Remember, your reason for doing cardiovascular exercises should be to burn fat, while preserving muscle. Burning up of the muscle for energy is a common ill-effect of long distance cardio—frequently seen in marathon runners. Just notice the build of competitive runners, and you will see that they are usually extremely thin and skinny, with hardly any muscle.

Before we get into the best time to do cardio, let’s first understand the basics.

What is cardio?

Running, jogging, walking, cycling, aerobics, cross trainer, and swimming fall under cardiovascular exercises. Technically, anything that forces the body to use its ‘aerobic’ system to acquire energy can be termed as cardiovascular. The American Heart Association [AHA] defines cardiovascular exercise as that which involves steady and repetitive movement of a person’s arms and legs. Others have defined it as an increase in heart rate. As the heart beats faster, the breathing becomes heavy, requiring more oxygen, which in turn burns fat.

The main reason behind cardiovascular exercise is to increase cardiovascular endurance. Nothing wrong with that except that most cardio freaks forget that there are more important components of fitness, which they are neglecting such as muscular strength, muscular endurance, power, flexibility, agility, speed, coordination, and balance.

When is the best time to do cardio?

There are several theories floating on the web about the best time for cardio. After researching this topic for a long time, I share my conclusions below, with valid reasoning. In a nutshell,

• Do cardio first thing in the morning
• On an empty or partially empty stomach

Do cardio first thing in the morning

Cardio should be done on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. This is the most common view around the world and I agree with it too. But understand one thing: carbohydrate in the body fuels high-intensity exercises like weight training and sprinting. Fat on the other hand is the primary fuel for low intensity cardio.

When we wake up in the morning, our body is depleted of carbohydrates as it has not had any fuel for the last 7 – 8 hours, while we were asleep. This is the ideal time to target fat with the help of cardio exercises.

Do it on an empty or partially empty stomach

If you consume any form of carbs in the morning before doing cardio, [a common practice is to eat a fruit] then the energy for the cardio session is going to come from the carbs you ate and not from the fat you’re trying to burn.

Here comes the twist… the problem occurs when the intensity of your cardio increases and the body needs carbs for fuel, which it does not have when you’re on an empty stomach.

Avoid eating carbs immediately after cardio

One more thing you need to remember is that you should not have carbs immediately after you finish your cardio session. Wait for at least 30 minutes after your cardio workout as the body uses fat during this time to recover.

How do you prevent the body from utilising muscle for energy?

The best way to prevent the muscle from going into catabolism is to consume a branched chain amino acid [BCAA] drink before your morning cardio session. BCAA supplements can be brought over the counter. These drinks will prevent the muscle from breaking down.

Not only are your carbs and protein stores low in the morning but your cortisol [stress hormone] levels are high too. This is another factor responsible for muscle breakdown. To counter these problems, add two more things to your drink: Glutamine and vitamin C tablet [it will quickly dissolve in water]. Want a further increase in fat burning and antioxidants? Add black coffee to it. This combo of BCAAs, glutamine, vitamin C and coffee will skyrocket your fat burning and at the same time prevent muscle breakdown.

If any of you are doing HIIT [high intensity interval training] or sprint training [which almost all of you should be doing], it is not to be done on an empty stomach as HIIT uses carbs as its primary fuel. And again, if you don’t have enough carbs in the body, the body will target muscle protein for fuel. But consuming BCAAs before HIIT is even more important because as the intensity goes up, so does the muscle breakdown.

Any high-intensity training [weight training and sprints] uses carbohydrates as the primary source of fuel and any low-medium intensity workout [cycling, jogging, brisk walking] uses primarily fat for energy. Both the activities have their benefits—you just need to balance the two.

What if you do cardio at any other time of the day?

Another response I got on Facebook to my question was: Can cardio exercises be done at any time during the day? Of course you can—and it will burn calories too. But as I explained above, you should be aware of whether the source of those calories is fat or muscle protein.

Do cardio exercises a minimum of 3 hours before your bedtime

So if, for some reason, you are choosing to do cardio in the evening, make sure you do it at least two hours before your bedtime and three hours after your last meal. And don’t forget to take the drink mix I recommended above.

Can you do cardio along with strength training?

Even before I discuss the next point, the answer to it is a BIG NO. If any trainer is suggesting that you do cardio before or after strength training, they are wrong. Don’t do it.

The amount of energy required for a good weight training session is tremendous. If you do cardio before weights, you have already wasted a large chunk of energy. Now you are not going to benefit either from cardio or from weights. Also, carbohydrate forms an important part of any pre-workout diet for a weight training program, and as I have already explained, consuming carbs before cardio will not help.

Similarly, right after a grueling weight training session, not only have you depleted all carbs [muscle glycogen] but also broken down your muscles completely. The anabolic window after a weight-training session is around 45 minutes. You need to rest and have your post-workout drink during that time and not do anything else.

Even if you want to do both cardio and strength training on the same day, do one of them in the morning and the other in the evening. In my opinion, three days of cardio in a week is more than enough.

