Club Blog

Here’s some recent research on post-workout meals:

“A recent 12-week study says that those who failed to consume a post workout meal immediately after their workouts suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear indications of muscle loss – while their counterparts (those who consumed a post workout recovery meal) significantly lost more fat, increased lean muscle, improved their metabolism, and increased dynamic strength.”

1. Post-workout meals are actually vitally important for BOTH muscle building and losing body fat!

Always remember that one of the most important considerations of long term body fat loss and maintaining a lean body for life is raising your overall metabolic rate by building and maintaining adequate lean muscle mass throughout your entire body.

By consuming a good post workout meal after every workout, you assist your body in repairing and building lean muscle throughout your whole body. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate (even when resting)… hence, you lose fat easier and faster, and it is MUCH easier to stay lean in the long term.

2. Are whole foods or supplement shakes best? This can actually be done either way, but I am going to show you some guidelines why some post-workout shakes are better than others and some whole foods are better than others. Either way, it can work.

First, keep in mind that your goal throughout the majority of each day is eating small whole food meals frequently that digest slowly with high fiber and a controlled glycemic response (blood sugar). These normal daily meals should also contain healthy fats and slowly digested proteins to maintain a steady supply of amino acids.

When it comes to post-workout meals, you can just about use the exact opposite strategy of your normal meals. With post-workout meals, you actually want a faster digesting carb source to stimulate an insulin response. This helps to push nutrients and glycogen back into your muscle cells for repair. Remember, this is not just important for building muscle, but also for losing fat.

Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.

Fitness Psychologist

The Sporting Club

Ever wish your telomere was longer?  What’s that, you don’t know what your telomere is?  No fear, most people probably don’t know either.  But don’t spend too much time in the locker room looking for it.  You won’t see them.  Telomeres are protective strips of DNA that cap the ends of your chromosomes and stop them from unraveling.  They are a bit like the little plastic tips of your shoelaces.

So why care if your telomeres are long or short?  The length of your telomere is thought to be a biological marker of life’s stresses, the wear and tear of living on your body.  In other words, short telomeres may result in cellular aging and illness. 

Aging? Nobody likes that word.  So what can you do about it?  Plastic surgery doesn’t make you any younger though you may look a bit more “refreshed.”

If you want to truly keep your cells from prematurely aging and stay healthy for as long as possible, there is plenty you can do about it.  Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco recently published a paper that points to a simple antidote:  EXERCISE.

That’s right.  The Sporting Club is an ideal place to lengthen, or at least prevent shortening, your telomeres, keep your cells young, beat back stress of everyday life and stay healthy.  All under one roof.

The researchers found that even a moderate amount of vigorous exercise provides a critical amount of protection for your all-important telomeres.  There continues to be growing data that short telomeres are linked to several illness including diabetes and coronary heart disease, and early death. 

How much exercise is enough? According to 2009 Nobel Laureate Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, one of the study’s authors, even as little as 42 minutes of vigorous exercise, getting your heart and sweat rates up, over a 3-day period may protect you from the effects of stress by reducing its effect on telomere length.  So if you are a regular at The Sporting Club, think just how much you are doing for your cellular aging and overall health.

The study’s lead author Dr Eli Puterman, a psychologist in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry, pointed out that this study showed yet another link between life stress and the dynamics of how cells—your body—may age.

Fortunately, there are things that we can do about it and we’d be foolish if we don’t increase our exercise levels to prevent the effects that psychological stress can have on our well-being—and aging!

Once again, this proves my adage that mind IS body.

Whether it is because of a New Year’s resolution or something your doctor told you had to be done, deciding to start a workout regimen is a big decision.

After all, you are going to start carving time out of your busy day to go to the gym or pull out the treadmill and get moving. This is a great decision to make for your health and appearance, but you probably already know that it will be difficult to stick with.

Here are some tips you can use to help you turn working out into a normal part of your day for the rest of your life.

Tip 1 – Be Prepared At All Times

You are going to be looking for excuses as to why you should not work out. You are going to be busy. One of the ways to help you overcome your excuses is to be prepared at all times for your workout.

Consider having two exercise bags packed at all times. Have one at work, and leave one in the trunk of your car. This way you always have your gear ready. If you carpool, you can use the work bag. If your work has a workout facility, you can workout on your lunch break without having to run to your car.

If you are working out at home in the morning before work, you can help ensure that you get your workout in by sleeping in your workout clothes. After all, they are comfortable, and then all you will have to do to workout in the morning is throw on your shoes. This gives you less of an opportunity to make excuses as to why you cannot get out of bed and exercise.

