Friends, welcome! On the agenda is a provocative question: “How to lose weight without doing anything.” Is this possible in principle, what should you not do for this :) we will analyze it in our article. So, make yourself comfortable, we’ll find out the details.
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My respect, gentlemen and especially ladies! Today we will find out what a woman wants after the New Year. Moreover, no man can give this gift, but this article will try to do this by examining the topic called effective diets. From it you will learn the main mistakes of losing weight, how to avoid them and select the diet you like best. So, […]
Good afternoon, happy hour, we are glad to see you with us! On this fine Friday day, we will continue our series of notes devoted to the issues of getting fit, and today we will deal with the topic of grapefruit for weight loss. After reading, you will learn everything about this citrus - nutritional value, beneficial properties and, of course, we will find out whether it really contributes to solving the problem of becoming […]
The world is gripped by an obesity pandemic. There are more and more fat people around. Bodybuilding gives everyone a chance to become a lucky exception!
If you regularly read our magazine, you already know that over the past 50 years, the level of testosterone in the average male body has fallen by half. The unisex style owes its birth to this phenomenon. From now on, there is so little muscle on the body of young men that they are quite comfortable with clothes tailored for thin women. The most “fashionable” men's size has become 46, and this is not the limit! Marketers predict the birth of a fundamentally new size, when clothes with the tag “44” will no longer be tried on by short people, but by fully grown guys under 180 cm!
And yet the obvious muscle deficiency is not the biggest disaster. After all, testosterone not only builds muscle, but also prevents the accumulation of excess fat. The current widespread shortage of the main sex hormone has resulted in an equally widespread epidemic of obesity. However, if an asthenic build is just an annoying external defect, then excess body fat is truly terrible, since it destroys health.
The connection between excess fat and dangerous diseases has been reliably established by science. At one time, the same relationship was identified for smoking, which led to its complete ban in public places in the USA and European countries. However, as you understand, you won’t be able to fight obesity with prohibitions. This makes the problem even more pressing as the obesity “epidemic” grows and already threatens to have economic consequences.
Fat people get sick more often. According to American statistics, the treatment of diseases associated with obesity annually costs the state treasury an additional $100 billion, which is a considerable 9% of current US health care spending. At the same time, direct losses in the production sector due to missed work days, starting in 2005, amount to more than $4 billion annually. American airlines, forced by growing competition to reduce air ticket prices, are faced with a paradoxical problem - flights are costing them more and more, since planes crowded with overweight passengers are becoming noticeably heavier. As a result, engines have to waste more fuel. Just last year, US airlines spent an “extra” 1 million tons of aviation fuel to transport fat people.
At one time, physical inactivity was declared the main cause of excess weight. It is common knowledge that nature designed man as a muscular machine that, in the image of his primate ancestors, will spend all day on his feet. But it was not there! With the beginning of the computer era, humanity's lifestyle has finally become sedentary.
According to ubiquitous statistics, modern people spend up to 12-14 hours a day in a sitting position. This position contradicts the physiology of blood circulation. Under the influence of gravity, blood passively flows into the abdominal area, accumulates there in excess and forms the typical appearance of an office worker with a shapeless bloated waist, dystrophic lower limbs and buttocks resembling a flat tire.
However, if sport is suitable for combating physical inactivity, it is not enough for combating obesity. Science now believes that lack of physical movement is not the entire cause of the global obesity pandemic. Fundamentally new negative factors came into play.
You, our readers, should know about all this. Otherwise, you will fall victim to the same false illusion that brought millions of new fitness enthusiasts into fitness in the mid-70s. They believed that physical movement alone would be enough to lose weight. How many disappointments there were!
Nature has made the food we consume a living “bridge” between our body and the external environment. For all living beings on the planet, nutrition acts as a carrier of signals about seasonal changes in nature, which must be accompanied by mandatory hormonal changes. Who could imagine that one day a person would stop using the natural gifts of nature and begin to make his own food! Moreover, not knowing any other laws, he will begin to be guided by the simple pleasure that fatty and sweet foods bring!
Thus, diet errors should be considered the fundamental cause of excess weight.