What about cardio as warm up for strength training?

This is again a misconception. As I have explained in my article on the correct way to warm up before a workout, for any type of activity, you need to do the activity-specific or sport-specific warm-up which gets your body ready for the imminent workout. I encourage you to read that article for a better understanding of appropriate warm-up routines.

Finally, how much cardio is enough?

• A typical cardio session should not exceed 40 – 60 minutes as anything extra leads to muscle protein breakdown.
• The minimum cardio requirements for a sedentary individual should be three times a week for at least 30 minutes.
• The intensity should be about 50 – 85% of your MHR [maximum heart rate]
• Maximum heart rate= 220 minus your age. [So if you are 20 years old then your MHR will be 200].

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But how much is too much? Nutritionist John Berardi says that, “For an average person, any meal over 750kcal (not including pre- and post-workout nutrition) results in fat storage”. I don’t agree completely, as for an athlete it would vary greatly and would also depend on the ratio of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the meal. A high protein meal may not get readily converted to fats as a high carb meal. However, when an average person eats 500+ calories from a candy snack bar, it is going to lead to fat gain. What’s worse, while we know how to stop it, we are still helpless.

Tips to deal with binge eating

Here are some simple tips to help you overcome the damage of binge eating:-

1. Treadmill counters are misleading

Many people I know compare the calories they burn on a treadmill or cross trainer with the calories they consumed in their meals. This is not a sound strategy. Firstly, on a treadmill, the calories shown include your BMR [the calories you burn at rest]. Say your body burns 2400kcal/day i.e. 100 kcal/hr. These calories are burnt by your body just to maintain your normal body functions. So if you run for an hour on the treadmill, the treadmill will show that you have burnt around 500kcal. But this 500kcal is including your BMR [basal metabolic rate]. So actual calories burnt would be 500 – 100 = 400kcal. Now a kilo of fat has around 7000kcal. At this rate, you need to run for over 17 days at the same intensity every day to burn just a kilo of fat—that too if your intake of calories is equal to your calorie output. This is why weight training and HIIT [high intensity interval training] are the best forms of exercises to target fat loss.

2. Make use of your “anabolic window”

After a hard and intense workout session, your metabolism sky rockets. Your body is like a furnace ready to burn whatever you put in it. This furnace is at its hottest for 45 minutes post workout, also called the “anabolic window”. When you know you are going to a party or will be gorging on foods that are likely to be unhealthy and high in sugar and full of empty calories, then working out before that meal is the best way to offset the negative effects of that meal. Though the 45 min window is the optimal time, the furnace is hot enough to burn your cheat foods even three hours after of your workout.

If for whatever reasons it is not possible to workout before you eat this meal then another way is to increase your exercise volume and intensity for a week before and after the binge day. Now the exercise I am talking about are intense weight training sessions and HIIT workouts, not leisurely strolls on the treadmill or pleasant rides on the cross trainer.

3. Eat before bingeing

It happens with all of us sometimes where we eat something just before our meals and then don’t feel hungry enough to have our main meal. This is a simple trick that dieticians refer to as the “Second Meal Effect”. Having something just before the main meal or an hour or so before it, would suppress hunger which automatically make you eat less of your cheat meal. The best bet is a big salad plate or a high protein, low glycaemic index food an hour before the main binge meal.

4. Cleanse after indulging

If you have eaten more than you should have and now need to detox, here’s an excellent way to do it. At night before sleep take two tablespoon of isabgol or Psyllium seed husks with three glasses of water. In the morning, have three glasses of water again as soon as you wake up. After you have emptied your bowels, add two capful of bitter gourd [karela] and gooseberry [amla] juice, each in less than half a glass of water and drink it. This will help stabilise your insulin levels and also provide you with powerful antioxidants. Thereafter, have a cup of green tea with lemon or 500mg vitamin C. Work out hard and eat clean that day and the next.

Remember, these techniques only help overcome the side effects of occasional binge eating. Do not make this a regular way of life.

The post Help!! I just had a week of binge eating appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Five Golden Rules of Workout

1. Don’t overdo it

If you have been working hard at the gym with little success, yet you persist in pushing your body week after week, an injury is just waiting to happen. If you have learned how to put in maximum effort, then you should also learn the art of “backing off”. According to the iron guru Vince Gironda, “Over enthusiasm is the most dangerous virtue of an athlete.” Avoid overtraining, you should listen to your body and give it the time it needs for optimum rest.

2. Consistency is the key

I have met parents who tell me that they are sending their children to the gym because it’s summer holiday time and they need to be kept busy. But for the rest of the year, these kids are inactive as they just study, eat and sleep. Now will you expect your kid to do well in their exams if they study for just one month in a year? Same is the case with physical training. Just like other fields, physical training requires consistency. Likewise, all those would-be brides and grooms who think a 30 day package at a slimming centre is all they need to lose weight permanently, are deluding themselves. You can’t have breaks throughout the year and see progress, you have to train consistently.

