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I am both humbled and honored to receive the THE LEADERSHIP AWARD 2022 for “Healthcare Innovator Enterprise of The Year- Sports & Fitness”.As a niche fitness offering backed by years of research and development, experience in exercise science and for innovating DRXFIT- THE PT HUB which, maintains a unique position among fitness brands spreading result oriented fitness lessons and awareness. Fitness is a way of life and you can enjoy the benefits of fit life throughout your lifetime by following our principles. Join us in helping spread the word among your family, friends and work colleagues. Stay fit. Stay health

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How To Increase HGH Naturally

HGH or Human growth hormone, is an endogenous hormone (secreted by human pituitary gland) and is responsible for growth and development in children. The secretion of growth hormone is highest in childhood years and decline as the person ages.

In the absence of growth hormone, children may not reach their normal genetic height. Researchers and scientists attribute aging signs to partial decline in the serum levels of growth hormone and currently research is underway to slow down the aging process with supplemental growth hormone formulations.

HGH or Human Growth Hormone is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland in the brain and it plays a vital role in the proper functioning of your body.Acting as your body’s foreman, HGH instructs your skeletal bone and muscle to grow larger and stronger while it speeds the conversion of excess fats into energy.In other words, it’s responsible for youth, vitality, energy and all of the health benefits we associate with youth.

HGH promotes growth in children and plays an important role in adult metabolism. The body secretes the hormone, in decreasing amounts, throughout our lifetimes. The amount of hormone in the body can be measured by levels of IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor). Growth hormone has a profound effect on all the cells of the body, more than any other hormone because it is the cell generator.

Although the amount of growth hormone your body produces is genetically determined , there are a few things you can do to make the pituitary gland produce more growth hormone naturally:

1) SLEEP PROPERLY AND RESTFULLY

In a normal individual, most of the human growth hormone is produced during deep stages of sleep. Research suggests that the quality and duration of sleep plays a very important role in the growth and development due to alterations in the production of growth hormone. An average of 7 to 9 hours of quality uninterrupted sleep helps in naturally increasing your hormone secretion. Although time of the day doesn’t matter but night-sleep is more helpful because of higher melatonin secretion (due to dark). You can improve your sleep quality by using methods below

Adjust the temperature of your room before going to bed.

Limit your soda, caffeine and water intake before bedtime.

If you have trouble sleeping, you can also get benefitted from aromatherapy, sound therapy and massage therapy.

2) LOSE BODY FAT

The amount of body fat you carry is directly related to your HGH production. Those with higher body fat levels or more belly fat will likely have impaired HGH production and an increased risk of disease.

In one study, individuals with 3 times the amount of belly fat had less than half the amount of HGH as lean individuals.

Interestingly, research suggests that excess body fat affects HGH levels more in men. However, lowering body fat is still key for both genders. One study found that obese individuals had lower IGF-1 and HGH levels. After losing a significant amount of weight, their levels returned to normal.

Belly fat is the most dangerous type of stored fat and is linked to many diseases. Losing belly fat will help optimize HGH levels and other aspects of your health.

3) STOP EATING BEFORE BEDTIME

Healthcare providers advice to avoid consumption of heavy meals 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. This is important for a number of reasons besides a higher risk of obesity and impaired digestion. This includes an impaired insulin response and resulting impairments in the secretion of human growth hormone. Serological testing indicates that the secretion of human growth hormone decreases when the insulin levels are high in the body.

4). FAST INTERMITTENTLY

As discussed previously, higher insulin levels in the serum eventually decreases the serum production of human growth hormone. For best results, intermittent fasting is suggested not only for a better blood sugar profile and optimal digestion, but also for the higher release of human growth hormone. The duration of intermittent fasting greatly varies, but(According DRS research) generally a fast of 12 t0 18 hours per day is generally considered sufficient thrice in a week for health benefits and to increase human growth hormone production

5). Exercise smarter

.It is known that your body increases HGH production with intense physical training.Keep your workouts short (try to finish your workout in 45-60 minutes or less) and heavy.Training for more than 90 minutes will decrease HGH and testosterone because of the increase of the stress hormone levels. ( Cortisol ) Some experts say that even intense cardiovascular workout can help increase the growth hormone,but it depends on the activity we are doing.Take the DRS XFIT workouts for example.6). Cleanse Your Liver

Liver is the primary and most important organ for detoxification of bodily wastes. If you have poor dietary habits, you are very likely to have an unhealthy liver (that may not produce any disease symptoms but it may stop your liver from performing to its full extent). In order to achieve the benefits of human growth hormone, it is very important to cleanse your liver. This can be achieved by limiting the intake of processed, toxic foods and eliminating alcohol and exogenous drugs from your diet.

Research suggests that all the HGH produced by the pituitary gland is taken up by liver and metabolized to produce IGF-1 (or insulin like growth factors) that is responsible for anti- aging, protein building, growth and development functions of HGH.

7) Laugh More :-)(As I always recommend )

Being happy is another way of increasing your human growth hormone levels (by suppressing the release of stress hormones). Indulge yourself in positive and fun activities like watching movies and having fun with friends. Researchers from Loma Linda University proved that the serum concentration of HGH increases 87% after watching a fun/ comedy movie.

8) Proper nutrition

.Eating lots of protein ( lean meats,eggs,cottage cheese), low glycemic carbs ( fruits, vegetables) and healthy fats (nuts,olive oil) , while reducing starchy and high glycemic carbohydrates can help you increase hgh and testosterone.Try to eat most of your protein about 2 hours before and immediately after your workout.

