Understand how to burn fat – calculate the proper carbohydrate intake

When you start to workout, your body can supply the energy needs mostly from glycogen for an effort up to two hours, depending on training or competition intensity. After this, if you want to avoid a decrease in performance quality, you have to take in about 30-60g of carbohydrates per hour.

The “power house” of the muscles, the so called “mitochondria”, only can use glykogen directly, so everything you  eat has to be broken down into glycogen before the muscle can effectively use it.

How to control fat burning

To understand how you can burn fat or loose weight you first have to know how your body stores “fat” as an energy source. This will lead to an understanding how to avoid gaining weight and how to lose weight. This simple process has its roots in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

Glycogen is the most important energy source of the human body which supplies organs and cells. A lack of glycogen results in a disturbance of the function of organs and cell metabolism.

The blood sugar level has a central function in the carbohydrate metabolism, which is mainly determined by the supply, consumption and storage of glucose as glycogen in the liver.

There are different kinds of carbohydrates, monosaccharide, disaccharide and polysaccharide. Disaccharide and polysaccharide are broken down in monosaccharide so that the energy can be resorbed in the small intestine. From there it is transported with blood circulation to cell metabolism and transported primary to the liver.
To store glucose in the liver it has to be broken down into glycogen. About 150 g glycogen can be stored in the liver and in the muscles.

If you follow a physical activity this will be the first depot to take energy from because the body can transform it into energy quickly.

If the storages in the liver and the muscles are fully charged with glycogen, the rest will be stored as fat – that is the critical point to know for a proper nutrition. If you eat to much carbs, and keep on eating, more and more fat is stored in your body. So keep on calculating properly the necessary intake ( check the food section to understand how to calculate the proper carbohydrate intake)

This is the basis knowledge of a “low carb diet” and how it works – and why you should always adopt your carbohydrate intake to your level of physical activity – and last, but not least: this is the reason why you should drop your carbohydrate intake if you want to loose weight.

Protein and biological valency – why is it so important for your recovery?

During the day, your body renews between 2-6 % of the amino acids in your body, depending on the intensity of body activities. If you train without enough regeneration (overtraining), the renewal rate of proteins will only be around 2 %, so with other words your body does not recuperate to the full potential or even degenerates. With enough rest, the renewal rate of proteins is around  6 %, the tripple amount! This means your body recovers better and in the end has higher capabilities for intensive training.

To avoid a high depletion rate of your amino acids you should take care of your food intake before each training sessions, especially before intensive training sessions. It is very important to consume enough carbohydrates to keep energy at a high level and also to avoid high protein depletion. If you do sport on a regular basis, you should consume between 1-2 g protein / kg body weight -between 10-15 % of your daily calorie intake should consist of proteins.

The higher need for proteins can also be balanced with a clever combination of different protein sources – do not automatically consume supplements. Check the biological valency of food which shows how similar to the bodys protein a protein is – the more similar, the less protein your body needs to keep the protein synthesis balanced. 100 is the best single value (egg) which means that the egg white protein is very similar to the bodys protein. Certain food combinations have a higher total biological valency, which is useful to know. As you know, the higher the biological valency of the food, the less protein your body needs. Check the table blow for examples of good food combinations:

Protein Source	Biological Valency
Egg	100
Meat	95
Fish	94
Milk	88
Cheese	85
Soy Beans	84
Rice, Bread, Potatoes	70
Wheat	56
Corn	54
Food Protein Mixtures
Beans and Corn	101
Milk and Wheat	105
Egg and Milk	122
Egg and Potatoe	137

Golf Fitness – Body Conditioning Through Your Complete Golf Season

Fitness training is an important issue for golfers, because core, hip and shoulder stability as well as balance and coordination work make the difference in this highly competitive sport. When you plan your golf season, a continuous golf fitness training should be a part of your weekly schedule to prevent injuries and enhance your athletic performance. Train your physical abilities and put them all together repeatedly. Consistency in your game derives from an optimum level of your physical abilities in each stage of your golf season – and from avoiding injuries through an healthy lifestyle.

 Adopt your fitness program to the different stages of your golf season, to times of heavier and lighter play. Depending on the time you spent on the golf court you will vary the physiologic focus of your fitness training. The following example is given for a recreational golfer, who plays about 2 times a month in the off-season (winter), one time per week in the pre-season (spring) in the in-season (summer) two or more times per week and post-season (autumn) about one time per week. 

Off-season   Focus: get strong & flexible  This will improve your ability to produce greater force throughout a greater range of motion with a good technique and reduces the risk of injury. Build now the basis for your pre-season training.

