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The People Demand Answers!! February 2013

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , , , on February 20, 2013 by razorsedgeperformance

The Q and A is back for more!

question

The first question I have relates to some of my speed training clients, especially hockey players going to dry land for the first time in a long time….

My shins are absolutely killing me, how do I make shin splints go away?

Shin splints occur for multiple reasons. One might have poor biomechanics, an imbalance in the lower leg or tightness in the lower leg. The first plan of attack is to reduce swelling and soreness by icing and light massage. Then you need to take on the soft tissue in the lower leg with foam rolling, massage and stretching. After that, make sure the anterior and posterior muscles are each getting adequate work. For most people that will mean adding some tibialis anterior work (resisted dorsiflexion) since calves are often overworked. So put a little extra work into your lower legs and your shin splints will be easier to control.

At what point will the foam roller hurt me?

A young athlete running at the track was complaining of tightness so I showed him how to use a foam roller. After using it for about 10 minutes, he was afraid it may hurt him. The truth is, extended use of a foam roller really won’t hurt you but it also won’t continue to give you benefits. The main goal is to promote blood flow and return elasticity to the fascia (soft tissue enveloping muscles) and muscle fibers. Generally the foam roller helps with mobility, flexibility and recovery. So once you’ve used it for a few minutes you’ve probably already received its benefit. The only risk would be bruising but you would need a lot of pressure and a very hard object. If you’ve never used one, try adding in a few minutes pre workout and watch you positioning improve!

foam roller

I’ve been eating low fat foods and haven’t been losing weight, what gives?

I feel like the word is slowly getting out, but it’s still not there yet; Fat is NOT the enemy – unless it’s transfat or everything you eat is deep fried. The truth is, most individuals, especially if they’re fat loss clients, could benefit from increased fat intake and decreased carbohydrate intake. As mentioned in Carb Timing, starches and sugars should be saved for post workout times. If you stick to protein, fats and veggies for most meals of the day then fat loss will come more easily. I mean you’ll still have to exercise and not overeat, but at least you can just do those consistently and you’ll lean right out. The point of a low carbohydrate diet is to reach what’s called nutritional ketosis. This is the point where your body switches from glycogen for energy to ketones which come from fat stores. In order to reach that point though, we need to significantly reduce carbohydrate intake ( <=50g/day). At that point, even though we’re starting to use up fat stores for energy, we still need additional fat intake to meet energy demand. For that reason, you can’t really have low carb and low fat, it just won’t work. If you decrease carbohydrate intake you must increase fat intake of all types.

low-fat1

If you want to see your question in next month’s Q and A, shoot us an email at: info@razorsedgeperformance.ca

Remember,
It’s About Getting Better!

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The People Demand Answers!! January 2013

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , , on January 16, 2013 by razorsedgeperformance

I’ve decided to start a question and answer post to change things up a little bit. This will allow more different topics to be answered without necessarily getting into the depth that a full post/article would require. That being said, please feel free to email in questions, use the comment box, post on our facebook page or send us a tweet. This installment is made up of either questions I’ve been asked lately or things that I’ve heard that need correcting. Enjoy.

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On the cardio machine, the fat loss setting picks low paced cardio; Is that really the best way to burn fat??

Fat loss is an interesting topic because there are a number of different ways of achieving it. To decide what’s BEST is a whole other story. Let’s get into some basics about energy systems to answer this one. I’m putting it in layman’s terms so if you’re another coach, try to keep this in mind. There are 3 main energy systems that our body uses for energy. These are: the phosphagen system, the glycolitic system, the oxidative system. The phosphagen system uses ATP stores to produce energy used in extremely short and high intensity movements (think sprint or heavy lift). The glycolitic system uses glycogen stores (carbs essentially) to produce energy for moderate intensity exercise and kicks in after ATP up to about 20 or 30 minutes. The Oxidative system uses fatty acids to produce energy for long, low intensity movements. So technically, this setting is correct for activating the oxidative system. However, if we do bouts of High Intensity interval training (HIIT) then we will burn through all 3 energy systems. Your body can only produce so much ATP in such a short amount of time [note: supplementing creatine can help with this], so your body will be forced to jump to the next system when the first runs dry. Thus, we can actually start activating the glycolitic system earlier with intervals than with slow paced cardio. So it still will burn fat, but intervals will allow a much better, more complete energy system response.

If I want to get faster, should I just do interval running?