The secret is that primitive man consumed only those fats that were “packed” inside natural food. In particular, he could only get animal fat paired with protein. As a result, the body has developed a unique mechanism for the absorption of fats, when a fat drop is covered with a shell of protein molecules. Protein becomes a “pass” for fat into cellular mitochondria, which convert fats into energy. The cell membrane will never allow pure fats into the cell. They will continue to circulate aimlessly through the bloodstream until they settle somewhere in a secluded corner of the body. The worst thing is if fats stick to the inner surface of vital vessels and critically narrow their lumen. As you know, meat consumption is lowest in underdeveloped countries. This is where the highest mortality rate is from cardiovascular diseases caused by blockage of the most important arteries.
So, it is not the fats themselves that are dangerous, but the lack of protein in the diet. It is she who leads to completeness. However, the traditional diet contains too much fat and not enough protein. Compare, the share of animal fat in European cuisine reaches 40%! Moreover, the daily menu contains no more than 15-20% protein.
If you took up bodybuilding to lose excess weight, know that fanatical training will not help you. It is much more important to radically change your diet - consume more protein (up to 3 g per kilogram of body weight) and a minimum of fat. Strength training should be combined with a special high-protein diet, which has little in common with the usual diet of millions.
You can still take a break from training, but a bodybuilder knows no rest from painstaking work in his own kitchen. This is what makes bodybuilding a very difficult lifestyle. However, the same difficulties guarantee a sensational result!
Scientific facts
An increase in body fat means an automatic decrease in testosterone levels in the blood due to its conversion into female estrogen
As the fat layer increases, the absorption of the hormone insulin by muscle cells deteriorates. This reduces the flow of sugar into the muscles and inhibits the formation of glycogen
Smoking and excess weight cause approximately the same harm to the body.
Reducing body fat can add 2 to 10 extra years to a person’s life. » About a third of overweight men suffer from erectile dysfunction (unstable and weak erections)
Those who are overweight often have headaches
The wider your waist, the worse your memory and lower your intelligence
Obesity increases the risk of sudden death from a blocked artery by a blood clot by 80%
At least 20% of children under the age of 12 suffer from obesity. After DO years, this figure rises to 70%.
Fat: some disadvantages
Prosperous economic periods in the history of post-war Europe have always been accompanied by an increase in obesity statistics. This is due to the fact that portions in cafes and restaurants were becoming excessively large.
At the expense of taxpayers, firefighters and ambulance services in the United States acquired especially durable stretchers for fat people. They can withstand a weight of 200 kg.
Fat people use more electricity and gas in their homes because they cook more food. Thus, they aggravate global warming.
At least half of European women wear size 50. In the early 70s, the most popular women's size was 46.
In the USA, fat people even travel short distances in cars. Not walking wastes an additional $3.5 billion in gasoline per year.
For many athletes, losing weight becomes a top priority. To achieve the desired results, they are ready to make any sacrifices. But not everyone manages to “dry out” properly. The main reason is the many misconceptions that are firmly rooted in the minds of many people. Television and the Internet have their effect. Let's try to dispel the main myths about weight loss in bodybuilding and thin people.
Myth 1. If you want to lose weight, don’t eat at night.
This is a very common misconception. In fact, professional bodybuilders often eat at night. But, of course, there are limitations. It is advisable to avoid carbohydrates or fats (except when the athlete is gaining weight). The “evening” diet should include as many protein products as possible - low-fat cottage cheese, proteins, kefir, and so on.
Myth 2. You can get an ideal stomach with abdominal exercises.
Scientists have calculated that to get rid of one kilogram of fat, you need to do at least 3,500 body lifts on an empty stomach. If you exercise with a full stomach, then the work is carried out by burning sugar in the blood, and not by burning unnecessary fat. There is an opinion that people who have been practicing sumo all their lives have the strongest abs. It’s just not possible to see this because of the athlete’s large belly.
Myth 3. Real weight is the reading of the scale, and the smaller it is, the better.