3. Progressive overload

The primary principle of exercise physiology is progressive overload. If you embark on a journey of strength training and fitness, you should be improving consistently both in terms of muscle strength and endurance, depending on your goals. This can be in various ways such as increasing the number of reps or the amount of weight lifted or cutting down on rest between sets.

Related » The correct way to warm-up

4. Form comes first

Lifting weights is important, but lifting heavy barbells with poor form is equally dangerous. You do lifting exercises to improve your strength, not to impress the girl on the treadmill. In a gym, you will find two types of people—those who give no attention to their form and those who pay too much attention to it. For example, their form in some movements such as the deadlift is so poor that an injury is just bound to happen. On the other extreme, isolation movements like barbell drag curls are done with such strict form that people are stuck lifting the same weight for months, as they aren’t ready to compromise on form. I am not telling you to let your form deteriorate, but just to loosen up a little in the event that you are not improving. Loosening up your technique doesn’t mean using excessive momentum though. What you could do is in every four sets of barbell curls, try one or two sets of cheat curls and see if that makes any difference to how much you can lift.

5. Focus on the basics

Today, the market is flooded with new techniques and products which claim to make you leaner, more muscular and more athletic. Most of these claims are not only false but may even affect your performance negatively. Combining exercises from different sports like Crossfit does nothing to improve your performance but only brings you a step closer to injury. A traditional Crossfit workout combines Olympic lifts with plyometrics in a single session, a recipe for disaster. Any exercise can improve your heart rate and burn calories, but they may do nothing to improve your performance and could, in fact, impede it. So focus on the basics. If you want to develop strength in legs, first learn to squat before doing anything else. If you want strength in the upper body, first learn how to do bench press, parallel bar dips, pull-ups and rows before moving on to the more fancy stuff.

So the next time you are working out, keep these five golden rules in mind to ensure optimum results.

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Nutrient timing

Timing of a meal can play a major role in your struggle with weight or health problems. Our ancestors followed the nutrient timing principle without actually being conscious about it. Unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced world, we either completely skip eating breakfast or we chomp down whatever we can lay our hands on in the morning’s rush. Some people “brunch” instead of eating a proper breakfast. However, doing so is detrimental to your health. Let’s look at the ideal timing for each meal.

Breakfast

Ideally, you should have your first meal between 60 – 90 minutes after you wake up. Try not to eat almost immediately after waking up. Save the first hour to do your morning chores, some exercise or pranayama. It is important to fuel your body correctly at breakfast, because your body has been starved of essential micronutrients since the previous night’s meal. If there is too long a gap between waking up and having your first meal, i.e. more than 90 minutes, then your body will begin breaking down your muscles for energy.

Lunch

Generally, there is a substantial gap between breakfast and lunch, and this usually leads to hunger and cravings. You can eat a healthy, nutrient-rich, low-carbohydrate snack in between the meals to keep your body going. Ideally, you should have your lunch between 12:30 – 2:30pm. However, a slight delay is acceptable if you adjust your day accordingly.

Pre and post-workout

Depending on the type of workout you do, you need a protein and carbohydrate-rich snack at least 30 – 45 minutes before you exercise. This is especially necessary if the gap between your lunch and workout is greater than 120 minutes. Your post-workout meal is just as important. Unfortunately, most of us tend to neglect this important nutrient timing. The body is most receptive to nutrient absorption up to 45 minutes after a workout.

Dinner

Being the final meal of your day, dinner needs to be light and taken at the right time. Eating a heavy meal just before hitting the bed can adversely affect your health. A gap of at least three hours between dinner and sleep is best.

To satisfy any hunger craving between your breakfast and lunch, you need to have a high protein and fibre-rich snack

Nutrient intake

Knowing what kind of nutrient to eat for breakfast, lunch, pre/post workout and dinner is vital. This second guideline is essential to extract maximum health benefits from our diets. Although my recommendations are based on traditional Indian cuisine, the rule can be applied to cuisines of other regions as well.

The first thing you need to do when you get up in the morning is not have a cup of tea/coffee or some fruit, as is generally advised. Instead, drink some water. Squeeze some lemon juice in the water to make it alkaline. About 90 minutes after you wake up, you can have herbal or non-herbal tea or black coffee with some lemon, or a vitamin C tablet. The antioxidants from both will be absorbed maximum on an empty stomach.

Breakfast

In your first meal, having a fruit or any other food with a high glycaemic index is not a great idea since your body is deprived of carbohydrates after a night’s sleep [especially if you are off carbohydrates during dinner]. Therefore, any form of simple, high GI carbohydrates will spike your blood sugar levels. This will, in turn, raise your body’s insulin levels, sending a message of starvation to your brain. As a result, your body will store the carbohydrates as fats, instead of using it for energy. Contrarily, a sharp rise in blood sugar levels, caused by high GI foods, will lead to an equally sharp crash in the blood sugar levels, making you feel hungry soon after your meal.

