Everything You Have To Know About Glutamine

Glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids which are required to the human body. It is not essential amino acid, but it may become conditionally essential in certain situations, such as a hard workout or digestive disorders. Many natural foods contain glutamine in smaller or larger amounts. It is interesting that about 61% of the mass of muscle is composed of glutamine.

Functions and performance

Although known as a supplement that helps in building muscle, glutamine has many other functions. Some of them are the control of the pH value in the kidneys and temporarily reduction of growth hormone in the blood. Glutamine is also the energy source for the cells, in addition to glucose, off course.

Does it really help in building muscle?

The answer is: very little. Although it is constantly promoted as a supplement for bodybuilding, the fact is that there are many other supplements that are more effective (like whey protein, creatine or BCAA). Scientific studies have shown that glutamine supplementation has no effect on the strength during training or in prevention of the degradation of muscle in healthy individuals. The only benefit of glutamine in the muscles could be that it slightly increases growth hormone by stimulating the thyroid gland.

Glutamine shows its best side in the critical states of illness or overtraining. It is used for burn patients and for faster recovery in patients suffering from AIDS. Also, it can be used for maintaining weight and as a help for people suffering from ulcerative colitis.

Athletes who have the most benefits from the use of glutamine are marathon runners and others who deal with extensive endurance sports. It has been shown that glutamine supports the immune system in people who are involved in sports such as the marathon or cycling in the long run. This is because of the loss of glutamine in such long-term, extreme efforts.

It should be noted that glutamine increases the level of bicarbonate in the blood. That means that it should reduce the influence of lactic acid in the muscles, which would allow you to exercise longer.

Food sources

Glutamine is found in beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, wheat, cabbage, beans, spinach and parsley.

When and how to take glutamine?

If you decide to use glutamine, take 5 grams on an empty stomach with water, because this is the best way of feeding cells of the intestine. Glutamine helps in restoring mucosal barrier in the gut.

The best time to take glutamine is before bedtime. Various studies have shown that glutamine raises levels of growth hormone, and sleep is the time when your body is recovering and growing.

People who work very hard and have a long trainings can benefit by taking glutamine after exercise to keep their immune system resistant.

Glutamine has no unintended consequences, even if you take doses up to 40 grams per day. However, like any other protein, it can overload your kidneys if you take it with too little liquid.

Supplements – All You Have To Know About Whey Protein

Whey protein is one of the highest quality proteins in the human body and it comes as a by-product of cheese production. This is the same protein found in the whey.

Whey in its liquid form contains less than 1% protein and more than 93% water. After several processing steps, the whey may be refined in such way to become all protein. This can be achieved in the process of dehydration, where all water is drained from the product. The final product is a powder, which we can buy in store as whey protein.

Benefits of whey proteins

Although whey is effective for its primary purpose, it is not a miraculous substance that will help you to become Arnold Schwarzenegger in a month. Such substance does not exist. Whey is used like a practical way of increasing daily protein, what is very important because of his good effect on muscle growth.

Its advantages over other proteins are in rapid absorption in the intestine and in the fact that it is a complete protein. That means that it contains all amino acids required to our body. But without training, it will not help you in getting of muscle.

How and when to take protein?

The best time for taking protein is before or immediately after exercise. It is recommended that you take it with a little bit of carbohydrates, like bananas or something sweet. The recommended daily intake of protein for people who do not train is 0.8 grams per kilogram of weight. These numbers must be higher for people who exercise every day. For them, it is recommended about 1.8 grams of protein per kg of weight. This means that a man of 80kg, which trains, should enter 80 x 1.8 = 144 grams of protein a day.

Of course, these numbers do not have to come all from the whey proteins. If you eat right and enter the meat every day, then you will enter more than 70 to 100 grams of protein a day.

Can whey be harmful to health?

Whey protein is one of the safest supplements for bodybuilding because it is an ordinary concentrate of protein. Protein is found in many foods that we eat every day. They are found in all kinds of meat, eggs and milk and even in the bread. Without protein, the human body would die because almost every part of the body is made of them, especially the muscles.

Instead of taking the whey protein, you can eat eggs or chicken breast. It does not matter. Whey is used because of its rapid absorption in the intestine and because it is very convenient to enter.

The only way that whey can be harmful is by entering very large amounts of protein per day. Of course, as long as you drink plenty of fluids every day, you have no reason to worry. If you are wondering is it “enough”, just observe the color of urine. As long as the urine is clear, you are not dehydrated.