Whatever the case. The scale shows a person's total weight, but does not determine the percentage of body fat. Believe me, if a person is 90 kilograms and has only 10% body fat, then he will look much better than a person with 70 kilograms and 20% body fat. The weight of the bones is of great importance - each person has its own.
Myth 4. Success can only be achieved by fasting
There is an opinion that in order to lose weight quickly, you must give up food. This is another lie. You need to eat regularly, but in a balanced manner. It is necessary to exclude fatty foods, flour products, and sweets from your diet. The only thing that can be left is animal fats, which are needed for the active synthesis of adrenaline, testosterone and other useful hormones.
Myth 5. A person who engages in bodybuilding is always thin and in excellent shape.
Is it really? Keep in mind that in photographs in fashion magazines you see athletes in their best shape. To achieve results, bodybuilders are forced to prepare for months. Training reaches its peak activity somewhere 30-40 days before the start of the competition. As for another sport, for example, boxing, there is no need to talk about constantly being in ideal shape. The reason is simple - fights are held no more than twice a year. Only those athletes who pay attention to their form throughout the year do not have problems with physical fitness, in particular, hockey players and football players. The latter can train all year round, so excess fat simply does not have time to accumulate.
Myth 6. The reason for a large amount of fat is the increased calorie content of foods.
The first thing a person does to lose weight is reduce the calorie content of foods. But this does not always bring results. Why? Yes, because the number of calories is not the only factor. There is also such an important concept as the speed of their absorption (characterized by the glycemic index - GI). For example, flour and sweet foods are characterized by a very high GI, so a large amount of excess fat is deposited in the body. An increase in blood sugar also affects, which leads to the release of insulin. The latter, in turn, prevents fat from breaking down normally.
If the body does not receive the required amount of calories, then it has to use its own reserves of glycogen, which it “pulls” from the liver and muscle fibers. Thus, if you eat a lot of sweets in the morning and don’t have dinner at all in the evening, you can lose healthy weight and increase body fat.
Myth 7. Loading alone is not enough to lose weight.
Many beginners are confident that weight loss is guaranteed by increasing exercise and reducing the amount of food consumed. That is, the number of calories burned should be higher than those received. In some ways this is true. Only many people take this phrase literally - they eat cakes, pastries, pizzas and hamburgers, but at the same time spend 3-5 hours in the gym. You can't succeed that way. It is necessary to eat right and devote more time to aerobics, which allows you to effectively “burn” excess fat. But you need to exercise on an empty stomach. Professionals know that after training it can be very useful to run a few kilometers.
In this article I wrote 12 bodybuilding tips that will help you start bodybuilding correctly. After reading them you will not make the most common mistakes. And thus you will begin to get results faster.
1. The first bodybuilding tip is the most important: always warm up and stretch before training in the gym to warm up your muscles. To prepare muscles for physical training with weights. An unwarmed muscle can easily be pulled and injured in bodybuilding. A good warm-up reduces the risk of injury to a minimum.
Other bodybuilding tips:
2. Breathe correctly while performing bodybuilding exercises.
3. After completing the exercise, you should not immediately sit on a bench or chair, this is harmful to your health. Your muscles are pumped with blood, and it is filled with toxins; if you sit down right away, varicose veins may appear (venous dilatation of the veins, blockages in the vessels are possible). Especially after squats with a barbell, it’s better to walk around in the gym with your backside in front.
4. When performing exercises with heavy weights (barbell squats, bench press), do not forget to ask your partner to back you up. Because you may simply not have enough strength to lift the barbell the last time.
5. When deadlifting and squatting with a barbell, always wear a safety belt around your waist to avoid back injury. You need to comply bodybuilding tips so as not to get injured, you don’t need it because it will only give you a step back from your goal.
6. You don’t need to sit in the hall for more than 1.5 hours, that’s a lot. 1 - 1.5 hours is enough for you, just make the workout intense but short. Take breaks between sets of 1-2 minutes.
7. After training from the gym, immediately go home to eat quickly, and don’t walk around hungry. Since your body is exhausted and catabolism turns on (the process of protein breakdown into amino acids and they are used as fuel (as energy) to replenish spent reserves).