Pre-season   Focus: get ready for your game  Improve your game with improvement of your flexibility, power, balance and cardio-respiratory conditioning  Power: Train your muscles to contract in an explosive manner to increase club head speed and driving distance and to prevent injuries – functional training means training adopted to the demands of your sport. If your body is used to do explosive movements similar to your performance on the course you decrease the chance of injury  Balance: Train your body & mind to keep a optimum posture throughout the movement; this ability can be trained and will positively influence your game, because any change of the relation of club-face to  the ball influences heavily the accuracy of your game – train with and without club, dynamically and statically, to train intrinsic muscles and core stability to harmonize your swing  Cardio-respiratory conditioning: increase your cardio-respiratory capacity (crc) to be able to keep your concentration and your physical fine tuning over a maximum amount of time. A lack of crc weakens your body and mind and finally your game of golf; at the critical point of the game you will lose the ability to perform in best quality

In-season   Focus: golf game, flexibility, coordination & core stability  Your fitness training becomes secondary, golf practice is the priority. But keep on working on the main elements for movement quality. Your core stability is eminent for the performance of your athletic skills, and the better your coordination works, meaning that you control your body parts and extremities in a most effective way for the desired movement, the better and consistent your golf swing will be. Your core is the centre of your body and the centre of all movements from which the movements of your extremities emanate from. The more firm this centre is the more you will be able to recall a high movement quality of your golf swing

Post-season   Focus: rest and recovery  Recovery does not mean doing nothing – keep up your hard-earned abilities with less intensity and your next season will be even better!

Online Book Review of Gunnar Peterson`s “The Workout” – Day 15 – back training – home training suggestion tube/strength band

Now, we are in the 2nd week of Gunnar Peterson`s “The Workout”. I am progressing, from strength and endurance, I kept on moving with my 5 day/week training program. Today I have a special for you: I show you how I train my back at home. Believe me, 2-4 strenght bands and a wooden stick, and you can rock your fitness training in your living room! I recommend to have a selection of strenght bands at home, because if you are once used to train with it, your fitness training is limitless, without borders, because you can pack it in your luggage and take it anywhere! I have about 10 strenght bands at home, and add the bands depending on the exercise. For back exercises  I train with about 30-40 kilos (more I do not dare because of the stability of my living room door lol)

My work out today: back, biceps, abs and endurance. All together 24 sets:

• lat pulley with tube, 3 sets
• seated row with tube, close grip, 3 sets
• vertical row standing, one arm, 3 sets
• hyperextension, physioball, 3 sets
• biceps curl standing with tube, 3 sets
• high biceps curl standing with tube, 3 sets
• crunch, physioball, 3 sets
• leg raises, floor, 3 sets

You will find the videos for this exercises in the exercise section shortly, I am working on them right now.

After that I had a great run, about 40 minutes outdoor. Here in Zurich – CH it is very cold and snowing. Actually, besides the cold. I like to run on the snow – it feels like walking on cotton

I take care of my food without being to strict. I leave out alcohol and sugar completely, keep a predominantly good diet with lots of vegetables, grain, fruits and salad. I keep on drinking plain water about 1,5 litre a day and have additionally about 1 litre tea per day. The only exception I make in the diet is when I want to add some taste to my food – I like to cook asian, especially Thai food, and for this like to mix in spices, paprica or thai paste and sometimes a little coco-milk (Find the receipt in the food section). If you do not exaggerate with this (the sauces and especially the coco-milk of course have additional calories) and keep within or below your daily calorie budget, you will be fine! (see here how to calculate your calorie budget) Loosing weight and keeping a good diet does not mean to resist tasty food!

Take care, cook tasty, stay active!

Jens

Obesity raises the risk of cancer – how to lower the risk

“Obesity” describes a body composition of persons with an abnormal high percentage of body fat. It is roughly measured by a common formula and a comparison of the BMI (Body Mass Index). 

BMI = weight (in kg) / height (in meter) (squared)

The idea of this ratio is that weight is not alone a fact to decide if you are obese or not – just think of a professional athlete who might have a high weight but a low body fat percentage. So, to judge this, you always have to compare height and weight (and if you want to get more detailed, age and gender).

Guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) place adults age 20 and older into one of four categories based on their BMI:

<18.5	underweight
18.5 to 24.9	healthy
25.0 to 29.9	overweight
>30.0	obese

 

People with an unhealthy BMI have a greater risk of several diseases, e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, certain sorts of cancers (e.g. cancers of the colon, breast (postmenopausal), endometrium (the lining of the uterus), kidney, and esophagus) and, additionally, obesity lowers the life expectancy.

Obesity is mainly caused by a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle is determined by little movement or activity during the day and a diet which is high in calories and which shows the wrong combination of nutrients. 

