Fitness

How Exercising Can Be A Stress Reliever

Published by superadmin on December 25, 2024 | Leave a response

Are you feeling stressed? It’s easy to do in Louisville, KY. Life is busy. People have a lot of tugs on their time. Finding a way to reduce the stress or counteract it is vital. People often look to ways that aren’t healthy. Those ways may bring even more stress, like poor health or physical injury. One stress reliever not only improves your physical health, but it also improves your mental health. It’s exercising.

Stress starts a natural reaction to danger.

Caveman needed survival skills. The body’s reaction to stress is one of those. When early man faced danger, it signaled his brain to trigger hormones that prepared the body to fight or run. The hormones cause blood to go to the extremities. It caused blood pressure and heart rate to rise. All the changes made man more prepared to flee or fight. Burning off stress hormones while creating new hormones makes the person feel better. We don’t have the same dangers today, but the response is the same. It’s not best to fight an angry boss or leave your car and run into a traffic jam. Mimicking both actions through exercise helps overcome stress and provides other benefits.

Some people use exercise as a form of meditation.

Meditation can change your mind’s focus and help you relax. It is one way to reduce stress. Some people use exercise as a form of meditation. They direct their focus to the present and the rhythm of the body. If you’re running outside, it’s all about the sound of your feet hitting the ground and the wind and warmth of the sun on your face, and the warmth of the sun. If you’re lifting, your focus is directly on the muscles. Not only does exercise help divert your attention and bring stress relief, but it also helps you develop laser focus.

Stress can lead to anxiety or depression.

Many studies have revealed that exercise helps both depression and anxiety. Many therapists use it as an adjunct therapy. One study found therapy and exercise had better results than therapy alone or therapy and medication. Another benefit was that it had no side effects except for a healthier, more attractive body.

Exercise improves your posture and makes you look more confident. The more confident you look, the more people treat you as though you are. That treatment makes you feel more confident and less stressed.
Exercise helps promote better sleep. That can enable people to cope with stress better. Lack of sleep alone can be stressful. Add that to the day’s stress, and you have an overwhelming combination.
You’ll improve your gut microbiome when you exercise. Many beneficial microbes in the gut create enzymes that can boost your mood and improve your emotional well-being.
Always check with your healthcare professional first before starting any exercise program. If you have limitations, consider using a personal trainer to guide you safely through a program. Make sure you let the trainer know about any physical problems.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness

Do You Need Protein After A Workout?

Published by superadmin on December 15, 2024 | Leave a response

What you eat plays a major role in your health and fitness level. When you eat also plays a role, especially if you workout. You need the nutrients to keep you going and get the most from your workout, but you also need the materials to recover and rebuild muscle tissue. That means you need both carbohydrates and protein pre and post-exercise.

Most people understand a small snack or meal before exercising boosts your energy.

There are a few rules to follow when you eat before working out. The closer you are to exercising, the less you should eat. You also should avoid fatty foods. These rules are logical. They have to do with digestion. If you eat a large meal, make sure it’s 3 or 4 hours out. For smaller snacks, make it a half-hour window. Your body has to digest the food and exercise can interrupt that. Also, fats take longer to digest, so go light on fatty food. Pre-workout food also helps start recovery quicker.

Exercise causes tiny micro tears in the muscle.

When you exercise, especially when you do intense muscle-building, it causes micro tears in the muscles. The magic of muscle-building doesn’t occur when you exercise but during recovery. That’s when the micro-tears heal and form scar tissue to build bulk and strength. It’s one reason you should wait 48 to 72 hours before exercising those muscles again, or the healing doesn’t occur.

Post-workout snacks are for recovery and replenishing glycogen stores.

Eating a snack of protein provides the building blocks for building muscles. Carbohydrates replenish the glycogen stores in the muscles. Both are necessary to maximize your benefits from the workout. Eat it as soon after a workout as possible. It can be a full meal or a snack like apples and a spoonful of peanut butter. If you have a busy day following exercise, you won’t run out of steam midway.

Protein contains amino acids that are the building blocks for muscle tissue. Carbohydrates provide the energy for your body to function. The combination for a post-workout snack should be 40% protein and 60% carbohydrates.
If it’s close to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, wait until your next meal to eat. Make sure you replenish liquids throughout the workout and afterward, regardless of intensity.
You don’t have to make it elaborate. There are simple, inexpensive snacks you can make. Greek yogurt with bananas and berries is one option. Fruit and nuts are another. Keep the carbohydrates healthy and avoid food with added sugar.
If your workout is intense, you may need to replenish electrolytes. For potassium, eat a side of sweet potatoes, grapes, or green, leafy vegetables. You’ll also get magnesium from the green, leafy vegetables. Chicken soup can provide sodium.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness

Are Avocados Good For Diabetes?