Following up on the post above, interval work should be meant for conditioning or fat loss work. What people need to realize about speed is that it is extremely technical and also extremely demanding on the body. In order to truly increase your speed you need a structured program and a qualified coach to help you with this. With your coach you can work on the two determinants of speed: output and direction. When you are fatigued during intervals, both of these values would be negatively affected; Your output will be significantly dimished and fatigue will adversely affect your coordination. More often than not I see (from others) intervals as continuous repetition of bad mechanics. So in closing, use intervals for conditioning work but high quality, high output repetitions are necessary to increase speed.

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When doing weights, should I progress up to heavy weights or start heavy (over the course of multiple sets)?

To lift a given weight, your body will only try to recruit as many muscle fibers as it thinks it needs. Over the course of multiple sets, those fibers will become fatigued and you will no longer get efficient functionality out of them. So that being said, if you start with 20lb dumbbells and then discover after each of the first two sets that you need to go up by 5, you may not be able to lift 35lbs efficiently by the third set. This is why tracking your weights is important. On the first set start as high as you think you can (realistically) for that rep range because you can always decrease the weight as you get fatigued, plus you know that you’ve also recruited a maximal number of muscle fibers for that rep range.

Disclaimer: Do warm-up sets to get used to the movement and the loading if you are working with more than body weight, then start counting your sets after you’ve progressed through these warmup sets!

That’s it for this installment of questions, if you have any questions you’d like answered, again, use twitter, Facebook, email or a comment below.

Remember,
It’s About Getting Better!

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Supplements…What to Choose?

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , , on October 18, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

It’s a loaded question…I don’t know your goals. The supplements you take and the food you eat should obviously go hand-in-hand with the workouts you are doing to help fulfill your goals. Period.

With that being said, there is a good chance that these supplements will cover most people’s goals and should therefore be included your daily routine/regimen.

The biggest thing to understand about supplements is that a very large part of the industry is built on deception, not a good thing for the consumer who cares. There are so many companies offering a wide variety of products, that all claim to have made a BETTER VERSION. Why would any logically thinking human being think that this is reasonable?!?!?!

So here is the gameplan…find a company that is trustworthy and stick with them. You may pay a little bit more than your friends, but you know it works. There is a lot of value in that. Some companies with great products include Cytosport, Rivalus, MusclePharm (for the most part), AllMax, Dymatize. I’m sure many of you have a bigger list than that, but I like to make sure the products are clean and effective, so I don’t need more options than this…

Now onto the products that work. This is by no-means an exhaustive list, but will provide plenty of options for a well-rounded supplement protocol.

PROTEIN POWDER

This is a no-brainer for a few reasons. Firstly, protein ingested immediately post-workout is very important for increasing muscle-protein synthesis; that is the creation of new muscle mass. Secondly, anyone looking to improve their body composition must understand that they need a steady dose of protein throughout the day. This can come from a variety of sources, but a good protein powder is a great weapon to ensure that you can get your servings even when your outside of your routine. Whey Protein, Whey Protein Isolate, Casein Protein, and a vegetarion source like Brown Rice Protein are all good choices for purchase.

CREATINE MONOHYDRATE

If you have been trying to get huge, then you probably already get your fair share of creatine. If not, you probably think it is somehow illegal, or makes you bloated. The term ‘water weight’ gets thrown around quite a bit, without much evidence to support it. The truth is creatine is very beneficial for increasing high-intensity work capacity, for muscle hypertrophy, and lately has been shown to be extremely beneficial for your cognitive health (YOUR BRAIN!!). All the while, myths about cramping, bloating, or water retention have been refuted in the research. It is cheap and flavourless, so just drop 10g a day in one of your workout beverages and you are good to go!

BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids)

BCAAs might have to be the favourite supplement out there for most people who train regularly. It has a long list of benefits, including decreasing ratings of perceived exertion (difficulty/fatigue of the workout), increased muscle protein synthesis, decreased muscle breakdown, preservation of glutamine levels, and symptoms of DOMS. It has been shown effective before the workout, during the workout, and after the workout as well. While I don’t suggest replacing a protein shake after your workout, the consumption of BCAAs around your workout could make the post-workout shake redundant. If you aren’t looking to ADD a significant amount of lean mass, the BCAAs may be your top priority.