 

How To Increase Testosterone?

Testosterone is a hormone that has many functions in the human body. It acts on the motivation, mood, sexual desire and the density of our bones. However, for most people it is the most interesting because it stimulates muscle growth.

Men who are seriously involved in fitness are always interested in ways to increase testosterone. Some opt for illegal effective substances like steroids, but they can be very dangerous if you do not know what you’re doing. In this article we will not talk about steroids, but about the natural ways of increasing testosterone.

1. Exercise

Exercise is one of the best ways of raising testosterone levels. Any type of exercise will temporarily raise testosterone, but heavy exercises like weight lifting are more effective than aerobic exercise such as running. The best exercises are those which involve multiple muscle groups at once. There are also some indications that exercise increases testosterone not only temporarily but in the long-term (if you exercise regularly).

2. Correcting vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the diet

Zinc and vitamin D increase the level of testosterone in the body. Still, there is one catch. Vitamins and minerals will help in the production of testosterone only if you have a lack of these vitamins in your diet. If you take zinc or vitamin D and notice some changes (such as enhanced libido, for example) then you can continue taking them. If you do not notice any change, do not spend money for nothing, because obviously you do not have a disadvantage.

3. Avoid soy proteins and soy

Soya itself is not harmful. On the contrary, it is really healthy food. But it is not recommended if you try to build a muscles. In a scientific study done on men 27 to 45 years, after 4 weeks of eating soy, testosterone levels fell by 19%. This happens because soy contains substances that act like estrogen in the human body, which has bad affecting on the level of testosterone.

4. Alcohol is good and bad

The most people believe that alcohol and bodybuilding do not go together, but things are not quite so simple. The truth is that drinking reduces testosterone levels, but moderate consumption of alcohol (max 2 drinks per day) have completely opposite effect, and can increase the level of testosterone in the body. One little drink from time to time will not hurt, and it is good for the heart.

5. Get enough sleep

There is some evidence that lack of sleep can negatively effect on the level of testosterone. It is recommended that you sleep about 8 hours a day.

6. Do not avoid fats

One of the reasons is that these fats play a role in the production of testosterone as well as many other functions in the body. In one study of 30 healthy men it was shown that the transition to a diet with a reduced amount of fat causes a reduction of testosterone in the body. If you are trying to lose weight, focus rather on the number of calories than on a single group of nutrients such as fat.

How To Efficiently Gain Weight?

Although most people struggling with the obesity and problem with weight loss, there are also a number of people who are struggling with the opposite problem; they just do not know how to gain weight? Some will say that their job is much easier than it is a case with those who need to lose weight. The truth is that the project is approximately the same. The reason lies in deeply ingrained eating habits that are not easy to change.

Myths about thinness

You would be surprised how thin persons claim that they are eating “a lot” but their body “does not accept” anything. Most of these people are mistaken that they eat a lot. There are a few people who have hormonal or digestive problems, and they can keep that statement, but the rest of the skinny people simply do not eat enough.

The mechanism of obtaining or losing weight is very simple. If you consume more calories, you will gain weight, if you eat less than you will lose weight. Various diseases may effect on this mechanism, but we’re talking about healthy people.

An average man, 180 cm tall and weighs 80kg, which is moderately active during the day, should eat about 2,500 calories a day to maintain that weight. Since the calculation of calories of each meal is really laborious process, it is easier just to add a new meal to the current diet to obtain the results.

Steps how to gain weight quickly and healthy

When it was clarified that most of thin people simply do not eat enough, move on to solving this problem. It can be solved with a strong will or by tricks that deceive the body.

One of the tricks – buy a blender

Why blender? Because it will help you to trick your body. Our body needs about 20 minutes to “finds out” that we are fed up and to excrete substances that will give us the feeling of satiety. If you eat normally and chew your food properly, you will soon feel satiety and you will be sick if you keep pushing food down your throat. Blender bypasses this mechanism and force our organism to use all good ingredients almost immediately. This will be much easier to gain weight than eating a ton of snacks for example.

What should I mix in a blender?

Since you want to gain weight, you will not mix strawberries and pineapples, but high-octane food which are full of calories.

One of the recipes could something like this:

• 2 dl of whole milk,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (very important for taste),
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (the largest source of calories in this mixture, you can go up to 100g of butter).

This mixture is pretty much tasty because of the cocoa, and it is so well blended because of peanut butter which is actually drinkable. Peanut butter is one of the best choices for a blender because it is a very caloric, has a lot of protein to build muscle and it is a relatively healthy food.

