Conditioning
SWEAT IT OUT!
The Best Ways to Burn Fat Fastby William Wilson, C.S.C.S.
Over the past few years, the market has been flooded with new types of exercise equipment, with each one claiming to be the "ultimate fat-burning vehicle." Fancy infomercials are utilized to market these products, often featuring a celebrity to vouch for its efficacy. With all the hype surrounding these claims, how do you differentiate between fact and fiction?
Recent studies have deemed the treadmill to be the "best" calorie burner. However, these studies only reflect short-term caloric expenditure and ignore the effects of long-term adaptation to exercise. When an exercise is performed on a regular basis, your body adapts by becoming more proficient in the activity. Your cardiovascular pathways used in the movement become more efficient at delivering oxygen to working muscles, thereby requiring greater intensity to elevate your heart rate. Since there is a limit to the amount of intensity that you can generate, utilizing the treadmill exclusively (or any other exercise, for that matter) will lead to diminishing returns.
Thus, despite the hype, there simply is no one best aerobic activity. If you want to maximize your fat-burning endeavors, it is imperative to cross train amongst different movements, varying your activities from session to session. In general, the more variety that you incorporate into your routine, the better your fat-burning results.
Does weight training make you inflexible?
There is a long-held notion that bodybuilders are "muscle-bound" and can't even lift their arms high enough to scratch their heads. This stereotype has perpetuated the myth that weight training and flexibility are incompatible. However, when combined with regular stretching exercises, weight training has no effect on the elasticity of your muscles.
It is true that, every time you flex a muscle, it shortens in length. After repeated contractions, the muscle adapts to this shortened position, restricting its range of motion. If nothing is done to counteract this phenomenon, you will experience a decrease in mobility.
Fortunately, stretching helps to reverse the muscle-shortening effects of weight training. Simply stretching your muscles in between sets is enough to elongate your muscles to pre-exercise levels. As long as you adhere to a regimented program of stretching, it is possible to be extremely muscular and maintain terrific flexibility. You'll end up with a stronger, quicker body that is capable of producing explosive power.
Should I train my abs every day for best results?
There is a prevailing belief that abdominal exercises can and should be performed daily to achieve maximum effect. Somehow, this theory has been taken as gospel by the general public. However, like many fitness prophecies, there is little basis to support this contention.
Your abdominals can be overtrained just like any other muscle group. Since muscle tissue is actually broken down during training, adequate rest and recuperation is required in order to repair the tissue. By training your abdominals too frequently, they never recover from the stimulus of training and therefore are not able to achieve optimal definition.
Additionally, it is important to remember that your abdominals are worked indirectly while training other muscle groups. They are stabilizers for virtually every movement you perform. Exercises such as triceps pressdowns, lat pulldowns, squats, etc., heavily employ abdominal assistance. In effect, you get an ab workout every time you train with weights.
For best results, you only need to train your abs a maximum of two or three times per week. If you do not see proper results, train more intensely and/or use weighted abdominal exercises. Don't forget, if you have excess bodyfat in this area, you will never see the muscle that you have worked so hard to build!
Can I eat immediately before training?
You should always have something to eat within a few hours of a workout. Training on an empty stomach can cause a dramatic drop in blood sugar, often resulting in feelings of dizziness and fatigue. Inevitably, your energy capacity will be limited and performance will suffer.
It is best to eat a light meal approximately one to two hours before exercise. The meal should be low in fat and contain a combination of complex carbohydrates and protein. For example, turkey on whole wheat bread would make an excellent pre-workout meal. So would chicken with brown rice. Make sure that your portions are moderate, though, as overeating can cause lethargy and even nausea during your routine.
If you are unable to eat within this timeframe, you should either have a piece of fruit or a fructose-based sports-drink immediately before training. This supplies you with an instant source of energy that will help to fuel your workout. Do not, however, eat something high in refined sugars such as a candy bar. Sugar is rapidly absorbed into your bloodstream which results in a rebound effect midway through your workout. Your blood sugar will fall precipitously causing a marked decrease in exercise performance.