Published by superadmin on December 5, 2024 | Leave a response

If you have diabetes, your diet plays a vital role in your health. Some foods are off-limits, like those packed with added sugar or other simple carbs. Food high in trans-fat should also be avoided. Most people try to avoid foods high in fat or calories and may cut avocados out of their diet. They think eating it can interfere with weight loss. That could be a mistake. Avocados provide many health benefits, especially for people with diabetes.

Eating avocados provides healthy fat and nutrients.

Avocados are high in nutrients that everyone needs, especially diabetics. They are an excellent source of vitamin K. Vitamin K helps boost insulin sensitivity and improves sugar metabolism. According to one study, eating a medium avocado daily lowered the risk of metabolic disease by 50%. A different study showed that people who ate the most avocados had a lower risk of developing diabetes.

If you’re worried about losing weight, avocados can help.

Often, people with diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, need to lose weight. Keeping calorie counts lower is important. They’re high in fat, which means they’re higher in calories. That usually stops people from eating them. Don’t let that stop you. It doesn’t mean you should eat several a day, but it does mean you can eat them. Avocados contain fiber that fills you up and helps maintain blood sugar levels. The more fiber in your diet, the lower your fasting blood sugar and A1C levels are.

Metabolic syndrome is reduced when you eat avocados.

What is metabolic syndrome? It includes having three of five medical conditions. These include abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, low serum high-density lipoproteins, and high serum triglycerides. It increases your risk for stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Scientists believe the problem may come from increased visceral fat—belly fat. Visceral fat causes inflammation. It plays a central role in weight gain and insulin resistance. One 12-week study found that when two groups ate the same calories but one group included avocados in their diet, the body converted visceral fat to subcutaneous fat that was not associated with metabolic syndrome.

Avocados contain oleic and monounsaturated fatty acids. Using oils high in oleic fatty acids instead of polyunsaturated fat, such as flaxseed oil, can reduce abdominal fat. Monounsaturated fatty acids also reduce belly fat.
It is high in vitamins E, C, B3, K, B6, B5, and B2. It contains folate, copper, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. The high potassium content can help lower blood pressure.
The high-fat content of avocados can help you lose weight. It keeps you feeling full longer. It lowers the bad LDL cholesterol and improves the body’s ability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins.
Always check with your healthcare professional before including avocados in your diet if you have diabetes. Every person is different and requires a personalized diet.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness

The Importance Of Stretching

Published by superadmin on September 25, 2023 | Leave a response

If you don’t realize the importance of stretching and do a short session during your warm-up, you’ll probably find yourself injured or have a less productive workout. When you exercise at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, we include stretching in every workout. It helps improve flexibility and circulates the blood to the extremities to warm them for the upcoming workout. You can do stretching—flexibility exercises after a workout, while the muscles are warmed up and more flexible to improve your range of motion.

Stretching is the body’s natural reaction.

If you’ve ever stretched in the morning or after a tense day at the computer, you don’t think about it, you just do it. It’s a natural reaction to help loosen the muscles. When you wake up with a yawn and a stretch, it’s your body’s way of preparing for the day. Yawning increases oxygen intake. Stretching increases circulation. If you’ve ever watched a cat after a nap, you’ll notice animals automatically stretch. It’s instinctive in them, just as it is in humans.

Exercise, including stretching, can improve posture.

Bad posture can cause health issues and make you look defeated. It can cause headaches, breathing difficulties, incontinence, constipation, and heartburn. Even less known issues like TMJ can be from bad posture. Exercise is the best way to improve posture with strength-building at the lead, followed closely by stretching. It increases the range of motion, loosens muscles, and can help you return to good posture. It loosens muscles that are tight from years of bad habits and weakness.

Stretching before a workout can reduce the build-up of lactic acid.

When you increase your circulation, you’ll also be increasing the oxygen that travels through your body. If your muscles don’t get enough oxygen lactic acid can build. If you’re fit and the workout isn’t hard, it clears relatively quickly. If you’re unfit or perform a grueling workout, it can build up too quickly for the body to remove. Stretching helps shorten the process of removing lactic acid. If it remains it causes lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis interferes with the body’s pH levels, makes each workout more difficult, and can cause pain.