Pain In The Lower Back- Which Type Of Training Should I Try?

It is widely accepted that the general training reduces back pain. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Research from 1972 to the present show that only targeted training can have the effect of reducing the pain in the back. The general training will influence the improvement of functional ability and strength in the short term, but it does not ensure prevention of injuries to persons and it does not reduce musculoskeletal pain. If you are prone to back pain, entrapment or you have some kind of spinal injury, exercise is something that is mandatory for you, but with the particular exercise and caution. In this article, we will show that which exercises and their variations must avoid in your training.

 

1. After warming is completed, you have to do exercises for the muscles of the abdomen

The exercises for the muscles of the abdomen are considered as an integral part of the heating and preparation of muscles for training regardless of its object and purpose. The muscles of the abdomen are of great importance for the stabilization of the spine and are frequently the weakest link when it comes to back pain. Due to poor muscle, belly load is taken back muscles, which in this case creates an additional burden on the spine. Sometimes it happens that when performing exercises that are supposed to be for the muscles of the stomach, people feel the pain. It’s a sign that you have chosen the wrong practice, that perform it incorrectly or that you overdid it with the number of repetitions.

2. Avoid jumps

Soft structure between the vertebrae acts as shock absorbers especially in jumps when the load on the spine is greater. Training that contains a lot of rebounds are not recommended for people with back pain, and they should be careful when running on hard surfaces.

 

3. Avoid twisting the spine

In any exercise, you have to perform careful not to twist the back, in particular, avoid exercises that are performed in this position.

Often I meet with the question of why this type of exercise should not be used if you have a weak back muscles. However, these exercises influence on the large superficial muscles of the back, and in fact have been problematic for deep back muscles that are not activated in this way.

 

4. Watch with exercises for gluteus

The exercises for the butt are necessary for maintaining a healthy spine. In case due to the weak position of the gluteus to the lower back, the exercise should go around and omit, especially when it feels that the gluteus assumes contraction.

5. Avoid compression of the spine

These exercises create compression on the spine, especially when the load maximum and submaximal. If possible, perform such exercises without pointing or replace it with another more adequate exercise.

6. At the end of the training, make a short series of exercises for the abdomen and back stretching

To be certain that you will not hurt your back after the workout if you’re doing the exercises that are not “friends” back pain, make a short series of classic exercises for belly and stretching of the lower back.

Not Satisfied With Your Trainer? Change Him Or Do This…

Approach to your training that does not meet high standards and which consists of a series of predictable, universal steps can seriously devastate your wallet, and, in the same time, prevent you of achieving your fitness goals. But if the approach is correct, your investment of time and money will pay off many times, because you will be more prepared, stronger and faster for a short time. Here are some tips of Isthema Thomas, one of the best personal fitness trainer, on how to achieve great results with the help of trainers.

You have to set up your goals

“Before you steo into a gym with your trainer, schedule a consultation interview where you will agree on your goals. Your trainer should ask you about your lifestyle in order to get an impression on how active you are and about your experience with exercise and the type of exercises that you prefer. This will give him / her opportunity to design a training plan that fits your strength, ability and aptitude. ”

Just talk

“Communication is the most important aspect of a good relationship, and therefore should always put your coach to know when you do not enjoy some exercise or some of the phases of the training. If something hurts or you feel it is not right, it is crucial to inform the coach. It is possible that only the tiredness is in question, but sometimes it may start of an infringement, so do not take risks. ”

Adaptations

“Call your coach for a brief interview outside the gym, every 4-6 weeks, in order to analyze your progress. Even if everything goes according to plan, it is desirable to meet periodically and discuss how you could possibly make training more challenging and more fun. And if you are not satisfied with the progress, this is a great opportunity to talk about it openly and constructively. ”

Track your results

“The goal we want to achieve can be unique to you. Maybe you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, to become stronger and faster for sports, or achieve brute force. Whatever is your ultimate goal, there are ways to measure your progress, so you ask your trainer to test you. If you want to lose weight, measure the percentage of body fat. To measure the degree of readiness, 5 km run as fast as you can, and if you want to become stronger, measure the thrust from the bench. (Bench press)

Checklist personal trainer

– Meet with the trainer to determine your goals before your joint training

– Be sure that your coach asked you about recent injury or illness before the first workout.

– Make an appointment outside the gym every month to discuss progress

– If you do not improve or do not enjoy the training, talk to the coach about possible changes.