VITAMIN-MINERAL COMPLEX

This is the general blanket pick. There are so many factors that affect the level of your micronutrients, and the last thing you want is to have your progress stunted because of a deficiency. Take a vitamin-mineral complex that ensures you have a good variety of nutrients regardless of your diet, but don’t believe that you can eat garbage because of a convenient once-a-day.

BETA-ALANINE

A similar concept as creatine, beta-alanine just uses a slightly different mechanism to have its main effect. When ingested, beta-alanine is converted to carnosine, which is a compound that is used by your body to protect against a drop in pH. Specifically, carnosine buffers hydrogen ions, keeping the environment in your muscles from becoming acidic and function being impaired. This means when you are operating anaerobically (typically between 30 seconds and 3 minutes of strenuous exercise) taking beta-alanine will help delay fatigue and increase work capacity. Beta-alanine has also been shown to help increase lean muscle mass, so again provides the double whammy. Combining beta-alanine and creatine does not cause a conflict of any sorts so it should be encouraged! It’s a little bit harder to find beta-alanine alone but it is found in many pre-workout mixes.

CAFFEINE

Should you drink coffee? Should you avoid it? Here is the deal. Get some caffeine in you and reap the benefits. Tea, coffee, energy drinks, pre-workout cocktails, and anhydrous caffeine pills are all great ways to get some juice in your system. The truth is, it is one of the best supplements out there for improving performance. Increases in performance of endurance exercises, as well as strength-power work, repeat sprint performance, agility, reactive times, and game day performance are all found in the literature.  Don’t avoid caffeine because you think it’s wrong. It might be wrong if you need a constant supply to get through your day, but using it to enhance your workouts is just a great idea! Anywhere from 200mg to 400mg should provide a great jolt to your lifts, and allow you to complete a few extra sets or reps.

The moral of the story is that as long as you become educated, you can use nutritional supplements to your advantage to help your performance and reach your goals. There are many products designed to maximize your physiology or mentality, so don’t be afraid to try some out!

It’s About Getting Better!

Razor’s Edge Performance

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Lean Eating: Lunch (Pulled Chicken)

Posted in Health with tags , , , , , , , on June 6, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

One of the first things I do when training someone is request a food log. This does two things, it gives me an idea of what you’re doing right or wrong and it also opens your eyes to what you’re actually eating and drinking. The truth is, no one really understands how well they eat. A standard response, which comes from almost everyone, is usually: “I eat pretty well, but…”. What does pretty well mean? Realistically, people who are overweight usually underestimate how much they’re taking in and those who can’t gain weight overestimate how much they’re eating. In the end everyone acts stumped, as though it’s a miracle they haven’t achieved their goals. “I just can’t gain weight and I eat sooooo much”. In the end, we all need to make better food choices. We’ve discussed breakfast, but lunch just might be the only thing worse.

You know you had this last week

Lunch is the one meal that almost nobody is at home for. Since most people don’t plan ahead enough to make their lunches in advance, they’re hostages to their environment. Rarely do I see people who eat out for lunch get “stuck” with extremely healthy meals, usually the opposite. No matter, I’m here to save you and your goals. I’ll give you one trick to help you get back on track for your lunches – a crock pot. It might sound like something your grandmother uses, but it’s more like a miracle for making lean meals. It’s like Ronco used to say, “just set it and forget it!”. It’s not just great for lunches, but you can set it before you leave in the morning and come home to an amazing dinner ready to serve. Enough about how good it is, let’s get to the good stuff: Pulled Chicken. I’m not sure if this is the exact name for it, but it’s very much like pulled pork. This shredded/pulled chicken can be put in a wrap with avocado, or a bun, or even on its own for a quick and easy lunch.

tastes so good

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 large jar of salsa

1 lime

1 package taco seasoning

cilantro

Directions:

1. place salsa, taco seasoning, lime juice and cilantro in the crockpot and mix together.

2. cut chicken breasts in half (top/bottom) so that you basically have thinner chicken breasts.

3. place chicken in crockpot and smother with sauce.

4. turn on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Once finished, use a fork to pull the chicken apart into its shredded final product.

This chicken is absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Once your chicken is done, place it in 1 large tupperware or even individual sized tupperware for lunches. Before you leave the house, grab the chicken, a couple small wraps and whatever healthy fixin’s you want to add. Looks like we just saved lunch, you’re welcome.

Rememeber,

It’s About Getting Better!

