I think most people are aware of the need to eat quality protein to help the body build and repair muscle but one question that often comes up is whether protein shakes are better than real food. The short answer is yes protein shakes are in theory better for being a liquid form you can drink it gets to the muscles faster than eating food which needs to be broken up, digested and then distributed to the muscles. The longer answer is it is may not be the best solution for every person as there is a lot more protein than you think. In this article we look at the various things you need to consider before drinking shakes.
5 Reasons Why You Should Use The Barbell Hip Thrust To Strengthen The Glutes
There has been many times that I have been proven wrong or I have completely changed my mind about a health and fitness concept over the past 17 years as a trainer. The value of the barbell hip thrust is one of those instances where I originally thought little of this as an exercise and saw it more as a gimmick or an exercise for those who were not skilled enough to do deadlifts, squats, and single leg exercises. However, in recent times and I have suffered several health setbacks that forced me to change my training program and exercise selection that led me to experiment with this exercise. Much to my pleasant surprise I uncovered some hidden gems with the hip thrust that I never fully appreciated previously. In this article, I will share with you what these secrets are and how you can use this to great benefit in your own training.
What Are The Key Factors to Improving Bone Density & Preventing Osteoporosis?
In recent weeks I have had several discussions with people regarding the things they should do to prevent Osteoporosis. Some of these people had witnessed their parents succumb to this and were concerned that it would happen to them so they wanted to ensure they did everything they could to prevent it. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bone that makes a person’s bones weak and more likely to break and is often called a “silent disease” because you cannot feel your bones getting weaker. Many people do not even know they have osteoporosis until after they break a bone. Once you have Osteoporosis you cannot reverse it so it is vital you do everything you can to prevent it from happening by making important lifestyle choices. If you do already have it you can still do things to prevent any further bone loss and also drastically reduce the likelihood of any future bone fractures. The sooner you start the better, for research shows that how likely you are to develop osteoporosis depends partly on how much bone mass you attained in your youth. The higher your peak bone mass, the more bone you have “in the bank” and the less likely you are to develop osteoporosis as you age. In this article, I will discuss what they key factors you need to start doing now to avoid this becoming a problem later in life.
6 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Skip Legs Day
Developing incredible leg strength and power is very important for those who play sports for the muscles in your legs are the engine room that provide the ability to run, spring and jump. Spending time in the gym to build leg strength is one of the most important goals during the off-season training for many sportsmen and sportswomen. You only have to look at the thigh development of sprinters, rugby and football players to see how important leg strength and power is. However, it is an area of the body that is often neglected by many of the general population who just wants to get fit and lose a bit of weight. This is a real concern, for apart from the obvious benefits for sporting performance, strong legs can prevent many of the injuries we see today with the knee and the back. Strong quadriceps enhance knee health, and strong glutes and hamstring muscles can be real back savers when lifting heavy objects from the floor. And in terms of losing weight and obtaining that toned and athletic appearance, the strength of your legs can play a massive role in this department too. The message is clear, leg strength is critical to your overall health and daily function so it is never a good idea to skip legs day.
What Are The Best Exercises If You Have Hyper-mobile Joints?
When we experience pain or tightness in an area of our body we have been told we must stretch, massage and loosen the affected area to regain the lost mobility of the joint or muscle. This is the typical approach of health therapists, corrective exercise and most rehabilitation programs. And in most cases it is the most logical place to start, and often pain will subside and things go back to normal quite quickly with this approach. However in some cases this can be the worst thing you can do! For the person who has too much flexibility, otherwise known as hyper-mobile, they will not respond well to this approach, for they lack stability and need to be tightened up, not loosened. For 20 years I have worked with over 1000 people with all types of injuries and when I first started I rarely came across this case. However, in the past few years I have seen a huge increase in these cases, and many times people come to see me after having tried several therapists, trainers and various health modalities that did not work, or even made the condition worse. I am not sure as to why this seems more common, and I see this problem mainly in females, but I believe one big factor is the rapid growth of Yoga and Pilates style training that emphasize more flexibility. And while both these are great forms of exercise, they have the potential to ruin the joints of a hyper mobile person if not used wisely, and especially if you do not move well standing up.