In this context it appears very clearly how to lower the risk of cancer and other diseases: move and eat right!

It is not that hard to organize an healthy lifestyle. See some examples in my exercise section and food section to realize movement and healthy food in your daily life. I would recommend expecially the articel about how to calculate the nutritional value of your daily food. See my exercise videos to understand the basic movements of a fitness training which you can easily organize at home (do not forget: if you have health problems, consider your doctor before getting involved into vigorous exercise!).

Read more on the coherence of cancer and obesity on the website of National Cancer Institute.

Additionally, you are invited to sign in for news about my blog – I keep you updated on a healthy lifestyle! Check my fun section to learn, simple and with a smile, in 2 minutes the most important excercises to train your core

Have a great and active day, Jens

How to cut your salt intake and avoid serious health problems

According to a scientific study about 100.000 heart strokes and 92.000 deaths could be avoided if the salt intake from food is reduced modestly. Reducing salt intake is seen as a rare possibility to decrease health risks by yourself – others you might not be able to influence because they are written in your DNA. Too much salt raises your blood pressure and strains your organs, especially your kidneys. Over long-term, a high salt intake can lead to serious health problems such as organic diseases and even gastric cancer!

Know How: The human body consists of 60 % water. Salt is binding this water outside the cells and in the tissues. Salt keeps the tissue strong, regulates the water balance, helps to keep the function of muscles, nerves and the structure of the bones. Salt consists of sodium and chloride – chloride is also a component of the gastric acid and absolutely necessary for a good digestion. The recommendations for daily salt intake vary between 4-6 gram per day, The World Health Organisation recommends an salt intake of 5 gram per day to avoid long-term health problems. 

The human body needs 100 ml water to excrete 1 gram of salt. If you drink to less water, your kidneys, heart and heart circulation are overstressed. On the other hand a lack of salt can result in vomiting, extreme sweating, dysentery, tiredness, dizziness or even a shock.

If you want to reduce your salt consumation, get used to check more often the food labelsor nutrient tables, because a large amount of your daily salt intake comes from “hidden” salt sources like sausage, cheese, bread and convenience products. Try to use more herbs to make food tasty instead of salt – in addition to their aroma they deliver also secondary plant compounds. A simple to do list for you to avoid high intake of salt – try this:

• do not add additional salt to your food
• do not use mixed herbs which contain salt
• do not use packet soup
• do not consume ready made sauces or boullion
• eat fresh vegetables instead of canned veggetables
• avoid eating salt meat and jerky
• do not eat salty snacks
• consume water low in sodium

If you want to get more detailed information on research of this topic, visit the website of the World Health Organization to read about actual research results and projects or the website of the American Heart Organization. Both websites are a great and serious source of information in this matter.

Take care and stay healthy, Jens Baltrusch

Improper use of supplements can harm your body-why?

Scientific research has shown that a lot of people who take supplements in addition to their normal diet know to less about the proper intake of supplements. Fact is that a wrong usage of supplements can harm you body in the long-term! Consumers of supplements had levels of sodium, magnesium, niacin, folate, vitamin A and iron that exceeded the acceptable norms. This can cause health problems such as nausea, vision trouble, fatigue and liver anomalies.

Additionally, researchers found out that supplements often are not clean and contain additional ingredients which are not printed on the label. So the chance is high that you are consuming drugs without knowing.

One more thing: often you do not really need supplements to enhance your regeneration or athletic performance. It definitely depends on your level of activity if your body needs an additional supply of nutrients. Most peoply who regularly work out in a fitness centre would profit far more from a holistic nutrition – sometimes the usage of supplements is meant to compensate bad eating habits.

Believe me, most of the power you need for your workout comes from an overall healthy nutrition. If you heavily train like an aspiring sport professional or a top athlete you might consider professional supplementation after consultation of an expert. But most of the supplements on the market are sold by an hype – so do not neccesarily believe the nutritional recommendations in your fitness centre when they are given to sell a product. Get the right informations first and decide yourself if you need a suplementation and if you really need one, decide only after a good research which one you choose to add to your daily nutrition.

Online Book Review of Gunnar Peterson`s “The Workout” – Day 8 – chest training – home training suggestion Physioball

Dear friends,

today  I had my 8th day with Gunnar Peterson`s “The Workout” – great that you are still sticking with me and my blog! I focussed my chest training today with exercises which I posted in the exercise section

http://jensbaltrusch.wordpress.com/exercise-for-sport-life/list-of-exercises/

I did 3 sets of physioball pushups, 3 sets of decline pushups with feet on the physioball, 3 sets standing flys with tube (fix it at the door if you train at home), 3 sets of standing chest press, 3 sets triceps press on physioball, 3 sets standing shoulder press with dumbbells, 3 sets lateral raises with dumbbells and 3 sets crunches on physioball. Each set between 12-15 repetitions with medium weight load.