9) Supplements

Taking supplements like amino acids is shown to increase HGH levels in humans. Taking these particular amino acids may show an increase in HGH levels: – L Arginine, L Lysine, L Glutamine, Glycine, L Tyrosine and GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid)

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TOP NFLUENTIAL PEOPLE 

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DRS Dieting Tricks That Work Wonders Quickly

There are certain dieting tricks that work very quickly if you’re trying to lose weight. These dieting tricks are really common sense though when you consider the benefits you’ll get from them. Anytime you start to feel your jeans get tight, or just don’t like the way you look in your clothes anymore, try a few of these dieting tricks to get you back on track.

Even healthy eaters can lose their focus and eat too much of the wrong foods. These dieting tricks can also improve your insulin levels, reduce bloating, and even help digestion too. Pick whichever ones sound relevant to your life and try a few this week. I’d love to know how they work for you!

1. Reduce Starchy Carbs

This little tip is one of the oldest and most tried and true dieting tricks out there. It’s not rocket science, since we all know starchy carbs lead to weight gain. Yet with trendy foods like sprouted grain bread, red potatoes, beans, couscous, and the new “it” grain, freekah, we might lose sight quickly of how many starches we’re really eating. You don’t need an excess of starches, no matter how healthy the source is you’re choosing. One or two a day should do, but if you want to lose weight, make it just one or even zero. Choose non-starchy vegetables, and high protein and low starch grains like rolled oats or quinoa as your main choices.

2. Eliminate Most All Fruit Sugars

Fruit seems so healthy in so many ways, but can be one of the reasons you gain weight. Fruit in itself is full of vitamins and minerals that are excellent for you, but it will quickly lead to belly bloat and even belly weight gain when you eat more than you need.

The reason is the type of sugar found in fruit, known as fructose. Fructose is only needed in certain amounts by the body, and then the rest gets converted to excess fat by the liver. High fructose fruits should be avoided, while low fructose fruits can be eaten in small amounts. Low fructose fruits include raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, acai berries, goji berries, yellow bananas (not brown), papaya, and oranges.

3. Increase Lean Protein

Increasing lean protein has been found to effectively help increase weight loss and improve lean muscle. Increasing your lean protein by just 10% might be all the edge you need to improve your metabolism quickly. Protein takes more metabolic work to digest than any other macronutrient, and the more your metabolism has to work, the better for your weight loss.

Be sure you choose good, clean sources of lean protein though. You should always be kind to your body when choosing what foods to give it. Increasing your protein at each meal and snack by just adding ¼ the amount more than you normally eat should do the trick. This can also help keep you fuller longer and maintain better insulin function.

4. Eat When You’re Hungry

Never skip meals when it comes to losing weight. This will backfire quickly, and cause your insulin to spike, which increases the cortisol in your body, leading to fat storage. Cortisol, your stress hormone, is the first hormone your body sends out when it senses its under stress, including when you’re hungry and your insulin surges.

Cortisol also triggers your body to store fat as a survival mechanism for the stress its under. So eat when you’re hungry and quit ignoring your hunger pains! Eat three meals and two snacks through the day as you need them

5. Dieting Tricks: Watch Your Fats

Yes, healthy fats should be eaten and yes, I love them, but when it comes to weight loss, be sure you watch how much you’re eating. They are easy to overdo.

In fact, one of the best ways to gain weight is to increase your healthy fats. So, have 1 or 2 tablespoons a day at the most, but no more if you’re really trying to lose weight. This includes nut butters, oils, avocados, and nuts. Seeds like flax, chia, and hemp are much more diet friendly, and also have more fiber to fill you up faster.

6. Decide On Dairy

Most people find ditching dairy can help them lose weight, but some find fat-free dairy like Greek yogurt actually helps them lose. So, decide what works for you. If dairy digests well for you, choose the leanest option – this being organic, fat-free Greek yogurt.

Avoid milk, cheese, and most all other dairy products if you want to lose weight though. Choose unsweetened almond milk instead of milk, and avoid any dairy products with added sugar. I also suggest avoiding vegan cheeses and vegan dairy products outside of unsweetened almond milk. Most all are high in preservatives, excess fat or sugar, and a lot of fillers.

These are some of the DRS dieting tricks to help you lose weight that don’t require a fancy plan or a lot of thought. Implement some of these into your routine, and you should notice the weight start to come off quickly.

Most importantly of all, please remember, sugar is not your friend, so kick all sugar and alcohol out of your diet and increase your intake of veggies, lean protein, and eat some healthy fats and some healthy starches. This will give you a better quality of life, a leaner body, and improve your metabolism and mood.

Do you have a safe and effective dieting trick that’s worked wonders for you?

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ESTROGEN RICH FOODS THAT CAUSE TESTOSTERONE ISSUES

In this article I’m going to talk about high estrogen foods you must avoid and also estrogen rich foods that can destroy your health and really cause major hormonal issues. There are a lot of things that people are eating today that are disrupting their hormones, causing estrogen to be high, causing progesterone to be low.

Some of the side effects of consuming too many estrogen rich foods are, for men, having more feminine characteristics, and for women, increased issues like hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, and even ovarian cancer.

Estrogen Rich Foods To Avoid

I’m going to talk about the five estrogen rich foods and products you absolutely want to avoid, and then talk about a food here at the very end that you’ll want to add into your diet to help your body detox the excess estrogen.

The reason why these estrogen rich foods are an issue is because they’re called xenoestrogens. They increase estrogen in your body, or they act like estrogen, which again increases your risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer in women. And for men, major testosterone issues, impotence and other health issues.

1. Soy

So the first food that you want to avoid that contains way too much estrogen, or what are called xenoestrogens, is soy. Most of the soy products today, whether it is soy milk, soy protein powder, or just regular soy beans, are genetically modified. So consuming soy, which is a very high estrogen based food is something you want to avoid.