Did you know that you can use a different type of cardio called interval training that can burn a lot of calories during the actual cardio workout and for hours afterwards as well?

When performed correctly, interval training is faster, more fun, and most importantly, has been shown in research to have a dramatic effect on your resting metabolism. What this means is that you might burn 350 calories during your cardio workout, then another 500 throughout the rest of the day!

Interval training is an excellent weight loss cardio workout option for this very reason. Interval training simply consists of using both high and low speeds and intensities at set points in your workout. It can be done on any cardio machine and can even be done walking outside!

If you are truly serious about achieving weight loss with a cardio workout, then learning more about interval training is an absolute must. Your will feel like you got twice the workout in half the time and have a lot more results to show for it!

Some exercisers wake up early in the morning to do their workouts while others schedule their sessions in the late afternoon or evening. Many just try to fit exercise to any available period they have. Luckily, there are many gyms now that are either open pretty late or are open for 24 hours, so no matter what time is best, you can always go workout. But when is the best time to workout? The common belief is that as long as you do your routines, it does not matter when you do your workout. Most believe that the element of time – in this case, the workout schedule – is not really a major issue.

Scientific evidence shows, however, that your workout schedule plays a significant role in the achievement of weight loss and fitness goals. While you may be able to see progress with your currently irregular plan, your performance could be a lot better if you stick to an optimum workout schedule, that includes getting your heart rate up and lifting weights.

The Most Favorable Workout Schedules

It makes complete sense to workout in the morning. Starting the day by pumping up your energy can improve your disposition for the rest of the day. Also, it has been established that people who do their workouts in the morning are more likely to keep with the program than those who do theirs in any other time of the day. Morning sessions also facilitate better sleep for the exerciser.

Working out in the morning is said to be most useful to those who wish to lose weight. Since the body came from an 8-hour fasting period due to sleep, the body will be burning reserved fats, instead of carbohydrates from food, during the morning workout. Although this may sound sensible, medical professionals warn against working out on empty.

Evening workouts, on the other hand, offer the advantage of having an entire day of warming up. It is a known fact that the absence of proper stretching and warm-up exercises can cause injury. The body, after doing the usual activities in the morning, has prepared the muscles and joints to an intense workout session. This is the reason why muscle training is usually done in the evening. Evening workouts is when I like to do my own workouts, I have never been a great morning person. I really enjoy lifting weights, so I usually do a lot of my workouts after I get off work.

A large number of people are taking to fitness swimming, not just because they love the sport.   Aquatic workouts have many advantages:

Easy: The buoyancy of water takes away a good part of the impact of your weight. So, overweight and obese people can easily take to aquatic workouts minus the usual huffing and puffing associated with workouts on land.

Pain free: The buoyancy of water reduces the impact of the workout on the joints and bones. So, you do not have to worry about a sprain or broken bones. In fact, it is almost impossible to sustain an injury from an aquatic workout. This is the reason why people with old injuries or medical conditions are asked to swim.

Greater strength training: Water offers an amazing amount of resistance. So, when you slice through it with your hands and legs, your muscles are strengthened. Because you are moving all parts of your body, flexibility also increases.

Improves circulation: Swimming is a great aerobic workout. It makes your heart work more efficiently and improves the blood circulation all over the body.

Improves lungs: Due to the controlled breathing that is necessary during any aquatic workout, the cardio-respiratory system becomes more efficient. There is an immediate increase in blood supply to the muscles and organs.

Endurance: Swimming not only strengthens the muscles and improves flexibility, it even takes your fitness to another level: endurance. Building muscle strength and endurance becomes all the more important as people age, lose bone mass and flexibility.

Lose weight and keep fit: Swimming can increase calorie burn, build lean muscle, burn fat and give you a fantastic body.

Comfortable: Ever hated being dependent on the vagaries of weather for your workout schedule? Most people go off exercises when it is hot, when it is raining or when it starts snowing. With an aquatic workout, you can continue with your workout schedule irrespective of the whether. Even when it is hot, water temperatures are generally cool enough for a refreshing workout. If it is snowing outside, you can very well make use of the indoor pool for your workout. Or, you could use a heating system!

For more info on our San Diego pool visit TheSportingClub.com.

Total body conditioning  you can forget  thoughts or information you read about spot reducing. Spot reducing doesn’t work end of story. The only way to get a firm butt, slender thighs, tight abs and get rid of that saggy arm fat is by training your whole body each workout.