A pulled or torn muscle can put you out of commission for weeks or months. It can happen anywhere, not just at the gym. Stretching improves your range of motion to help prevent it.
When you stretch, it prepares your body to become more active. It helps acclimate the heart for more effort and prevents a sudden
You’ll build muscle faster if you stretch before doing strength training. Stretching increases your range of motion and prepares your muscles to work muscles on all planes.
Stretching relaxes tight muscles and gets you in the mood for exercise by changing your focus. It can help increase oxygen in your blood to clear your brain if you stretch during mental activities.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Fitness, Fitness & Wellness

Exercises To Improve Posture

Published by superadmin on August 15, 2023 | Leave a response

If you have chronic back pain, headaches, and body aches, the problem can come from poor posture. Exercise can help. Bad posture can disrupt your digestion and affect your entire body. Walking tall also makes you feel more confident. You can prove it to yourself by checking your emotions first by slouching, then when you stand up straight. Slouching makes you look and feel defeated. When that happens, the rest of the world sees it too.

Practice good standing posture.

Whether you’re standing in line or walking in the mall, you can practice good posture. Don’t lean forward or backward. Your chin should be parallel to the floor and your hips, shoulders, and ankles should all line up. Maintain good posture as you walk. Don’t look at your feet but focus on a spot about twenty feet ahead. Tuck in your tummy and backside as you rotate your hips slightly forward.

Some exercises to help improve your posture include stretches.

Stretching can help relax tight muscles as they build strength. The cat-cow pose is a good one. The cow pose starts on hands and knees, then let your abdomen drop as you raise your head and look toward the ceiling. Hold the position, then lower the body back to neutral position. Lower your head as you arch your back like an angry cat. Hold. Go back to neutral and repeat. You can use the same starting position to do a high plank. Straighten one leg as you step your foot back, putting your weight on your toes. Then move the other leg backward. Hold the position. Don’t let your stomach droop.

Your sitting posture matters.

Your back should be straight, and your shoulders should be back when you sit. Your bottom should touch the back of your chair. Distribute your weight evenly on both sides of the hip. Your knees should be slightly higher than your hips and your thighs should be at a right angle, horizontal to the floor. Doing stretches and shoulder rolls are good exercises to help your sitting posture. Lift your arms straight in the air, trying to reach higher each time. Keep your hands together and even.

Sleeping posture affects your sleep. If you sleep on your side, put a pillow between your knees and keep them slightly bent. People who sleep on their backs should use a lumbar roll under the lower back. Avoid sleeping on your stomach.
A yoga pose can help your posture. The child’s pose, where you sit with your shin bone toward the floor and your bottom on your heels, bending forward as you stretch your hands in front of you.
Open your chest with a stretch. It improves breathing and posture. Stand with feet hip-width. Put your hands together behind you as you lace your fingers together and palms pressing. Inhale as you lift your chest upward, lowering your hands behind you. Take five breaths and relax.
A thoracic spine rotation can also help back pain. Lay on one side, knees together and bent. Your hands should be straight in front of you with palms touching. Keep your lower body in place as you lift one hand straight up and over to the other side so your arms form a T to your body.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Fitness, Fitness & Wellness

Can Intermittent Fasting Lead To The Development Of An Eating Disorder?

Published by superadmin on July 15, 2023 | Leave a response

What is intermittent fasting—IF—and can it lead to an eating disorder? IF is not a specific diet, but a way of scheduling meals. It can be as strict as fasting two days a week and eating normally the other five to eating within a 16-hour window and fasting the other 8 hours. Creating rules around eating is one definition of an eating disorder and altering regular eating routines is another. IF fits both. Does it lead to disaster or is it beneficial?

Some smaller studies indicate IF isn’t a problem.

Studies indicate that IF may not be a problem, but the few studies existing are small. Professionals who work with those with eating disorders remain concerned. IF, like other diets, provides rules that indicate when to consume food and when not to eat. It ignores hunger patterns and could lead to binging. Another study found that IF was associated with other eating disorder behaviors like binge eating, laxative use, vomiting, and compulsive exercising.

IF is not just a way to lose weight, but also a way to help improve glucose tolerance.