Now, soy started being consumed in large amounts years ago because it was so popular in Japan, but they consumed a different type of soy. It wasn’t the genetically modified soy that we consume today. It was a type of soy called natto, which is fermented soy beans. So it was loaded with probiotics, vitamin K2 and it didn’t have the same estrogen effects.

So again, soy: number one estrogen-rich food you’ve got to stay away from.

2. Sugar

Too many sugars and carbohydrates can increase estrogen in your body and lower progesterone. So eliminate the processed sugar. Get rid of grains in large amounts. If you’re consuming large grains, switch over to eating more fruits and vegetables.

Or if you want to eat grains, sprouted grains are a better option. But really balancing out those ratios, lowering your carb intake. Increasing your intake of healthy fats will also help naturally balance out and decrease excess estrogen in your body.

3+4. Conventional Meat And Dairy

Now, maybe the biggest offender of excess estrogen in your diet is consuming conventional meat and dairy products. In fact our average milk today contains 20 different chemicals and medications, including growth hormones like RBGH, as well as estradiol and other hormone-based medications.

So you go to your regular grocery store, pick up a gallon of milk with over 20 different medications and chemicals in it. All of these extra hormones and steroids in the milk supply will sky rocket your estrogen, and the same goes for the meat you eat.

If you are shopping on a budget, and you don’t have a lot of extra money to spend, if you’re going to invest in your health anywhere, make sure it’s on your meat. So eat grass-fed organic meat and raw organic dairy products, because if you’re eating those and they’re not organic, that’s going to increase your risk of all the things we talked about, from cancer to autoimmune disease to other neurological issues.

5. Avoid Plastic Containers

Stop drinking out of or eating a lot of things out of plastic containers that contain BPA, which stands for bisphenol-A. It’s a compound in plastics that’s known as an estrogen-mimicker or a phyto or a xenoestrogen. So stay away from the plastic bottles, especially when they’re heated.

If you leave a plastic bottle of water out in the sun, actually by about 90 to 100 times of those plastics will leach into the water. When you’re drinking those, those will get into your system, causing these hormonal-based problems.

Another thing along with plastic are teflon pans. In fact, when you heat up teflon pans, that heat actually increases PFLAs, which are also estrogen mimickers, by 400 times. So again, heating teflon pans, consuming things out of plastic bottles, another big no-no in things you absolutely want to avoid if you want to decrease estrogen.

Consume Cruciferous Vegetables

Obviously, we want to get rid of those foods and products. If you want to start detoxing your body of estrogen, there is a substance found in cruciferous vegetables called indole-3-carbinol. It starts out as a form of sulfur in your body, which has powerful detoxification properties.

So those cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, collard greens, these cruciferous vegetables will absolutely help your body detox.

There’s supplementing with milk thistle and dandelion, two other great things. So cruciferous vegetables, milk thistle are great to support your body and to detoxify it from excess estrogen. Get those estrogen-rich foods out of your diet and start eating more testosterone rich foods.

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5 Reasons For Using HCG Diet For Losing Weight:

Weight loss is vast subject and complex too. Experts are coming up with new weight loss diet plan, drugs, or therapy on regular basis to address different weight loss needs of individuals around the world.

The body type differs according to the origin, age, and gender of the person. The weight loss pattern may also keep on changing as per the body type and hence there is constant need for innovation in this segment. The new addition made by the experts in the weight loss industry to overcome the issues like stagnant weight that would require advanced weight loss technique is HCG Diet Plan.

The idea of HCG diet is to add the HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) hormone to the body which would increase the metabolism and burn the stored fat. The HCG levels usually increase during pregnancy but here this hormones are artificially induced in the body. There are many reasons why one may go for this diet to lose weight and some key reasons are mentioned here.

1. Weight Loss Without Exercise

When you are suffering from obesity, it is difficult to indulge into vigorous workout regime. The doctors also don’t recommend any sort of physically straining exercise to the person suffering from excess weight as it would exert unnecessary pressure on heart and joints. HCG will increase your metabolism and hence naturally burn the fat without affecting you adversely.

2. You Are Not Starving

Many diet plans are really very difficult to follow and this is because there are lots of cuts on food intake. Enhanced HCG naturally burns your fat and utilizes it to meet with the calorie deficit. You will feel fuller for long and the standard HCG diet plan is also well-designed to avoid starving. Inclusion of some of your favorite foods in HCG diet would keep you away from food cravings.

3. Weight Loss Is Very Fast

As there is sharp increase in metabolism, sufficient reduction in calorie intake, and quick fat burning, those on HCG diet may start losing weight very fast. Some people may also get the weight loss of up to 1 lb per day. The HCG diet plans are offered from 15 days to 90 days and one would lose up to 90 lbs in the 90 days plan. To get the desired results, you would be required to follow the diet plan strictly along with regular HCG drops.

4. Keeps You Active And Energetic

HCG is the pregnancy hormone and hence it also imbibes energy in your body while helping you lose weight. You will get agile and active because of lighter body and extra energy offered by HCG. There would be visible difference in your entire lifestyle with this super hormone.

5. It Is Easy To Follow

Unlike many other weight loss diets, HCG diet is easy to follow and is quite fast in giving results. You don’t have to continue it for lifetime and hence the commitment to the diet will last for long. Once you take up this diet, the results would help you stick to it till the target weight is achieved.

Getting to your desired weight is now very easy with this well-researched HCG diet. All you need to do is go for it and enjoy the results that make you feel younger in no time.

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DRS Fitness Laws Everyone Should Know And Follow

In an age of technology and virtual training, it’s so easy to forget what made us fit in the first place: healthy food, quality movement, dedication and high intensity discipline. Follow these DRS Fitness Laws to achieve optimal performance throughout your health and fitness routine.