8. Always eat in the morning! Don't leave home hungry. When you wake up in the morning, your body is already exhausted, at night it also consumes energy, although you are sleeping, but your heart, lungs and other organs work non-stop and consume energy all the time.
9. Don't forget to drink water throughout the day.
10. Remember that in addition to protein and carbohydrates, you also need to consume vitamins, macro and microelements, and even a little fat.
11. Good sleep is important for the recovery of your body, you should sleep at least 8 hours.
12. Learn to be calm and relaxed all the time, avoid stress (anxiety, depression), it interferes with muscle growth. Stress is a huge loss of energy (calories). And you need calories for muscle growth.
All of the above bodybuilding tips will help you quickly achieve good results.
When many people hear the term “bodybuilding,” they imagine huge men with magnificent muscles. Indeed, long-term participation in this sport helps to increase muscle mass. But first of all, such physical exercises are aimed at improving health, and only then at the beauty of the body. Bodybuilders, like any other athletes, often feel the need to lose extra pounds. Most often, “drying” the body begins before important competitions, when every gram of fat can spoil the standard indicators.
The right diet for a bodybuilder
First, you need to figure out what you need to eat to grow muscles and “burn” unsightly deposits on your stomach and sides. The diet of athletes involved in strength sports often consists of a large amount of protein foods. After all, this element is the foundation of muscle building.
It is believed that to obtain visible results, a bodybuilder must consume at least 2 grams of protein daily. Moreover, it is better that it be of animal rather than plant origin. It is recommended to fill the menu with lean meat, seafood, eggs and dairy products.
We must not forget about elements such as fiber and carbohydrates. Without these substances, the body simply will not have the strength to perform a quality workout. The main thing is to exclude “fast” food from your diet. Fast food, semi-finished products, canned food will provoke the body to deposit extra pounds, and not to build muscle mass.
Fruits, vegetables and other natural components of the menu help the gastrointestinal tract cope with any food and contribute to normal bowel movements. The best solution for a bodybuilder is grapes, apples, bananas, persimmons and walnuts.
Nutrition in bodybuilding for weight loss
Often, inexperienced athletes exaggerate the dosage of energy cocktails or lean too heavily on protein foods. In this case, the body simply does not have time to “melt” the incoming calories into sculpted muscles. To prevent this from happening, you need to follow simple rules.
- six meals a day (you need to eat every 3-4 hours in small portions);
- a hearty breakfast consisting of slow carbohydrates (buckwheat, semolina porridge, boiled eggs);
- a mandatory snack 2-3 hours before training (without energy, the body has nowhere to get “building material” for muscle tissue);
- drink plenty of fluids (it is advisable to drink mineral water without gas, or with the addition of a small amount of amino acids);
- After playing sports, you need to eat fast carbohydrates (a small amount of flour).
Simple ways to dry out your body
It is important to understand that “burning” all subcutaneous fat is a rather dangerous activity for health. Such procedures are necessary only for professional athletes before traveling to shows or competitions.
The most popular method among bodybuilders is the aerobic complex. It is necessary to give up strength training for a while and do cardio training, while reducing your diet by at least a third. The best option for proper “drying” is running and swimming.
When organizing nutrition in bodybuilding for weight loss, you need to understand that athletes are people too. Therefore, the principle of losing excess weight is approximately the same for everyone. The main difference is maintaining a delicate balance between controlling muscle mass and losing excess fat ballast.
There's no need to rush. If you lose more than two kilograms in one week, then this is a bad result. Such numbers mean a loss in muscle volume. Optimal indicators are 1-1.5 kg in 7-10 days.
Sample menu for the day when fighting subcutaneous fat:
- breakfast - 200-300 grams of boiled rice and buckwheat porridge;
- snack - vegetable salad;
- lunch - chicken breast or a small piece of beef with two or three tablespoons of rolled oats with milk;
- afternoon snack - kefir, low-fat yogurt;
- dinner - chicken broth, boiled beans, nuts.
Such a diet will allow you to maintain the results of your training and reduce body weight to the required values. The main thing is to remember that no victories in sports can replace health. Therefore, you should not put the beauty of the body at the forefront. Everything should be in moderation.