An ideal breakfast must contain proteins, in addition to low GI carbohydrates like oats, multigrain breads and poha

Research has shown that having a high-protein breakfast is ideal, as it not only helps curb the sharp rise in blood sugar, but also keeps you satiated for long. This prevents you from getting food cravings and hunger pangs. Therefore, an ideal breakfast must contain proteins, like eggs, cottage cheese, or milk, in addition to low GI carbohydrate sources like oats, multigrain breads and poha. Add some nuts to it and you will have one of the healthiest breakfast options available.

Lunch

To satisfy any hunger craving between your breakfast and lunch, you need to have a high protein and fibre-rich snack. Opt for a bowl of salad made from sprouts with some vegetables, chicken or cottage cheese. Alternatively, you can have a multigrain-bread sandwich with chicken or paneer and some vegetables.

For lunch, you can eat simple home-cooked food, like rotis, vegetable, rice with dal, with a side of salad. Additionally, have a bowl of curd or a glass of buttermilk.

What you eat at night can greatly influence your health

Pre and post-workout

As stated earlier, your pre and post-workout meals are important. For the pre-workout snack, you can eat to suit the kind of exercise you would be performing. If the session involves weight-training or HIIT [high intensity interval training], then a fruit with black coffee and a vitamin C tablet are all you need.

For a post-workout meal, you can supplement your training with a liquid protein and carbohydrate diet. Ideally, you can have whey protein in water.

Dinner

It is important to keep your dinner simple yet nutritious. Avoid having carbohydrate-rich foods. Instead, include proteins like chicken or fish, salads or soups in your dinner. What you eat at night can greatly influence your health.

While these suggestions can be adopted by anyone, the results can differ from person to person. Regardless, following these guidelines will make you see and feel a profound difference in your body within a very short span of time. These suggestions are not some type of fad but a healthy way of eating for life.

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Nutrient timing

This is an important concept that is neglected by most people with health or weight issues. It is not only important ‘how much’ and ‘what’ to eat, but also what to eat ‘when’. Our grandparents followed the nutrient timing principle without ever being conscious of it. And we are aware of some basics too. For instance, we know that breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, but in today’s fast-paced world, we often eat anything we can lay our hands on in the morning or, worse, we skip breakfast. Then there is ‘brunch’—used as a style statement, but is actually one of the worst eating habits.

Ideally, you should be having your first meal within 60 – 90 minutes after you wake up. In the first one hour, make sure you get maximum healthy antioxidants [They are best absorbed on an empty stomach]. Because you have been starving your body of macro nutrients such as carbohydrates since the previous night’s dinner, you need to fuel your body properly in the morning. Too long a gap between waking up and breakfast will lead your body to catabolise or break down your muscles for energy.

Likewise, if the gap between breakfast and lunch is a long one, it will lead to cravings. To keep them at bay, you need to have a healthy, high-protein, low-glycaemic index, low-carbohydrate, optimum-fat and fibre-rich snack. If that seems like too many variables to take care of, don’t worry. A small bowl of sprouts with veggies and chicken/cottage cheese or a whole grain sandwich with vegetables and chicken/cottage cheese is all you need.

The best time to have your lunch is between 12:30pm and 2:30pm, but you can have it later if you adjust your day accordingly.

If you work out, you need a protein and carbohydrate-rich meal at least 30 to 45 minutes before your session. After your workout, there is period of 45 minutes called the anabolic window in which the body is most receptive to nutrient absorption. A liquid protein and carbohydrate meal, for e.g. whey protein in water is the best thing to have in that window. When it comes to dinner, keep it light and try to have a gap of at least three hours between dinner and bedtime.

Nutrient intake

We discussed the optimal times for nutrient intake. Now let us look at what foods we should be eating at those times. Once you get up in the morning, the first thing you need is not tea or fruits, as some dieticians believe, but water. And, not water with lemon or honey added, but plain water. Once you’re done washing up in the morning, have green/white/black tea or black coffee with lemon or a vitamin C tablet. The antioxidants from both will be fully absorbed on an empty stomach.

As part of your first meal, having a fruit isn’t a great idea. For that matter, any form of high-GI [glycaemic index] food isn’t good to eat first thing in the morning as your body is deprived of carbohydrates after a night’s sleep. So any form of simple carbohydrates will spike your blood sugar levels, raising your insulin levels in turn, mistakenly signalling to the brain that you’re starving, so the carbohydrates consumed then will be stored as fat instead of being used for energy. The sharp rise in blood sugar will also later lead to a crash at an equally fast rate making you feel hungry and give you cravings soon after you’ve had your meal.

A good breakfast should comprise of high protein as research has shown that proteins in a meal not only curb the sharp rise in blood sugar but also keeps you satiated for longer, thus preventing food cravings and hunger pangs. A low GI carbohydrate source such as oats, multi-grain breads and poha [flattened rice] along with protein-rich foods such as eggs, cottage cheese and milk are the best option. Add some nuts to it and you have one of the healthiest breakfasts possible.