DRS Fitness Laws

Here are DRS Fitness Laws you need to learn, apply and repeat if you really want a badass body:

1. Eating right is 80% of the battle.

With today’s incredible online resources it’s easy to get distracted by all those health and fitness products and fancy weight loss diets out there. But no matter what your fitness goal is, you can’t go wrong with a well balanced diet of fresh food, cooked from scratch. And the fun part is you can eat plenty of it!

2. Start long-term and work back.

Set your main goal for the long term, then cut it down into smaller goals, easy to reach. For example, if you plan to run 5k in 3 months, start by setting a goal for this month, or this week.

3. It is impossible to get ripped “accidentally”.

The super fit and super lean women/men you see on Instagram work their ass off to look that way. It’s not genetics, but dedication responsible for that insane body!

4. You need to make SMART goals.

Here’s what SMART stands for (just to easily remember what a smart goal should look like): Specific,Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Got the idea?

5. It’s worth investing in the right kit.

Once you’ve found a good workout, invest in the right fitness equipment. And this is not just an excuse to shop, it’s “an investment” because the right clothes will wick sweat away, stop chafing and make you feel fly. Most of them are totally wearable outside of the gym too.

6. Time is money, spend it wisely.

Instead of running one hour on the treadmill to burn 600 calories, why not lifting weights for 30 minutes to burn the same amount of calories?! You know, dynamic moves with free weights are the most efficient calorie-burning exercises.

The more intense the workout, the shorter it needs to be.

7. Peripheral heart action is the way forward.

PHA (peripheral heart action) is the ultimate fitness hack. It says that you can boost your metabolism and work your heart harder if you alternate between lower- and upper-body exercises. All there without spending more time in the gym; genius, right?!

8. Cardio first, weights after? No.

Try active rest instead of total rest to save time. Switch the total rest periods between sets with short cardio sessions (1-2 minutes) or full-body moves like pushups, squats, lunges.(try DRS-Circuits)

9. Make weights work for you.

Work the biggest muscle groups first (back, chest, legs), then work your way down to isolated small muscles like biceps or triceps.

10. When it comes to weights, the more instability the better.

Free weights work your body in a more natural way without injuries. Machines isolate the muscles and neglect the supporting muscles, which can lead to injuries. When it comes to weight lifting, the more unstable the exercise is the better the result is.

Free weights > Cable machines > Fixed machines

11. Step away from the cardio machines!

An outdoor run is just so much better than a treadmill session. The uneven surface will strengthen your legs and the weather conditions will make your body work harder. You can even boost endorphins by 50% just by running outdoors.

12. Recovery is just as important as what you do in the gym.

Do 5 minutes of stretching at the end of every workout session. Don’t work the same muscle group 2 days in a row; rest at least 48 hours until the next workout for the same muscle group.

13. It’s not just about the way you look.

Fitness it’s not just about the way you look, it’s how it makes you feel. You’re strong, stress free, sleep well, have a lot of energy during the entire day and your skin glows; this is the real joy of being healthy, fit and toned!

14. See exercise as a treat, not punishment.

I don’t think there’s a person leaving the gym feeling worse than they did when they arrived at the gym. Yeah, a good workout really is a bless, so why treating it like a punishment?!

Grab your perfect running shoes, strap yourself into a sports bra /supporters with adequate support and start your fitness journey. You will be amazed what you can achieve living your life by these DRS Fitness Laws.

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12 Months DRS Challenge For A Healthy Lifestyle:

That’s why I propose this 12 Months DRS Challenge where you will make a small choice every start of the month and hold on it the entire month. Every month would be a new challenge and maybe at the end of each month you will adopt a new healthy habit.

People get started on a weight loss journey and what tends to happen is they are so pumped and so ready to go that they jump into it 100% and then they die out quickly and fall back to their older routine. I wanted to talk about that in this article, I wanted to go over clean eating and healthy lifestyle. In my opinion if you slowly bring things into your life and slowly change your lifestyle, you are more likely to stick with it. There are little changes that can make a big difference in weight loss.

People venture out to lose many pounds and then they don’t meet their goals. This is because they’ve made too big goals. Forget about losing 30-40 pounds and focus on losing one pound a week. That’s what you need for healthy weight loss. And then, once you’ve done that, eventually the pounds start to add up. So if you think about it, there are 52 weeks in a year and that’s 52 pounds. Pretty good, right?

12 Months Challenge

There is a 12 Months Challenge Infographic at the end of the article. You can print it and stick it to your fridge or anywhere else to remind you the decision you’ve made. So let’s see what small changes you should adapt each month:

1. January – Eat vegetables with your snack or meal at least three times per day.

2. February – Cut your processed sugar in 1/2 (or out all together). Instead of white sugar use stevia, honey or agave.

3. March – Drink at least 64-oz (2l) of water every single day.

4. April – Get your sweat on most days of the week. Just 20 minutes will count.

5. May – Stop eating foods with hydrogenated oils, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup. Get rid of margarine and use olive oil instead of other oils used to fry food.

6. June – Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. this should be easy.

7. July – Go meatless at least one day per week. And if you really want to challenge yourself, go meatless 3 days per week.

8. August – Meditate or just sit in silence 10 minutes per day. And do this every single day!

9. September – Kick it up a notch! Increase the time and/or intensity of your workouts.

10. October – Eat good fats and get your Omega 3’s with foods like salmon and walnuts.

11. November – Be grateful. Gratitude is good for your health, so practice it daily.

12. December – Meditate or sit in silence 10 minutes every day. Or try one more time a challenge that didn’t worked at the first time.

I encourage you to change your behavior, to make small changes like the ones in this challenge. At the end, the winner in the game of weight loss is not who loses their weight the quicker, is the person who keeps it off the longest. GET IN GET FIT…STAY HEALTHY..