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Lean Eating: Breakfast

Posted in Health with tags , , , on January 14, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

Did you make a resolution to burn fat or build muscle?  Or maybe you’re hardcore and have been grinding for a while.  Either way,  I might just have a tip to put you over the edge.  The secret…  Nutrition!  OK,  OK, you’ve heard that; you’ve also heard about what to eat after your workout. I’m here to fix breakfast. 

So you go the gym after work and you had a post workout shake,  but guess what?  You put on fat before 10am.  That’s not exactly a recipe for success. What I tend to see is that people either don’t eat breakfast, or they eat crap. The last thing you need is an insulin spike right after you get up. Avoid sugars and high carbohydrates. Most people don’t need or want a lot to eat at breakfast,  it’s just about breaking the fast and halting muscle breakdown.  Get some protein to repair and maintain Lean muscle mass and add some healthy fats to slow digestion and break down fat soluble vitamins. Cut the cereals, toast, bagels, waffles and pancakes; it’s time to take your body to the next level.

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not cool

So what should you eat? Here are 3 starter ideas that you can customize to be your new lean breakfast masterpiece.

Eggs – These magical orbs are packed with protein and healthy fats.  Don’t cut out the yokes,  that’s where much of the good stuff lies.  They can be prepared a myriad ways and are great on the go. Try eggs with avocado slices or scrambled eggs with spinach and shredded cheese.

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yum

Cottage cheese/Greek yogurt – These are both dairy based and contain tons of protein.  Try having either of these with Shaved/chopped almonds thrown in and possibly some fruit.

Smoothie/protein shake – If you’re a natural food lover this will be low on your list,  but if you’re looking for some quick protein this might just be for you. Get yourself something to blend smoothies and the possibilities will be endless. Start with protein powder and some fruit,  add some kind of fats (almond butter,  light tasting olive oil, avocado) and throw in a healthy vegetable or two (frozen spinach will be almost tasteless) . That’s all it takes for a powerhouse healthy breakfast. 

Eating breakfast doesn’t have to be tough.  Don’t let an early morning or being tired be an excuse to ruin your goals.

Remember,  it’s about getting better! 

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Get Help in the Kitchen!

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , , , , on January 4, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

Everyone in the fitness industry laments the start of January due to the flood of people in all of the gyms and health clubs around North America. Is it because we think this is bad? Absolutely not! That’s amazing…for 2 weeks of the year, everyone is acting the way they should ALL YEAR ROUND. The reason us professionals get frustrated is that by the end of January, most people have fallen back into the old habits, and have lost site of whatever health and fitness related resolution they undertook on January 1st.
I think I can help everyone out a little bit by shedding light on the most important intervention for achieving your goals, whether they are related to hypertrophy, fat-loss, or performance enhancement. LEARNING HOW TO COOK. I’m not talking about becoming the next Jamie Oliver, just someone who can follow a damn good recipe.
I always chuckle when people ask me if i’m a good cook. I make almost all of my food, save for some supplements taken around workouts, so that should say something. Yet I have no imagination in the kitchen. I have made some great dishes, and some bad ones. The key to my success? Find a good recipe, and follow it!

Let’s go over a few resources that I like to use that can make a world of a difference between winning and losing in this game we play with our bodies and health.


Precision Nutrition

Do yourself a favour and go all-out with the whole system. You get a fantastic cookbook, a manual that describes a lot about WHY to eat certain foods and WHEN to eat them, as well as food preparation tips and other random nuggets of information. The cookbook, Gourmet Nutrition has recipes for shakes, snacks, side dishes, entrees, breakfasts, soups, salad dressings and sauces, and of course desserts. All of the nutritional facts about the meal are given, as well as designations of when the meal is best consumed. The added bonus is access to the online members content on the site, which has forums and articles that are at least 5 years old, so the amount of content archived on the precision nutrition site is massive.

Gourmet Nutrition 2.0

This is the 2nd cookbook in the gourmet nutrition series. It is along the same format as the first version that is in the Precision Nutrition system, but adds a whole bunch of new recipes. If you plan on doing the Precision Nutrition system, wait on this, until you’ve tried all of the recipes in the first book. If you just want a healthy cookbook, then this is one way to go. It really goes above and beyond the infamous ‘chicken breasts and broccoli’ that many get trapped in when trying to eat well.