As mentioned earlier, you can have sprouts or a multi-grain sandwich as a snack between breakfast and lunch. For lunch, have a home-cooked meal and make a habit of eating a bowl of curd or drinking a glass of buttermilk along with it. Before your workout, if you’re doing a session of weight-training or HIIT [high intensity interval training], then a fruit with black coffee and a vitamin C tablet is all you need. For dinner, avoid carbs and have lots of proteins, salads and soups.

These suggestions are for an average person and your mileage may vary. But when you follow them, you will see and feel a profound difference in your body within a very short span of time. These are not faddish recommendations but is solid advice that can be the basis of healthy eating for life.

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Most people do only a general warm-up before starting their workout, which consist of activities that are not only a waste of time but also impair the workout. The correct warm-up sets the right tone for the workout session. Before we delve into what the correct warm-up comprises of, we must know why a warm is essential.

9 reasons why we need to warm up before a workout

There are several important reasons why we need to warm up before a workout

1. Increase the body temperature
2. Augment the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart and muscles
3. Activate the central nervous system
4. Decrease muscle and joint viscosity
5. Lubricate joints by producing synovial fluid and increase the joint range of motion
6. Increase metabolism
7. Prevent injury
8. Improve work capacity and muscular coordination
9. Increase enzyme and hormonal activity.

Research has shown that muscles contract more forcefully at higher temperatures, so a gradual warm-up reduces the stress on the tissues, which can otherwise lead to injury.

But are warm-ups always necessary?

Let’s say that you are walking down a road and a huge dog suddenly barks and runs at you. Will you tell him to stop so that you can warm up? One important aspect of warming up is its psychological benefit. Strength and conditioning coach Anthony Ditillo advises his athletes to just lie on a plain bench for 15 minutes and visualise the entire workout that they would be going to perform. When you warm up, you bring greater attention and focus on the upcoming event making you mentally and emotionally prepared.

Coming back to the original question; how will a walk or run on a treadmill get you ready for a weight training or plyometric workout session? For any type of activity, you need to do the activity-specific or sport-specific warm-up which gets your body ready for the imminent workout.

A general warm-up consists of activities that are not necessarily linked to the workout—they warm-up most of the muscle groups of the body. John Paul Catanzaro says that, “Gross motor patterns are emphasised first in a warm-up before moving to fine motor patterns that enhance performance.”

Another common perception about warm-ups is that you should be sweating during one. This is correct to an extent, as the presence of sweat indicates that your tissues are warmed up. But sweating should be mild, not profuse. Besides, in a hot and humid environment, you will sweat just by sitting in one place. So, the focus should be on warming up all the muscles, and not on sweating.

Static stretching

Most people make the mistake of starting with a full-body static-stretching routine. But research has shown that static stretching before a workout is counterproductive as it reduces the power output of the muscles. For example, a yoga session is a pure static stretching routine, which leaves you exhausted. The best time to do static stretching is after a workout, to relax the muscles and get rid of the build-up of lactic acid.

List of exercises warm up properly

Like I mentioned earlier, the right way to warm up is through activity-specific warm-up and dynamic warm-up. This warm-up takes not more than four to five minutes, and gets you ready for almost any activity. For a dynamic warm-up, do the following exercises continuously without rest:-

• 20 standing heel raises [slow tempo with full stretch at the top]
• 20 jumping jacks
• 15 normal squats
• 10 jump squats
• 10 lunges each side
• 10 inch worms [slow]
• 5 inch worms [fast]
• 5 inch worms [fast with push-ups]
• 5 push ups.

For a plyometric or functional training routine, this is all you need. For weight training, you need to do around two sets with weights for the particular muscle you are working out. But in this case, as the initial weight is light, don’t waste much time between sets—move on to the main activity as fast as possible. Your goal is to spend maximum time on the actual workout.

Also, do not waste time with light weights for every exercise; unfortunately this is a very common practice. For instance, if you are working out the chest and have already started using heavy weights in the first exercise of the dumbbell or barbell bench press, then for the next exercise for the chest, don’t regress to using a lighter weight.

Before you start any kind of workout or sporting activity, take the time to understand which warm-up exercises work best for you. Remember to exercise smart!

This was first published in the July 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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You probably know that what you eat at night has an enormous impact on your physique, especially fat loss. Let’s say you have your dinner at 2100 hrs every night, go to sleep at 2300 hrs and wake up at 0700 hrs… that means you have starved your body for almost 10 hours, which can be disastrous if your dinner was not appropriate.

The fuss over meal timings

Catabolism means to break down. In relation to muscle, it means muscle wasting, which is opposite of ‘anabolism’ [muscle building]. As per nutritionist John Berardi, in the 7 – 9 hours that you are asleep, you enter into a stage of catabolism as there is no food-intake. Therefore, this long journey into sleep should be as peaceful as possible because it is essential for your body to repair your broken and tired muscles, rejuvenate your mind and provide rest to your senses.

