Weighty Food: What to Eat When You're Weight Training

I am a huge advocate for weight training. There are so many benefits, including having a more toned body, strengthening your bones, boosting your metabolism and so much more.

But there's no point in training with weights if you don't eat the rights foods to aid your workout.

The main end result that most people want when they train with weights is to build muscle. Unfortunately, muscle needs to be fed the right foods or it will never grow.

Here is a list of some of the things you should be adding to your daily diet to boost your weight training work out.

Protein: As I've mentioned in previous blogs, protein is essential if you are looking to build muscle. In fact, your muscles feed on protein to grow. No protein, no growth. It's that simple. The best source for this is lean meat. If you are a vegetarian, you can replace the meat with commercial protein supplements.

Dairy Products: Dairy is filled with calcium and amino acids which are very important for bone health and muscle rebuilding. Try to choose low-fat dairy, as saturated fat raises blood cholesterol, which could increase the risk of heart disease.

Fish & Seafood: Oily fish such as sardines and salmon, as well as fish oil supplements, are important sources of omega-3 fats. These fat actually lower bodyfat, reduce triglycerides in your blood and aid with weight loss.

Mono and Polysaturated Fats: These fats are found in vegetables, seeds and nuts improve the good high-density cholesterol in your body and protect against heart and artery disease. They also provide essential fats that your body cannot make.

Vegetables: Vegetables are fortified with vitamins and minerals that are great sources of antioxidants and anticancer agents. Antioxidants protect your body from free radical damage produced by high-intensity exercise. Veggies are also fairly low-calorie, which makes them a great staple if you're trying to lose weight along with your weight training.

Fruits: Fruits are a great source of antioxidants. Like vegetables, they are full of carbohydrates which provide your body with energy needed for working out.

Nuts and Beans: Beans provide antioxidants, protein, fiber, iron, potassium and calcium. They are especially important for vegetarian and vegan weight trainers.

Whole Grains: These provide complex carbohydrates needed for energy and also help keep you filling fuller longer.

Adding all of the above foods to your diet will ensure that you're not weight training in vein. And who wants to put in all that work for nothing?

Skinny or Fat: It May Not Make a Difference

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine has proven that being overweight may have no bearing on your health.

According to the study, being fit is more important to being a certain weight, especially when it comes to health risk factors. Furthermore, being mildly overweight does not increase mortality.

The researchers studied more than 5,400 adults. They found that while cardiac risk factors including high blood glucose and high blood pressure were strongly associated with obesity, about half of the study subjects who were overweight showed no increase in these risk factors. Also, a quarter of the normal-weight subjects did possess the risk factors.

The study shows that regardless of weight, exercise is important. This mirrors previous studies that have found the people with the lowest level of fitness have the highest mortality rate.

This is not to say that one should strive to be overweight, but rather that if you are looking to be healthy, concentrate on being fit. The weight will fall off slowly, but in the meantime, you will be adding years to your life, and really, what's more important!

Speaking of Bones...

Last week, I wrote about increasing bone density through exercise, but while we're on the topic of bones, I just wanted to add an extra blog about preventing bone loss through your diet.
Higher protein foods such as lean meats ans low-fat dairy foods can help you lose weight without compromising your bone strength.
According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, dieters who follow government-promoted high carbohydrate diets see declining bone health over time, whereas dieters who chose to use high protein diets were able to keep their bone density fairly stable.
The high-protein diet is also helpful for your weight training since protein encourages muscle development.
Choosing the right diet and incorporating weight training to your work out will not only give you a better body aesthetically, but will make you healthier and help keep your bones and muscles strong in old age.

Make Your Workouts a HIIT!

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and it can take your cardio workout to the next level, helping you build more power and burn more fat than ever before.

Although HIIT workouts are shorter, they are performed at such a high intensity that it takes your body more oxygen to recover. This in turns means your body is burning 9 times more fat than it would at rest, for hours after your workout.

Other benefits of HIIT is that it increases your exercise endurance by increasing your VO2 max. This is the maximum amount of oxygen you inhale during exercise.

Because the workout is also shorter than most moderate-paced workouts, it also burns less muscle. This is especially important if you want to remain toned.

HIIT EXAMPLE
Warm up by jogging at a comfortable pace for 5 minutes. Then you begin your intervals. Run at your maximum effort for 15 to 30 seconds, followed by a 2-minute recovery. This can be a walk or a very light jog. Perform between 6 and 10 of these intervals, and finish with a cool down jog or walk.

You can get an amazing workout in as little as 20 minutes but because this is high intensity, it should only be performed a few times per week as your body will need time to recover.

Exercisers who have switched from moderate-paced cardio to HIIT have seen noticeable differences in their workout results and in the way their jeans fit!

Never Too Late To Build Bone Strength!

Nearly 8 million women are affected by osteoporosis. They suffer from deteriorated bone tissue and brittle bones that can break quite easily. But many cases of osteoporosis can be prevented by simple exercise.

As your body ages, your bone density decreases. You can help slow down this bone lose with calcium and vitamin D supplements but you can also build bone strength through exercise.

Unfortunately, many older women stay away from exercise, fearing that it could cause damage to their bones but safe exercise does exactly the opposite.

Strength training not only improves muscle strength, but it also helps increase bone density and prevent fractures.
29% of older people who break a hip die within a year, according to research by the University of Maryland: School of Medicine. For that reason alone, it is imperative that women strength train.

Of course, if you are new to strength training you should consult your doctor as well as a certified personal trainer to make sure your workout is right for you.