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EASE IN MUSCLE SORENESS BY DOING THIS!

Today we will discuss a bit about muscle soreness. What it is, how it comes about, the myths and the realities.

Muscle soreness is probably the most debated topic in sports with or without weights. It manifests as a burning sensation, tightening pain and more or less unpleasant as soon as you move them the next morning.

Let’s try to reach the objective here.

Muscle soreness is, as I said, the feeling of pain that occurs after about 8 hours of forcing your muscles to the limit. Until recently, studies of fitness have claimed that muscle soreness occurs due to an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles during exercise. The latest study has come to refute this.

The main reason for developing muscle soreness according to recent studies is that lactic acid is washed out at a rate of over 90% in the first hour of training. Also regarded as a valid explanation, is the appearance of microcellular muscle tears. This micro-trauma and oxidative stress are caused by free radicals produced during exercise effects on the muscle and connective tissue. Thus, once the nerve receptors have recovered there is a feeling of pain or muscle soreness. It occurs around 8 hours after the exercise, with the pain at its peak somewhere between 1 to 3 days and disappears completely after about 5 to 7 days, depending on rest and exercise intensity.

How do we train with muscle soreness? There are also some controversial theories such as “habit cures habit” that is partially true. In no way should you complete the next workout with immense power, especially when the muscles have been affected by muscle fever. Choose a workout to work other muscle groups, or complete a circuit-type training with less intensity on the affected muscle groups.

Muscle soreness is a gauge of the effectiveness of training. In general, you can use muscle soreness as an indicator of the effectiveness of training, but nothing is set in stone. It is not necessary to reach to the level of muscle soreness in order for an exercise to be effective. This is a genetic predisposition and pain tolerance of each individual. Overall, intense muscle soreness may be an indicative of a physically powerful workout too great for the muscle groups and a lack of muscle soreness may be evidence of a not so effective workout. Slight muscle soreness means a good workout. Again, these rules are not set in stone. Strength, appearance or absence of muscle fever varies from person to person.

How do you prevent muscle soreness or make it go away more rapidly?

The cure for muscle soreness is relatively simple. If you gradually increase the strength and endurance of your muscles and you stretch and warm up properly before the activity you will be engaging in, they will not get as sore and a cooling down session / stretching after training is just as important. Adding a good ratio of carbohydrates and protein, eating correctly and getting a good night’s sleep will help to rebuild those muscles after training.

Taking nutritional supplements and antioxidants in the diet is also a good measure. To speed up the passage of fever, besides a good diet and exercising properly is to have the sore muscles massaged followed by a warm bath in sea salt. Inflammatory pills or other medication is contraindicated except for aspirin.

Don’t forget to share it if you like the article

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This Is What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Exercising

Getting in shape is hard work, so who wouldn’t want some down time? But don’t quit moving just yet, because letting all your hard work go down the drain is not your goal. When you stop exercising, your body goes through many physical changes that can be unhealthy for you.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

A body at rest tends to stay at rest while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Although this is a tenet of physics and momentum, it happens to be true for physical activity as well.

Those who make a healthy habit of exercise reap the rewards of feeling better so they tend to keep up the work. Once you slack off and stop exercising, your body experiences several changes for the worse.

FITNESS LEVEL CHANGES WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

For an athlete, the effects of not exercising are more profound than they would be for a recreational exerciser. Stopping a fitness regimen for a regular person might show health decreases over a month or two but an athlete will experience these negative health changes almost immediately.

WHAT HAPPENS TO HEART HEALTH WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

Your blood pressure is higher on the days that you don’t workout compared to the days that you do. If you go even longer without exercise, after a month of not exercising your blood pressure will return to where it was prior to starting any fitness routine.

It can take you longer to get back into your routine once you start due to the need to start slowly. When you go from a period where you have stopped exercising to beginning again, you increase your risk of cardiac events, such as heart attack. The Centers for Disease Control recommends starting a fitness program slowly after a period of inactivity to reduce this risk rather than going into an intense cardio workout.

EFFECTS ON YOUR BLOOD WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

VO2 Max, or your maximum capacity to carry oxygen in your blood, is one of the most immediate changes that doctors can measure in the body when you stop exercising. Your breathing rate increases as you exercise, increasing your VO2 Max. Without the increase in respiration, your ability to oxygenate your blood decreases.

“There are studies indicating a decline of 7 to 10% of VO2 after 12 days of sudden inactivity, 14 to 15% after 50 days, and 16 to 18% after 80 days ,Maximal values for cardiac output, stroke volume [the amount of blood pumped out of the heart during each contraction] and ability of mitochondria to extract oxygen each decline along the same lines while the heart rate increases.

Your blood sugar or glucose also increases when you stop exercising. Without muscles working to use up the excess sugar in your blood, that glucose stays in the blood. As a result, staying sedentary increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

EFFECTS ON MUSCLES AND JOINTS WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

When you exercise your muscles, tiny tears make them grow bigger and stronger as they heal. Without exercise, your muscles begin to atrophy, causing you to lose muscle mass and strength. Regular exercise gives you benefits of flexibility and coordination as well as strength.

When you stop exercising, you lose mitochondria which are the cells within your muscles that convert that oxygen into energy. In a British study, 2 weeks of immobilization decreased muscle mitochondrial content as much as 6 weeks of endurance training increased it.

Without that fat burning function of your muscles, your metabolism slows down. This can lead to weight gain or even just a change in body fat percentage. In findings published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, a 5-week exercise break boosted collegiate swimmers’ fat mass by 12 percent.

EFFECTS ON YOUR BRAIN WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING

Your brain releases endorphins when you exercise, so quitting exercise means no more pleasure sensations from the runner’s high. The positive mood regulating effects of exercise will disappear once you stop exercising.