The first hour of the day in the morning when you eat and the time after that is called the post-prandial period. This is the time when nutrients from the meal you ate get utilised and absorbed. It is also during this time that your liver and glycogen stores are being replenished for future use.

After your last meal of the day when you go to sleep, the post-absorptive period begins. This means, now you are not feeding your body; but the body is using the muscle and glycogen stores from the liver to fuel its needs. That is the reason why the first meal in the morning is so important—your body has used up the energy stores during the night. Now, the question is, how to minimise the breakdown of nutrients [specially muscle protein] at night?

If you work out in the morning hours

Remember that muscle breakdown and muscle building are dependent on protein synthesis v/s protein breakdown. The body needs large amounts of amino acids in the blood to increase protein synthesis [sometimes as high as 200 per cent more than normal]. Therefore, protein should form a big part of your last meal. The thing is that even with high levels of protein in the blood, the protein synthesis can remain elevated for only up to two hours, after which it returns to baseline [i.e. normal]. One of the best ways to keep this level high throughout the day and to avoid muscle breakdown is to consume protein from both liquid [whey and casein shakes] and solid foods [chicken, fish, eggs, cottage cheese, pulses] at regular intervals.

The best form of protein to be taken just before bedtime is casein. It is a slow digesting protein, which is released over a 6 – 8 hour period, thus feeding your muscles continuously. But this is to be consumed only when the gap between your dinner and sleep is 2 – 3 hours. If you are overstuffed and still drink a casein shake, you may have to spend the night in the washroom rather than your bed!

Now casein may seem an expensive proposition to some. So to avoid the burden on your pocket, the other alternative is the good old cottage cheese [paneer]. Remember, carbohydrates are required to fuel high intensity exercises like weight training or sprinting. Fat on the other hand is the primary fuel source as the intensity reduces. In fact, during sleep one is exclusively burning fat. So eating carbs at night will only store them; not burn them.

What if you did your workout 3 – 4 hours prior to bed time?

In such a case, there is little chance that carbs will be stored as fat, as your glycogen stores will already be low. In fact, eating carbs is a must now, otherwise your body will feed on the precious muscle. So if you workout late in the evening, then eating carbs, especially low GI [glycaemic index] carbs like oats, sweet potato, and bananas will be beneficial.

The majority of us don’t work out that late. So your dinner should primarily consist of proteins and good fats with carbs only in the form of salads or veggies. However, the fat you consume should be little—too much fat suppresses the hormone sensitive lipase [HSL] which is needed to break down fat.

Here are some good choices for dinner:

• Three egg whites and one whole egg omelette with vegetables, and almonds and walnuts by the side.
• Chicken with sweet potato, with a tablespoon of flaxseed/fish oil in it.
• Cottage cheese [paneer] with peanut butter and sprouts.
• Fish with salads and nuts.
• Sprouts with veggies and flaxseed oil.

You can choose the above in any combination you like. There are hundreds of healthy dinner recipes available on the internet for you to follow. And yes—preserved fruit juices, pastas, chocolates, pizzas, bakery products, Chinese food, rice, soft drinks, and the like should be completely avoided, not only at night but at any time of the day.

This was first published in the February 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing

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What are Xenoestrogens?

Xenoestrogens are manmade/synthetic chemicals that harm the body. When they enter our blood stream, these environmental toxins have an action similar to the hormone oestrogen.

Excessive use of plastics, chemicals in the form of cosmetics, and dissolved chemicals in the food chain—all lead to excessive oestrogen load in the body.

Research has shown that the amount of environmental toxins has reached an all-time high. Our food and water are laden with chemicals in the form of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plastic and petrochemical residue. There is no place on the planet untouched by toxins; only the levels vary from place to place. In fact, a recent discovery that has startled even experts was that polar bears living in the most remote and untouched environment of our planet were also found to have high amounts of mercury in their body.

How do hormones act?

All hormones work according to the key and lock mechanism. When a hormone like oestrogen reaches the cells, it acts like a key, which only fits in a particular type of lock, called the receptor molecule. Once this key fits, it opens the lock and a message is sent to the cell’s DNA for action. The problem with xenoestrogens is that apart from fitting in the receptors just like oestrogen, they also activate numerous other receptors, which multiply the effect of oestrogen and xenoestrogens. These xenoestrogens have been linked to numerous life-endangering health issues.

Difference between phytoestrogens and xenoestrogens

Now, if you’ve been reading fitness articles on the internet, you may have likely come across the term ‘phytoestrogens’. The difference between phytoestrogens and xenoestrogens is that the former occur in man-made compounds while the latter are found naturally in plant foods. Unlike phytoestrogens, which stay in the body for a very short time, xenoestrogens accumulate in the fat tissues in the body. Phytoestrogens are not a problem unless you are consuming them in extremely large amounts. The controversial soya and its derivatives—tofu, soy milk, soy sauce—have a high phytoestrogen content. There is a lot of noise about minimising the use of soya as the main source of protein due to its high phytoestrogen content, which mimics the qualities of oestrogen in the body. But this is only when consumed in excess.