If you still do not have a physioball at home, go and get one – for me it is one of the most important training tools for functional training exercises. You can use it so versatile and clever that your training at home never gets boring. If you are a professional athlete you can train with high intensity and very complex exercises, even with additional resistance (e.g. tubes or wrist bands) – and at the same time you can use it for therapy purposes. It will cost you about 20 – 30 $ which is an unbeatable cost/performance ratio for a multiple training tool. You can even take it with you to your next holiday destination if there is no suitable spa or fitness centre near by - just release the air and take a small air pump with you in your luggage. Together with some tubes of different resistance strenght you have a fully equipped gym with you on the road, wherever you are!

Coming up for the weekend: More exercises with physioball for athletes of all levels and some new receipts which I have tried for you. So stick with my blog to keep updated!

Yours, Jens

Online Book Review of Gunnar Peterson`s “The Workout” – Day 5 – back training – home training gear suggestion TRX Suspension Training

Dear friends,

hope you are doing good and have an active day. Today I had a great full body workout, following my Peterson 5-day training routine with 30 minutes endurance training after the workout.

Did you have a look at the fun video which I posted these days “Worlds Most Rocking House Back Training”) lol ?
Of course, it was fast forward (*who would think*), today I will post the normal video with a suggestion for a back workout at home. As you will see you are able to do a full back workout at home. Take as many tubes for lat pulleys and rows as your living rooom door can handle and you will be able to strenghten your back muscles in a fine manner.

One more recommendation: Have a look at the website of TRX Suspension Training (Fitness Anywhere) – these guys from San Francisco developed one of the most recommendable full body home trainer ever – easy, light, unbreakable and cheap (and besides, I had the chance to visit one of their intensive training seminars in Switzerland – you have to experience this – and will be blown away, promise ) :
http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=000-94127&AFFIL=Uh33VUI7
 

If you need any help with the ongoing program and your plannings of “The Workout”, please let me know and I will assist you!

My experience with “The Workout” from Gunnar Peterson until now: it is easy to plan – at least the workout part – and to understand. It reminded me pretty much of typical fitness centre split planning, but with a well thought through basis (and lots of variations – I think about 50 pages with tables of variations of each exercise, good work, Gunnar )
What I found a little short on information are the diet proposals and there are no detailed suggestions for a parallel planning.

To keep you updated, I will post a possible planning suggestion to support your “Workout”.

Speed up, my friends, I feel the spring coming (hahahaha, in Switzerland it is freezing lol

Have a great day and ENJOY your activity,

Jens

Why is it important to plan your rest and recovery?

Rest days are the perfect time to recover. It does not matter if you are a professional athlete or a hobby jogger, in these stressful days you have to respect your body`s desire to have rest and calm down.

Life today is very complex and recovery days have a far more versatile function than just relaxing from your sportive training. Think about your day to day life; isn`t it sometimes restless that you feel burnt out and low in energy? It is not just about your physical energy, but also about your mental capacity. If you do not plan your rest properly, sooner or later you will lose your ability to concentrate and body functions get weaker.

Planning your recovery is about giving your whole body system, mind, body and soul, time to recharge for optimal performance afterwards. How can you organize recovery in your daily life? Recovery in your holiday is easy, but how do you do this in your daily life? It gets easier if you plan it in your agenda and set it to “A-priority” on at least one day per week. Plan something really nice, a visit in a spa, a massage, a beautiful walk in the forrest, whatever you prefer.

Make this day a perfect time for you to relax, a “one day holiday” to which you are looking forward to the whole week! During your work days, try to find time to rest. If you plan your breaks, you will be able to keep your energy up for a longer time. This means your concentration as well as your performance and your work/training quality stays up on a high level, too.

What do you need for a optimal rest during work? 15 – 30 minutes time good food which supplies you with important minerals and vitamins, e.g. fruits, vegetables, salad, skim yoghurt, wholemeal bread, skim cheese, lean meat, nuts, protein bars or protein shake fluid, preferably without any sugar. Best choice is plain water and tea. Drink less coffee because it dehydrates your body a quiet and neat place where you can chat with your friends or just have some breaths on your own.

If you listen to your body and become aware of your body needs you will understand when to take a break. Your body sents messages to you, weather you listen or not. Are you sleepless? You trained too late, ate to late or simply are stressed out – you need a break Your blood pressure and heartrate is higher than usual? -You are either overtrained, stressed out or have unhealthy habits – take a break and listen to your body You get the message If you want to perform better, listen to your body and give your body what it needs!

Stay healthy, Jens