Studies are still investigating whether IF has benefits. Many find that it does help reduce inflammation. Inflammation is associated with several diseases. It could help people with Alzheimer’s, asthma, arthritis, MS, and stroke due to or exacerbated by inflammation. It can cause insulin levels to drop, leading to decreased insulin resistance and improved levels of HGH—human growth hormone. It boosts cell repair and may extend life span.

It’s all about the why.

One factor separates IF from eating disorders and that’s your intentions. If it’s for the health benefits, such as reducing insulin resistance, or want the other health benefits it offers, then it probably won’t cause eating disorders. Following an IF regimen under a doctor’s care also reduces the potential for eating disorders. If it’s accompanied by other symptoms of an eating disorder, such as compulsive exercising or vomiting, it’s also a slippery slope.

One way to judge whether IF may be an eating disorder is to ask yourself how you would feel if you ate during fasting time. Would you feel like a failure or accept it and continue the next day?
In addition to those mentioned, other signs of eating disorders include weighing yourself several times a day, skipping meals, eating in isolation, fear of weight gain, and skipping meals.
Some side effects of IF include hunger, fatigue, headaches, insomnia, and nausea. It’s not for everyone. Pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid it.
If you have acid reflux, diabetes, kidney stones, or other medical conditions, you should always talk to your doctor before starting an intermittent fasting program.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Fitness, Nutrition

How To Burn Fat And Keep It Off

Published by superadmin on June 5, 2023 | Leave a response

In Louisville, KY, people are searching for easy ways to burn fat and keep it off. It’s not just a local phenomenon, it occurs everywhere. Some quick fix programs help you lose weight, but the weight is often water weight that returns almost instantaneously. Other programs may help you lose fat, but those often involve restrictive diets that aren’t meant for long-term use. Again, the fat returns. There is one option that keeps fat from returning. It requires lifestyle changes that become habits that are hard to break.

Start by moving more.

Consistently burning calories means being more active regularly, including an exercise program. Exercise does more than just burn extra calories. It builds muscle tissue. If your body has more muscle tissue, you’ll burn more calories. Why? There are two reasons. First, muscle tissue requires more calories for maintenance than fat tissue does. The more you have, the higher your metabolism 24/7. A second reason is that exercise releases irisin. The body has both brown fat and white fat. Brown fat mitochondria burn more calories. The lumpy, hard-to-lose white fat insulates the body. The irisin exercise releases white fat into brown fat, which increases calorie-burning by 20%. The more you exercise, the more calorie-burning brown fat you develop.

The key to fat loss is your diet.

No matter how much you exercise, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. It doesn’t matter if you run marathons or workout at the gym, if you’re consuming an unending amount of unhealthy, high-calorie foods, you’ll gain weight in the form of fat. Fat is the way the body stores excess calories. Your body needs micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients like anthocyanin, and macronutrients, which include protein, fat, and healthy carbohydrates.

You need other factors for a healthy lifestyle to make keeping fat off easier.

If you dehydrate or lack sleep, you’ll lose energy and be less active. That can cause a drop in the calories you burn, plus put stress on your overall health. Lack of sleep also causes the body to produce more ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and less leptin, the hormone that makes you feel full. That makes it difficult to resist temptation, plus causes you to crave sweets to get the burst of energy it provides. Food high in sugar causes blood glucose levels to rise quickly. Just as quickly as it rises, it drops dramatically, making you crave more sugar. It becomes a cycle of destruction.

Eliminate food with added sugar. The high glucose level caused by increasing sugar in the diet also causes a high insulin level and inflammation. Both can cause an increase in fat, particularly around the midsection.
Just working out may not be enough. An active lifestyle outside the gym helps. People sitting at a desk all day need to take five minutes every hour to get up and move to preserve the benefits of regular exercise.
Learn portion control. Healthy eating doesn’t mean giving up everything you love. You can still eat your favorite food, but not as often, and with portion control in mind.
Living healthy also means getting adequate sunshine. Sunshine provides you with vitamin D. More recent studies show that a higher percentage of obese people have a vitamin D deficiency.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness

What’s The Difference Between Portion Size And Serving Size?

Published by superadmin on March 25, 2023 | Leave a response

Whether you’re eating in a restaurant or at home, portion sizes will vary. However, it doesn’t matter where you eat, at home in Louisville, KY, or in a restaurant in Chicago, IL the serving size remains the same. It’s the same across the country for all food. All nutritional facts are determined by using that serving size. Potato chips are a good example. A one-ounce bag is about 15 chips. That’s the serving size, whether you’re eating from a family-size bag or not. Most people create their own portion sizes when eating snack foods like chips, which can be more or less than the serving size.