The problem with extra oestrogen-like compounds in the body is that it throws the body’s hormone level out of balance by altering the levels of other hormones in the body. That is why xenoestrogens are also called ‘endocrine disruptors’.

The history of xenoestrogens

Xenoestrogens were first produced in 1938 and were given to women to prevent miscarriages and premature births due to a lack of oestrogen in the body. The other famous chemical that is used as an insecticide and increases xenoestrogens in a big way is DDT, which is banned worldwide, but is still being widely used in India. When research was done in the 1980s on various birds and animals, the results were shocking—over half of the animals, birds and reptiles who came in contact with these chemicals suffered from irreversible sexual damage.

The problem is that these chemicals are here to stay. In 1992, the British Medical Journal revealed that the sperm count of the industrial nations has dropped by approximately 50 per cent since 1938. Also, many diseases are linked to the excessive use of plastics, as many of them use chemicals called phthalates to increase flexibility. Phthalates have been known to be carcinogenic, or cancer-causing. So reheated coffee cups, plastic water bottles left in the car on a hot day or exposed to direct sunlight—all release phthalates.

What are the ill-effects of excess oestrogen accumulation?

• Cancer [especially breast and prostate cancer]
• Reduction in testosterone levels
• Decrease in muscle mass and strength, and increase in body fat
• Weakening of the immune system
• Various mental disorders
• Uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts
• Menstrual problems in women and impotency in men
• Decrease in the ability to consume oxygen
• It affects the DNA, genetic code and causes mutation

Methods to reduce the body’s oestrogen load

• As much as possible, eat only organic vegetables, fruits, grains, milk, meats and even other foods such as spices or snacks
• Filter all water before use, even bath water
• Use fish oil and flaxseed oil
• Use natural cosmetics
• In general, minimise the use of plastic in your life
• Stay away from chemicals as much as possible
• Avoid artificial room fresheners, deodorants and perfumes
• Do not microwave any kind of plastic or drink hot liquids from plastic cups. The dangers of doing this cannot be stressed upon enough.
• Avoid using very strong detergents and fabric softeners
• 90 per cent of all oral oestrogen load is filtered by the liver, but when used on the body in products such as like cosmetics, soaps and shampoos it is absorbed fully
• Do not make soya-based foods your major source of protein, [vegetarians and vegans, please take note!]
• Take proper supplementation, especially EFAs and antioxidants. For example, take supplements like L-carnitine, ZMA, folic acid, B-complex, green tea and Coq-10, which are proven oestrogen detoxifiers
• Avoid canned foods, minimise frozen food and use only fresh foods
• Eat lots of fibre to detoxify your system
• Take a liver support supplement as the liver is the organ that filters excess oestrogens from the body.
• Decrease body fat as the enzyme aromatase found in the body fat turns testosterone into oestrogen by a process called aromatisation.
• Improve your gut health by having probiotics and a high-fibre diet, which helps in excretion of excess oestrogen from the body.
• Keep your insulin in check by minimising simple and refined sugars from your diet—they inhibit oestrogen detoxification.
• Excessive alcohol consumption and even occasional smoking have been linked to a decrease in testosterone and an increase in oestrogen levels.

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5 exercises for a strong core

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The word core is the new style statement. It is not uncommon to hear people talking about core workouts, in most cases without even knowing what it means. To understand this, you have to go into the core of core training.

The fitness world is filled with many myths and fallacies as to what core actually means. Some say that the abdominals and the obliques form the core, while others add the lower back to the definition of core, and still others include even the hip.

Core is your entire torso minus the arms and the legs. The term core was first coined in 1982 by Gadja and Dominique in the book Total Body Training.

Core mainly consists of…

1. Rectus abdominis
2. Internal/external obliques
3. Transverse abdominis
4. Pelvic floor muscles
5. Erector spinae muscles
6. Diaphragm
7. Latissimus dorsi [back]
8. Gluteus maximus [hips]
9. Trapezius

The biggest myth prevalent in the entire fitness industry is that you can strengthen the core by sit ups and crunches. These exercises only work out the rectus abdominis muscle and nothing else. Doing sit ups and crunches will never get you a sharp set of six packs. On the other hand, they are the best way to injure your back and ruin your posture.

The words functional and core are synonymous with each other. Functional training is nothing but exercises done to enhance the normal working strength of your daily movements and minimise injuries. E.g. lifting a bucket of water or a small child, pushing a car etc. Functional exercises work out numerous muscles at a time and address multiple components of fitness like muscular strength, muscle endurance, cardiovascular endurance, coordination, balance and flexibility, apart from engaging the entire core.