According to the CDC, “Regular physical activity can help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It can also reduce your risk of depression and may help you sleep better. Research has shown that doing aerobic or a mix of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities 3 to 5 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes can give you these mental health benefits. Some scientific evidence has also shown that even lower levels of physical activity can be beneficial.”

Regular exercise also helps memory function on the brain. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that exercise in older adults increased the size of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that helps with memory. Stopping exercise for as little as a week results in fewer brain cells growing in this area of the brain.

Avoid the negative health and fitness consequences of retraining your body by sticking with your workout. If you do need a break from exercise, try to still get a brisk walk in at least once per week to maintain some of the health benefits of exercise.

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Are Sit Ups Bad for You? The U.S. Military Seems to Think So…

I read an article recently in the Daily Mail about how the U.S. Army is phasing out sit-ups from the Army Physical Fitness Test as well as in their regular training programs. The Marines and Navy may soon be following suit.

So that got me wondering, what’s the deal? Why are these military institutions giving up on one of the long time staples of their physical fitness routines?

The Army is changing its fitness guidelines because it believes sit-ups can be harmful and that there are better ways to condition and strengthen the core.

The Sit-Up vs. The Crunch

The sit-up has had a long reign as the gold standard in assessing and improving abdominal strength, not to mention in achieving a slimmer waistline and the elusive “six pack.”

Then, we had the crunch, which began to unseat the sit-up as the best abdominal move. We learned that the crunch gives more focused contraction potential to the rectus abdominis muscles, while the sit-up puts too much emphasis on the hip flexor muscles.

The transition from sit-up to crunch was positive, but was it enough? Why move at all when working out the core? Next came the static plank.

The Plank

The plank is the latest in improving not just abdominal, but total core strength. A plank is what we call an isometric exercise which means the muscle contracts without any actual movement of the body or lengthening of the muscle.

An isometric plank is used to strengthen and improve endurance and stability in the abdominal muscles, while also including the obliques, gluteus muscles, and the hamstrings. To some extent you even work the shoulders and arms.

There are some variations on the plank, but the most basic form is in a prone position with hands, forearms, and elbows on the floor, toes on the floor, and hips up and in a neutral position with the rest of the upper body. In other words, your body is straight like a plank.

Planks are typically held for a designated time period, such as 30 or 60 seconds at a time, or in shorter time periods with only a few seconds of rest in between, such as 20 second holds with 5 second rest periods.

Why Are Planks So Great?

The U.S. military is making a switch to planks because they have discovered what a lot of trainers already knew:

Planks beat sit-ups every time, in every way.

Planks have been proven both in the gym as well as in the research laboratory to be the most effective way to:

incorporate and activate the abdominal and trunk muscles

support proper posture by helping to safeguard an erect spinal position

encourage proper alignment of the spine

According to me, planks target the abdominals in the manner in which they are intended to function…isometrically.

“A lot of strength trainers realized that the main function of the abs is to stop, not start motion, and the plank came out of what the abs are asked to do, which is resist the spine from moving, such as when fighting off an opponent, and strengthening the lower back.”

I know what you’re thinking: Planks are SO boring and if you’ve never actually tried them, they might just look too easy to possibly be beneficial. But this exercise only looks deceptively simple.

It may seem counterintuitive to switch from active movement of a muscle group to not moving at all, but planks work and if you try them you will feel it.

Staying still and as stiff as a board while on your elbows and toes is a lot more difficult than it looks

What about Using Sit-Ups and Planks?

Why can’t you include sit-ups and crunches along with planks for a complete workout?

Can’t they co-exist?

The truth is that research is starting to show us that sit-ups are not only less beneficial than the isometric plank; sit-ups can actually be dangerous.

According to Harvard Health Publications, sit-ups can be very hard on the spine and potentially damaging. If you have ever felt lower back pain and strain during a sit-up, you know this already.

A sit-up pushes the curved spine against the floor, and as mentioned earlier, employs the hip flexor muscles. (These are the muscles that run from the thighs to the lumbar spine in the lower back.)

When the hip flexor muscles are too strong or too tight, they can ‘tug’ on the lower spine, which can create low back discomfort.

With a sit-up, and to a lesser extent crunches, the position and movement of the body works against the natural curvature of the spine, and therefore can lead to low back discomfort, pain, and even injury.

One study actually found that 56 percent of all soldiers’ injuries relating to the “old fitness test” administered by the Army, were directly due to sit-ups.

The Takeaway(for trainers)

So what is the takeaway message for you as a trainer? What exercises should you be doing for your core and recommending to your clients? Is the answer as straightforward as totally eliminating sit-ups and crunches in favor of planks? Are sit-ups always bad?

Benefits of sit-ups:

Sit-ups target your abdominal muscles, particularly the rectus abdominis, but also involve and incorporate some of the connecting stabilizer muscles, such as the hip flexors, thereby providing a more comprehensive and integrative movement.

Drawbacks of sit-ups:

Sit-ups impose extremely large compression forces on the discs and vertebrae of the spine, especially in the lower back. The U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has set the action limit for low back compression at 3300 N and repetitive loading above this level is linked with higher injury rates in workers. Compression readings that surpass this limit are imposed on the spine with each sit up repetition.

Benefits of crunches:

Crunches involve six primary core muscles of the abdomen as well as muscles in the leg. Crunches can be modified for individual ability levels. They can also be intensified by using resistance, like with a medicine ball, in order to increase the contraction and strength potential. Crunches do not require as great a range of motion as sit-ups, so they limit the involvement of the hip flexors, as well as the compression on the spine.

