomorph” type of body should choose weight gain diet; basal metabolic rate in this body type is high so they burn calories very fast. You should make a diet plan which has high amount calories. To gain weight, your intake of calories should be more than the amount of calories your body burns.  Your body needs extra calories for working as compare to other body type person. You should make certain that your body have enough calories store in body so the simplest ways is increasing your meals in a day; if you presently eat 3 meals per day, you should make it 5 meals per day. There is no harm for ectomorph to eat before sleep. This will be advantage for them to avoid muscle catabolism. Your exercise program should be short with High intensity exercise for muscle hypertrophy. Protein intake for muscle recovery is vital so plan meals which include protein rich food like fish, chicken, eggs, and dairy products. Make sure you consume enough calories so protein can be use for muscle repairing and not as energy for body to keep working.

Fat Loss Diet: Endomorph
Obese or “Endomorph” people have to follow fat loss diet; this people have tendency to gain fat easily and should follow diet unlike ectomorph. Since rate of burning of calories in obese people is very slow, calories get stored in body in form of fat. Extra pounds are added to their body if excessive consumption of calories is not stopped. Obese people diet should divide their meals in small 5 portions. Eating junk food and sugar products need to be eliminated at first place from their diet. Diet plays an important role for this people. Organic food has low glycemic index values so it should be must in obese people’s diet. An endomorph person’s body needs less calories and additional extra calories are store in form of fat so exercise is compulsory to shed that unused calories. Their exercise program should include 6 days of weak with high intensity and cardio training.

Balance Diet: Mesomorph
Some people are lucky to have “Mesomorph” type of body; however they don’t have to work hard on reducing or gaining weight but are prone to getting fatter if proper diet and exercise routine is not followed. Their body response quickly to weight training and can get good muscle mass, they should plan a diet which includes carbohydrates, protein to maintain their ideal body composition.  An ideal weight according to height make personality looks more attractive. Their exercise program should include high intensity training and cardio both but exercise period will depend on fitness level of a person. Spring athletes, gymnast has this mesomorph body type.


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