Strengthening the core means increasing the ability of the core to remain in equilibrium by controlling the forces that the other extremities [legs and arms] can create.

A weak core means poor posture and increased chances of injury, apart from other issues. Have you seen people with protruding bellies tilting backwards or old people bending forward as they age? It is all because of weak core muscles.

These are the top five exercises for strengthening the core and can be done by men and women of all ages. [For images of the exercises, check out the slider at the beginning of this article].

1. Barbell squats – Known as the mother of all exercises, the good old barbell squats target over 100 muscles at a time. If you want six packs, bigger chest, ripped physique, do your squats. Don’t go fully down, but parallel to the ground. At the bottom give a good stretch to your hips [glutes] and rise up.
2. Barbell deadlifts – Together with barbell squats, deadlifts form the most functional exercise you can ever do. While doing deadlift, do not sit in a squat position but take your hips back and lift the dead weight from the ground.
3. One arm dumbbell row without support – While doing a dumbbell row without a bench support, just like the briefcase squat, the stabilisers and the core are working extra hard to balance the body to get the correct movement.
4. Farmer’s walk – This is a strongman exercise, which involves simple walking for a long distance holding two heavy dumbbells/kettlebells. It extensively challenges the core and the grip of your hand.
5. Briefcase squat – Just like a normal dumbbell squat, in this exercise you hold the dumbbell only in one hand, while the other hand remains empty. Go fully down as in a squat. During this movement the stabilisers and the core have to work extra hard to balance one half of the body.

This was first published in the September 2013 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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Even then, in most parts of the world, this liquid byproduct of cheese was considered useless and was dumped in lakes and seas after the cheese was separated.

It was only in the early 1990s that Dan Duchaine, also known as the ‘steroid guru’, began extracting pure whey by removing fats, lactose and ash, and made it the phenomenon it is now.

The age old tussle of which protein is better: Vegetarian or non-vegetarian

Typically, the Indian diet is deficient in protein and rich in carbohydrates—one of the main reasons that our country is at the centre of the global diabetic epidemic.

But the bright side of the story is that it does not matter whether you are a pure vegetarian, a lacto-vegetarian, a lacto-ovo vegetarian or a non-vegetarian, you can still get the protein you need from your regular diet without the use of supplements. The pertinent question is whether you are eating the amount and quality of food that gives you your daily intake of protein.

There could be various reasons why you may not be able to have sufficient protein and this is where supplements help. Also, remember that whichever way you measure the quality, animal protein is far better than protein from plant sources. That is why vegetarians have to do a lot of mix-and-match with their ingredients to make sure that they get all the required amino acids.

What’s so special about whey?

Whey protein is a very high quality protein derived from cow’s milk. You may wonder why you shouldn’t just have whole milk instead! The reason is that milk has numerous other components like lactose [sugar] and fat. So whey gives you the benefits of protein without the other ingredients present in milk.

Milk contains two types of proteins—Casein and Whey. Casein forms 80 per cent of milk while whey is only 20 per cent. Whey is derived from the liquid which comes out during the production of cheese. So once cheese is made and the fat is removed, whey is extracted for use.

Whey is presently the highest-quality protein available in the market. It has an extremely high amino acid profile [amino acids are building blocks of protein] and is easily digested by lactose-intolerant individuals too.

The benefits of whey

1. It increases the natural glutathione levels in the body. For those of you who don’t know, glutathione is one of the most powerful antioxidants and is produced in the body naturally as an enzyme.
2. It is one of the best supplements that can be used in recovery.
3. It is known to balance blood sugar levels, thus reducing craving for food and assisting in fat loss.
4. The biological value is the measure of how efficiently a protein source is absorbed in the body. Egg protein is said to have the best biological value in natural foods with a value of 100. But whey protein is said to have a value as high as 170.
5. Whey protein is a thermogenic fuel i.e. its storage and digestion in the body requires the body to spend large amount of energy, thus increasing calories burnt.

Which whey protein to choose?

If you set out to buy a protein supplement, it can be very intimidating especially if you’re not prepared for the wide range of options you’ll meet at the store. One has a choice of egg, soy, casein, pea, beef, and whey proteins to buy from. What adds to the confusion is that each of the above has various types. Here’s some help with the homework.

Whey is simply the best form of protein available in the market and it is available as three types:

• Whey concentrate – These are generally the cheapest. They contain 70 – 80 per cent protein with 5 per cent lactose. The rest is fat. The problem with concentrate is that it may be unacceptable to people who are extremely lactose intolerant.
• Whey isolate – These are over 90 per cent protein. These are purer and costlier than whey concentrate. Lactose intolerant people are generally comfortable with isolates.
• Whey hydrolysates – This is the costliest and purest form of whey available and is over 95 per cent protein. It is used in baby milk for infants who are highly lactose-intolerant and is also used by people who are undergoing digestive surgery.

There is no doubt about it, by using whey, you’ll soon be on your way to a fitter and healthier body.

This was first published in the August 2013 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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