Drawbacks of crunches:

Crunches target the abdominal muscles but do not adequately address the other core muscles, such as the obliques and particularly the muscles in the lower back (lumbar erectors). Crunches still place some stress and compression on the spinal column, particularly if attempting to ‘flatten’ the low back throughout the movement. Crunches have also been known to create strain and stress on the neck or cervical spine if the head is not kept in a neutral position throughout the movement.

Benefits of planks:

Planks involve a more complete and comprehensive balance of the muscles of the abdominals, obliques, spinal erectors, and to some extent muscles in the glutes, shoulder, chest and arms. Planks use an isometric contraction to target the core musculature, and muscle activation has been shown to be almost twice as active as in a standard sit-up. Planks, if done correctly, are safe and put no unnecessary strain or compression on the spine. Variations of the plank movement can be performed to increase or decrease difficulty and target different muscles.

Drawbacks of Planks:

Joint limitations in the elbows, shoulders, or feet can potentially negatively affect your ability to correctly perform the exercise. If you are very weak in the core musculature, you might find it difficult to maintain proper positioning in the movement for more than a few seconds, and therefore limited progress can be seen in the early stages of performing the exercise

With all the information presented to you, what is the final answer?

In my opinion, there is still a place in the world of health, fitness, and wellness for the crunch. I think that there are enough benefits to the movement if done properly to justify it still being included as part of a comprehensive training program.

With all the evidence from research, I also give the plank a big gold star for being the most effective, most efficient, and most importantly, the safest core strengthening and stabilizing exercise in the industry today.

So if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to ditch the sit-up. Stick with planks and crunches for the best all-around core fitness and strength.

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How Much Should I Eat Per Day To Gain Muscle Mass?

In order to gain muscle mass, you should take in about 15 calories per each pound of your body weight. If you have 180 pounds, you should eat about 2700 calories per day to gain muscle mass.

Of course, if you’re doing exercises daily and you’re burning about 500 calories through your fitness routine, you will add 500 calories to your daily calorie intake. So in this case, a 180-pound man should eat about 3200 calories per day to gain muscle mass.

But if you want to gain muscle mass, you can’t just eat any kind of foods until you get those 2700 calories and then stop eating. You need to know what kind of foods are good for your body and for your muscle gain goal. You need to know how many carbs, proteins and fats you should eat in a day to get those 2700 calories in and to gain muscle mass.

HOW TO GAIN MUSCLE MASS

Here is how you can calculate your carbs, protein and fats intake for a day, if you want to gain muscle mass:

2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight. If you weigh 180 pounds, you should have about 360 grams of carbs in your daily food intake.

Between 1 and 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 200 pounds, you should have about 180 – 270 grams of protein in your daily food intake.

0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight. If you weigh 180 pounds, you should have about 72 grams of fat in your daily food intake.

So if you note your body weight with W, here is the math behind gaining muscle mass (all number are for one day only):

CALORIES = W x 15 grams

FAT = W x 0.4 grams

PROTEIN = W x 1.5 grams

CARBOHYDRATES = W x 2 grams

Now that you know how many calories you should eat in a day to gain muscle mass, all you have to do is to find a perfect workout for you and add some physical activity in your daily schedule. This will increase your daily calorie intake with 100-500 calories, depending on the intensity of the workout you’re performing.

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Post C-Section Workout To Tighten Your Tummy

Giving birth is the most difficult and stressful period of a woman’s life. But once the baby is born and you hold him or her in your arms, you forget about everything.

However, post pregnancy, your weight gain is something that gives you a lot of trouble. This problem is more acute for women who undergo a C-section which badly affects their self-esteem.

Post C-section Workout To Get Back In Shape

Most women, in today’s age, avoid carrying that slight weight post C-section throughout their lives. However, now there is a solution for it. Your stomach can go back to that flat shape if you follow some powerful post C-section workout.

Here you will come to know about some workouts that will surely help you lose weight post C-section. Let’s have a look at them.

1. Bridge

This is a safe exercise that does not put any excess pressure on the C-section, yet helps to lose unnecessary fat from the stomach.

You should start it by lying on your back and place your feet flat on the floor. Straighten your arms by placing your palms on the floor. Do not raise your shoulders from the ground. Hold this position for at least ten seconds then slowly lower the body to the ground. Repeat this step five to eight times regularly.

2. Walking

This is the best post C-section workout that helps you to get a flat tummy. You should start walking on a flat surface, may it be for 500 or 700 meters.

Walking is an exercise that helps tone your legs and other parts of the body. It also strengthens your C-section area. Once you become comfortable with this exercise, start doing it regularly at a medium pace.

You can also include brisk walking for twenty to thirty minutes in your routine. This not only helps in burning your fat but also increases your level of energy.

3. Light Weight Training

Light weight training is a useful post C-section workout that helps to strengthen your abdominal and back muscles. This exercise is truly useful for body toning and conditioning. It also helps you to gain body balance and improves co-ordination among various parts of the body.

Lightweight exercises include reverse crunches, normal crunches, churning the mills, etc. All these workouts not only tone your body but also help to burn excess fat in the C-section.

4. Swimming

Swimming is a result-driven post C-section workout for those who wish to get back in shape after giving birth. Water workout is a safe and good exercise because it does not put pressure on delicate areas of the body. Swimming is also useful for strengthening muscles and cardiovascular.

5. Kegel Exercise

You might have heard the term in your antenatal classes. Well, you can continue with it for your post C-section workout. Kegel exercise is very useful as it helps to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic area and prevent uterine prolapse.

While performing this exercise, you should hold your pelvic muscles up when inhale and exhale by drawing the naval towards backbone. You must keep your pelvic muscle strong throughout the exercise.

These are some useful post C-section workouts that help you to get back in shape after C-section.