Why You Go To A Gym?

We are surprised of how many people we see at the gym who just “do” their trainings without any focus on it. We are equally shocked by a number of those who spend a half the workout chatting on the phone, reading a newspaper or something like that. What you would  go to the gym, if you want to spend your time there in this way?  Is not it better to go to a local coffee shop and chat over the phone while pinching cute waitress?

What’s funny is that these folks are usually the same people who complain that they do not receive or lose fat mass, although using the latest and best supplements that are on the market. Do they realize that of two hours they spend in the gym, they probably train a productive whole ten minutes? The answer is that they, of course, do not understand. You know how we know? These guys are the same ones who ask us why they cannot develop. When we ask them to properly train and consume a proper food, all of them clearly assure us that they work like a maniacs in the gym and eat tons of good food. We really enjoy watching their reaction when we tell them that every day we see how they spending time in the gym and how they barely breaks sweat peas. And when we talk about the food, after further examination they usually reveals that what they consider a tone of good food is not enough for one meal and that’s what they eat mostly garbage. Hey, guys, they fact that you drink a protein shake a day does not mean that you cover your nutritional basis.

Does this look like empty words? Does it seem to you a little angry? And we are! If you expect to make a hundred percent of your training, and you invest ten percent, then please do not pressure us, nor any other serious people with your questions. Have a good look and ask yourself what you really want to achieve. If you really want to have a beautiful body, then adjust your position and try as much as is necessary, and in the gym and at the table, to achieve those goals.

Good things in life do not come easy. If having a beautiful body is easy to get, then everyone will have it.  If you want your body to be special, then make a special effort. So, stop whining and start seriously to work. Plan a six-protein meals a day and follow that plan. Take your basic accessories and stop looking for the magic pill. Finally, have a good night’s sleep every night.

If you do this you will see how your body changes for the better every day. Or, otherwise, go to the gym, talk via mobile or pretend to practice. Just do us a favor and stay away from us. Because we have to do some serious work.

Check Out Why The Plan Of Exercising Is Crucial

Are you choosing right now a series of exercises that will not show results? No matter how it may sound shocking, this happens very often. It is well- known a scenario in which a bad plan exercise recurs – parallel exercise.

This parallel practice means that the aerobic training is performed concurrently with anaerobic training. This is also called the simultaneous exercise. Basically, there is nothing wrong with this approach – if you properly plan comparable training.

Unfortunately, most people, including coaches, make the sequences in reverse order when they want to achieve specific results. The problem is in the order of exercises- most of the time, a series of exercises is wrong and this can cause problems.

This parallel practice will become more frequent in all busier societies where individuals have less time available. With less free time, people will increasingly turn to such dual training.

The key question in this simultaneous exercise is a goal that the person wants to achieve. If this is the “anaerobic” goal – to build bigger muscle, increase strength, preparing for sporting events, high-intensity – the sequence of exercises should involve anaerobic, and aerobic exercise.

If an athlete wants to achieve long- term endurance, then you should start with aerobic exercise training work. Very often, however, a person who wants to build the capacity of anaerobic, begins training with  aerobic exercise. This is a very inefficient way to build muscles.

Performing cardio / aerobic training before endurance training can drastically jeopardize the program of endurance. In a study published in the Journal of Research on the strength and fitness, it is said that fatigue is a factor that negatively affects the strength training that is performed as the second.

Cardio / aerobic exercises tired body before you began strength training. In this study, subjects were elderly women perceived to reduced effectiveness of strength training when performed after cardio / aerobic activities. The result of this sequence of exercises affected the power you have been able to produce.

Scientists have concluded that professional athletes have to take into account that “if they want to significantly increase their strength should perform aerobic exercises as part of a separate, dissenting training, to achieve the maximum effect of endurance training.”

Although the study refers to the elderly persons, it should be noted that in young athletes can be a significant impairment of performance due to cardio / aerobic training that precedes the exercise of power. Vince Lombardi once said, “Fatigue turns us all into cowards,” and can be a significant negative factor if your training plan is upside down.

Another vital issue is the fuel. For strength training crucial fuel comes from carbohydrates. As far as cardio / aerobic training, the fuel is pumped from carbohydrates and fats, but as a share of fat becomes more significant as the training progresses.

When the parallel training performed by this cardio / aerobic is in the beginning, the main fuel carbohydrates gets spent and not spent during strength training. This significantly reduces the effect of strength training.