Weight training, kettlebell training, interval training, bodyweight exercises and eating healthy are your keys. In this article I am going to concentrate on the training and workouts for total body conditioning. In other articles we will look at healthy eating for lean muscle gain, fat loss and increasing your energy.

By using total body conditioning workouts you will not only get faster and much better results (in lean muscle gains and fat loss) but your workouts will be much shorter. At home or at the gym wherever you workout your workouts should take you at most 40 minutes.

If you are spending more than 40 minutes you are probably not working out at the proper intensity level. Your weight training workouts will probably be the longest in terms of time. But this can also be shortened by cutting down your rest time in-between sets.

Did you know that the area known as the “core” is made up of 29 muscles? Your body’s core is where all the movement in your body originates, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a strong core offers a host of health benefits, not to mention how sexy a flat, toned stomach is. Ready to enjoy a more stable center of gravity, increased protection and bracing for your back, better posture, and a more stable platform for virtually any activity? Get started with these core strengthening moves, and you’ll be on your way to a healthy core without having to do a single crunch:

Exercise is as important for seniors as it is for any other age group, if not more so. Staying fit means body and mind stay more agile longer, a key component in maintaining optimal health and independence for as long as possible. The National Institute of Health recommends 4 different categories of exercises for seniors: strength, stretching, endurance, and balance exercises.

Strength exercises for seniors help to build muscle, which increases metabolism. During strength exercises, seniors should take care not to hold their breath – this can negatively affect blood pressure. When using weights, use smooth and steady movements, and avoid thrusting or jerking motions. Avoid strain when you’re lifting weights with your arms or legs by breathing out as you lift or push a weight, and breathing in as you release. Remember that some soreness after strength building exercises is completely normal, while exhaustion, sore joints, or a painful muscle pull are not normal and may require a visit to your physician.

Stretching exercises will help your body to be more flexible during your everyday activities. Stiff muscles and joints are more likely to become injured, so regularly stretch your muscles to help them stay soft and pliable. Do tricep stretches to lengthen the muscles at the back of the arm, and hip rotations to stretch the outer muscles of your hips and thighs. Stretch after you’ve been walking or do some gentle arm pumps to warm up the body. Slowly stretch into your desired position, going as far as you can without experiencing any pain. Hold each stretch for anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds.

Endurance exercises are classified as any activity that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.

Cardio exercises will improve your heart health and your metabolism. Find activities that you enjoy doing, but walking and swimming are great sources of low-impact cardiovascular exercise. Start with shorter spurts of exercise and increase the interval over time as your endurance improves. Set an eventual goal of 30 minutes of cardio per day; breaking it up into three 10 minute intervals is fine too.

Balance exercises help to build the leg muscles, which in turn prevents the likelihood of a dangerous fall. U.S. hospitals have 300,000 patients admitted each year for broken hips, with falls often being the cause of these injuries. Try these balance exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere: standing up and sitting down without using your hands, walking heel-to-toe, and standing on one foot, periodically alternating your feet. A note of caution: make sure you have someone spot you if you’re unstable.

Summer’s nearly here… are you ready? Whether you’re planning a cruise to the Bahamas where you need to be bikini ready or a mountain climbing trip out West, chances are you’ve got at least a few pounds that set up camp over the winter and haven’t packed up to leave yet, so you’ll need an action plan to transform cringe-inducing images of your vacation to awe-inspiring glances at your vacation destination. Make getting in shape fun and as stress-free as possible, and you’ll be fit and ready for summer before you know it.

When it comes to exercising, you know how you get bored when you do the same activity at the gym day after day? Well, so does your body. If you have a fitness plan in place but feel you’ve hit a plateau, add some variety into your routine and your body will take notice. You’ll also have more motivation to get to the gym if you’re excited about the new kickboxing class you’re checking out or the new glow-in-the-dark spinning class your friend told you about. You should be changing up your fitness routine at least once every month or so. And if you find it hard to fit exercise into your already overcrowded schedule, trick yourself into getting at least 30 minutes per day by incorporating three 10-minute bursts of exercise throughout your day. Every little bit helps, and these little intervals will really add up over time!

Simply enjoying spring should be a good start to having your best body by summer. Take advice from the 5th Dimension and “let the sunshine in”, hiking, taking your dog to the park, going to a local lake or the ocean for a swim, or any number of physical activities that will help you enjoy the weather while exercising your body. On that note, enjoy nature’s bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, staying away from man-made, processed foods as much as possible, and you’ll be on your way to a fantastic summer body.