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Foods That Will Help You Get A Flat Stomach

Vitamin D rich foods such as eggs and salmon can help in the metabolism of fat. Cucumbers and dry fennel seeds reduce stomach bloating and also aid digestion. Greek Yogurt and olive oil reduces cortisol levels, a hormone that stores fat. Regular consumption of whole grains like popcorn, oats and wheat and adequate hydration can also help.

Stomach fat can be due to an array of factors. Lack of exercise, over sleeping the afternoons, as well as an unhealthy diet and lifestyle may collectively lead to this particular state. Here are the surprising foods for flat stomach, which will help you shed inches and pounds and also to banish the bloat.

Foods for Flat Stomach

Salmon: Salmon is an excellent source of Vitamin D. Insufficient blood levels of Vitamin D have been linked to obesity, including abdominal obesity. The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon and other fatty fish can also help flatten your belly.

Eggs: If you want to lose some fat around the middle, eggs are a great way to start your day. Eggs provide Vitamin D and choline known for playing a role in fat metabolism.

Cucumbers: Cucumbers are loaded with water and naturally low in calories to help with hydration and weight management. One whole cucumber has just 45 calories and eating them can also help you fight belly bloat.

Fennel Seeds: Dried fennel seeds are very nutritious, containing fiber, magnesium, calcium and iron, and they have long been used as a digestive aid. Fennel helps to relax the gastrointestinal muscles, which helps trapped gas pass to alleviate bloating

Yogurt: Yogurt is a good source of calcium, a mineral that slows production of the hormone cortisol, which encourages belly fat.

Olive Oil: Healthful monounsaturated fats found in olive oil could potentially switch on genes related to the burning and storage of fat.

Whole Grains: Whole grains including quinoa, popcorn, oats and wheat — can help flatten your tummy. The USDA recommends healthy adults consume about six ounces of total grains per day, and that at least half of those grains should be whole grains.

Water: Drinking enough water is helpful to flatten your tummy. Water is essential for moving fiber through the GI system and preventing constipation.

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COFFEE VS. TEA – WHAT HAS BETTER HEALTH BENEFITS?

The vast majority of us drink some sort of caffeinated beverage. In fact, 90% of people in the world use caffeine in one form or another. 80% of Indian adults consume caffeine every day – the average adult has an intake of 200 mg per day, the amount in two 5-ounce cups of coffee or four sodas. Coffee and tea are two of the most popular caffeinated beverages in the world. Each offer an array of health benefits but which one is truly better for you?

ENERGY

It takes about 10 minutes for your body to feel caffeine’s effects. Caffeine makes your body release hormones that keep you active and awake, boosting your heart rate and blood pressure. On average, coffee contains double the amount of caffeine as tea. One 8 oz. cup of tea averages anywhere from 14 to 61 mg of caffeine while there is at least 95 grams of caffeine in an 8 oz. cup of coffee.

What is Better: Coffee

GENERAL HEALTH

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that among older adults, those who drank coffee (caffeinated or decaf) had a lower risk of dying from diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, and other medical complications than non-coffee drinkers. Men who drank 2 to 3 cups a day had a 10 percent chance of outliving those who drank no coffee, while women had a 13 percent advantage. Many of us look at coffee just as a vehicle to get caffeine into our body, but we forget that the coffee bean itself has tons of different compounds and antioxidants. Coffee contains a good amount of vitamins and minerals. It is also the biggest source of antioxidants in the modern diet. While both coffee and tea are high in antioxidants that help neutralize harmful free radicals in our bodies, there are more antioxidants in a cup of coffee than in a cup of tea.

Tea also contains many health benefits, especially green tea. Green tea doesn’t oxidize (which is how black and oolong teas are made), so it contains more health-boosting antioxidants called catechins—especially the cancer fighter epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). EGCG is an antioxidant that recharges the white blood cells that prevent viruses from reactivating.

What is Better: Both

WEIGHT LOSS

The caffeine content found in coffee and tea gives you that much needed energy boost so you can have a more vigorous workout, resulting in more calories burned. In addition, consuming caffeine jumpstarts the process of lipolysis, which is when your body releases free fatty acids into the bloodstream. This occurs when your body is breaking down your fat stores to convert it into energy. In other words, caffeine can increase your metabolism and help you burn more fat. Caffeine has also been shown to slightly reduce appetite. However, drinking green tea daily could trim about an inch off your waistline in 12 weeks, according to a recent American Journal of Clinical Nutrition review. That’s because EGCG and caffeine in green tea can help shrink fat cells and makes muscle cells more active.

What is Better: Tea

MUSCLE GROWTH

While tea may be better for weight loss and burning fat, coffee is the winner when it comes to packing on lean muscle due to its higher caffeine content. Caffeine can stimulate your muscles and help you push through more reps. Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln reported that weight-trained men who drank coffee one hour before working out raised the number of repetitions they could complete on the bench press. In another study, they also reported that taking caffeine before a workout session allowed them to lift 5 more pounds than normal on the bench press.

What is Better: Coffee

BETTER MOOD

Coffee is more known to give you energy while tea has been linked to calming your nerves, which is due to the L-theanine found in tea. L-theanine is an amino acid responsible for increasing alpha brain wave activity, which promotes relaxation and decreased anxiety. In fact, according to a recent study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, tea drinkers experienced a decreased heart rate simply by smelling their tea.

What is Better: Tea

CONCLUSION

As you can see, both coffee and tea offer a range of health benefits and provide different types of better benefits from one another. While I don’t recommend drinking coffee and tea at all times of the day due to its caffeine content, a few cups a day is perfectly fine and may offer some real good health benefits. You should have no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day to really reap the true benefits of these beverages. If you are sensitive to caffeine intake then stick with decaff. You can still get many of those same health benefits from decaffeinated beverages. So enjoy your beverage and remember to take your coffee breaks or meditative tea breaks every so often; humans have been doing it for thousands of years.