When you eat in a restaurant, the portion sizes may far exceed the serving size.

Ironically, the most expensive restaurants often have smaller serving sizes. They tend to focus on more exotic ingredients and presentation. However, mom-and-pop restaurants that compete for most of the restaurant business have to find a way to stand out from the rest. Besides great cooking, serving larger portions can make them more popular. Commercials and advertising gimmicks train us to believe more is better. Super-sizing your meal has become an all too familiar draw. In reality, the portion sizes served are often more than double the actual serving size.

Besides oversized servings in restaurants, you can overdo them at home too.

Unless you know what the serving size is for that particular food, you’ll probably eat too much. If you’re at home or in another serve-yourself situation, learning serving sizes is important. It doesn’t have to be difficult. For instance, a serving size of meat is about the same size as a cassette tape or deck of playing cards. If you stack four dice, you’d get the serving size of 1 ounce of cheese. The serving size for a cup of most food is the size of a fist.

Some easy tips to remember when eating in restaurants.

For most leafy vegetables, don’t worry about serving size, unless you’re worrying about not eating enough. For most vegetables, the serving size is often underestimated. If you’re eating chopped veggies, the serving size is a half-cup. For raw leafy greens, it’s one cup, and for vegetable juice, a half cup. The USDA recommends eating two and a half to three cups of vegetables or about five to six servings a day. Potatoes aren’t included in the vegetable group. In most cases, eating more than the recommended minimum servings is a good thing. Just be careful with sauces and dressing.

If you’re making a salad, include other types of lettuce besides iceberg, they’re more nutritious. Baby greens, baby kale and baby spinach are extremely nutritious.
If your favorite restaurant has large portion sizes, share a meal with a friend or eat half and ask for a carry-out container to take home. Some people opt for an appetizer as their main dish and add a salad and vegetables as sides.
Your favorite snack or meal might come in larger portions and be several serving sizes. You can help yourself and prevent overeating by repackaging the food as soon as you get home to individual serving sizes.
If you’re still unsure how to achieve a healthy diet that helps you reach your goals, our staff at Body Sculptors can help with a customized diet and nutrition training.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness, Fitness & Wellness

Are Personal Trainers Worth It?

Published by superadmin on March 15, 2023 | Leave a response

Many people who use personal trainers are either just starting a fitness program or have tried on their own and failed. However, that doesn’t mean that those with more experience don’t use them. Some trainers use the services of another trainer to learn new techniques and switch up their workout or improve their form. Trainers focus exclusively on ways to get fitter. They’re specialists. Most have far more training in body mechanics and nutrition than the average doctor.

You can work out on your own, but you might not see the progress.

Not only do trainers keep abreast of the latest research in fitness, but they also can identify areas where you need more work. Some fitness problems may occur because smaller muscles are taking over the work of larger ones. Trainers can identify that and help prevent injury. They create a difficult program, but still within your capabilities. Trainers also do more than just help you with workouts, many can provide information to aid you in eating healthier.

Do you have a pre-existing condition?

If you’re starting an exercise program because of high blood pressure, diabetes or are recovering from a serious condition, a trainer can be extremely useful. Always check with your health care professional first before starting any exercise program. If you have an issue that limits your movement, like knee problems, trainers can modify and personalize your workout to adjust for it.

Trainers hold you accountable.

You are more apt to show up if you know a trainer is waiting for you. A trainer will also push you to achieve more. He or she will record your progress and modify your workout if you’re not getting the best results. Most people don’t push themselves when they’re on their own or they push too hard initially and injure themselves, setting back training for months. A trainer can determine the best workout for your needs.

Learning proper form is extremely important. If you don’t have the right form, it can cause injury or minimize benefits. A trainer will not only show you how to do an exercise, but he or she will watch to ensure your form is correct.
Trainers can keep you motivated. Besides holding you accountable and tracking your training and results, trainers can provide the encouragement you need.
Trainers will vary your workout. That helps prevent boredom and can also prevent plateauing. When you do the same exercise repetitively, your body becomes efficient and burns fewer calories, causing plateauing.
Personal trainers often offer a variety of options to suit everyone’s budget. They may have small group discounts. If you and your friends want to make your night out a healthier option, choose small group training classes, followed by a healthy meal.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

Posted in Exercise, Fitness, Fitness & Wellness