Why Unilateral Strength Exercises Provide The Biggest Gains
The value of using bilateral or unilateral exercises with strength training is one of those topics that has been greatly debated in recent years. There is one school of thought believing it is preferable to predominately use bilateral heavy exercises like the bench press, squats, and deadlifts where maximum load can be lifted. And the other school of thought believing it is more beneficial to use single limb exercises that try to even out imbalance and asymmetry. There are pros and cons to using both types of exercises and I fall somewhere in the middle and often use a combination of both types of training depending on the person and the situation in front of me. I always believed the unilateral exercises were more for rehab and core stability and the bigger bilateral exercise the preferred choice for sports and increasing serious muscle and strength. However, this is not the case and in this article I will explain exactly how unilateral exercises provide greater strength gains than many realize.
Why Isometric and Eccentric Strengthening Is Used In Rehab To Improve Joint Stability
We all know that strength training is a great way to build muscle and improve the way we move. However, it does come with great risk if you move poorly or exceed your body’s ability to withstand the resistance. These risks are much greater with beginners and people recovering from injury as there is a high chance that they do not have great technique to begin with or a good understanding of how much their muscles and joints can tolerate. This is where the value of using isometric and eccentric training can be of great benefit to this population for the loads are much lighter and easier to control allowing for incredible strength gains without the risk of injury or loss of form. It also is one of the best ways to rebuild load tolerance into injured tendons and connective tissue to ensure full recovery from injury. In this article, we take a close look at several ways you can use these training methods to improve your overall strength and joint stability.
Best Exercises To Improve Grip Strength and Function of Your Wrist & Fingers
One of the most common areas people experience chronic pain is in their wrist and fingers. There are many reasons for this ranging from auto-immune inflammatory conditions to over-use and repetitive activities to traumatic accidents in sports. Your hands are made up of lots of little bone connections and are particularly vulnerable to pain and swelling when something goes wrong. Also the fact that you need to use your hands to complete many of your daily tasks, greatly diminishes their ability to heal. Therefore, it is critical that you find ways to combat the ongoing stiffness and pain with exercises to restore their mobility and strength to avoid disrupting your entire life. In this article, I will discuss some great exercises you can use to do this and the best part is they are great at preventing problems if you don’t have anything wrong with your hands!
Maximal Strength Training – What Is It Exactly & Is It Worth The Risk?
Strength means different things to different people. The way an Olympic weight lifter looks at strength training is completely different to how an older adult or even a sporting athlete looks at strength training. There are many different strength types and having a great understanding what the different strength types are and what type is most suitable to your goal is critical in achieving the results you are looking for. Most people without realizing it are following a body-building program which is more about muscle size than muscle strength. To improve strength you must work with maximal strength programs however, there are many questions surrounding this type of intensity with the first one being is it too risky? What exercises should you use? How many sets and reps should you use? Do you need a weight belt and wrist straps and how many times per week is best? To answer all these questions and more I asked our trainer Nathan Fejes to give us his thoughts as he regularly uses this type of training himself. He has records of 150kg with both deadlifts and squats and 45kg with Turkish get ups.
4 Reasons Why SUPERSETS Are An Essential Training Method
One of the most common methods and one that I use all the time with people of all ages, needs, and abilities is SUPERSETS! Supersets contain pairings of exercises that can target the same muscle/muscle group, One set is performed of one of the exercises in the pair, then the other immediately afterwards. A short recovery can be taken between each pair before the next set is performed. For a long time I have used this type of training myself and not only is it great fun but it allows you to maximize your training time. However, there are other great benefits to using this method that many people are not aware of that can be a real game-changer to your overall health. In this article, I will explain what I find are the four most important features of supersets are and why you should be using this training method.