There is a certain area of fitness that is acknowledged and simultaneously overlooked. That’s the nutrition intake portion of working out and healthy muscle gain. Crash dieting and body starvation help none long-term. It is true, you can FORCE your body to lose weight over a short period of time, but there is also something called “rebound weight”. That, “I’m not eating after dark a month before spring break”, will get you to lose a couple of pounds, but soon as you somewhat get back to your regular diet, you’ll shoot back up to all the pounds you just lost.
The important thing to understand is the balance of catabolism vs. anabolism. These are the processes that take place in the body to transport energy and nutrients throughout the body. The understanding of this can aid in the proper diet and eating habit that will fuel fat loss and muscle gain.
The catabolic process is the breaking down of food and nutrients during normal metabolism, it also is the carry of energy to various muscles groups. As soon as food or supplements enters the body, it starts breaking down into smaller molecular portions. This byproduct is used as energy for workouts and exercise.
The anabolic process is the transport of these molecules broken down from the catabolic process to the muscles for developmental growth. To gain the standard fitness goals, you want to stay at an anabolic state. To the athletes that desire greater gains than can be produced in food and supplements turn to steroids, hence the prefix “anabolic” steroids, in most cases which induces this anabolic state and create greater muscle synthesis than naturally possible.
With that background, there are certain common mistakes that hinder healthy physical gains and physique acquiring. With long periods of exercise and strenuous work, the body requires energy from the catabolic process to fuel the anabolic process. By not taking in necessary fats and proteins (starving yourself), the body stops breaking down the molecules it has acquired to save for natural functions. In essence, you somewhat stop burning fat, to save it to survive. Also, if you do not balance out your intake with your work output, your body can get what’s called “stuck in a catabolic state”. This happens when your body is not taking in enough nutrients, and the body does not have enough molecules to build the muscles properly. So, your body basically eats itself. This is where the consumption of protein or food post workout becomes important. There is a rule of thumb of a 30 minute window after extreme workout to consume some form of nourishment, so to feed the starving muscles for the catabolic process with that and not the muscles just built. This explains why fitness competitors and bodybuilders eat 6-7 times a day. It’s the fuel and necessary building blocks to either gain muscle mass or keep the body in a state of anabolism.
Basically, don’t starve yourself to fitness. You might end up passing out or spending 6 months in the gym and looking the same as Day 1.
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