Best of Clean Eating
http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=razosedgepe02-20&o=15&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1552100855

I haven’t tried many of these recipes yet, but I flipped through the whole book and it looks absolutely fantastic. Not only does everything look gourmet, but the entire cookbook has tips and facts about different foods and nutrtients, as well as recipes that will only make you healthier.

Best of Clean Eating 2
http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=razosedgepe02-20&o=15&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1552100979

Just go back and read what I just wrote above regarding the first version. This is just another resource with new recipes that follow the same ideals as the first.

That’s 4 resources for nutritional help with your resolutions (or constant struggle for improvement if you didn’t just start this week…). Do yourself a favour and get in the habit of cooking your own healthy meals, and realize healthy and gourmet can fit in the same sentence together. Most unwanted deviations from healthy eating occur because you are unprepared and didn’t pack a lunch, or don’t feel like cooking. So take some time to get your act together in the kitchen, so your body is appropriately fueld for your workouts!

It’s About Getting Better

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Eating Well Is Easier Done Than Said?

Posted in Health with tags , , , on November 11, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

Hey Everyone,

Happy Friday!

I know we always talk about the importance of eating well for improvements in body composition, plus an overall health profile boost, the problem though, is that most clients will say it’s too hard to handle, or just not do it because of convenience. We know who you are. We can tell when you’ve reached the training threshold of ‘big results’, so if nothing is happening, it’s probably because you are putting poison in your body.

I just wanted to send out a quick reminder that eating well doesn’t have to be hard or tedious. The other night I was cooking for my fiancee and I, preparing food for the next day’s feedings. Here is what I put together in 15 minutes or less.

500g of Ground Chicken – $3.53

500g of Frozen “Summer Blend” vegetables – $2.50

500g (a can) of Red Kidney Beans – $0.99

Variety of spices ….negligible

I browned the chicken in a pot, while steaming the entire bag of vetetables at the same time (Fresh vegetables are probably better, but frozen vegetables are still a decent substitute!)…Then I poured the beans in with the chicken and began seasoning it and let it simmer together for 5 minutes. Then I added all of the vegetables and mixed it all together. Voila!

This meal fed 2 people for lunch and a bit of snack the next day on $7.00 and 15 minutes of preparation.

It was all chicken, vegetables, and kidney beans…cheap carbs or dressings.

If I had to add one more thing to it, it would be avocado or nuts for some added healthy fats.

Unfortunately we ate it all before I thought to take a picture. I thought it would be a good reminder though that eating healthy doesn’t always have to be expensive, or time consuming. I find these mixes or stirfrys are the best way to say ‘Let’s just put all these healthy things into a pot or pan and see what happens!’…

NOW GO MAKE A GOOD MEAL!

It’s About Getting Better!

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The Truth About Ab Training

Posted in Health with tags , , , , on November 9, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

You’ve seen it written on this site and you’ve probably read it before; crunches will not reduce stomach fat!! It’s that simple. Yet I know that many people who are going to the gym simply don’t get it. The reason I know this is because I see people doing a “core day” at the gym when their goal is to lose fat. Now I have scientific proof,  so this is me saying “I told you so!”.

In a recent Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (v. 25, no. 9), they did a study to determine “The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat”. They split up 24 men and women into a control group and an exercise group.
The control group did no training. The exercise group did:
7 Ab exercises for 2 sets of 10 repetitions. This was completed 5 days per week for 6 weeks.
Now before you say anything about diet, both groups were held to an isocaloric diet. This means the calories stayed the same for everybody in the study.
So what were the results? No significant difference in:
Body weight, Body fat percentage, Android fat percentage, Android fat, abdominal circumference, abdominal skinfold, and suprailiac skinfold measurements.
Essentially, the ab exercises had no effect on body weight, leanness, look or size. What did it improve in? The ab group performed 15 more situps in a situp test after the study.

BOTTOM LINE
If you have a goal relating to body fat or weight then stop doing tons of ab work. You can keep a few sets to maintain muscular endurance like any other muscle, but toss away your ab dvd by “The Situation”; it’s not helping you achieve your goals. YOU CANNOT SPOT REDUCE!
You need to do the basics to achieve a better body:
- Use mostly complex movements (squat, deadlift, pushup/bench, etc.) for moderate to heavy weight.
- use high intensity interval training.
- Eat healthy food.
- Sleep well

I don’t like to see people wasting their time; go home and re-evaluate your program.

Remember,

It’s About Getting Better!

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Carb Timing for a Leaner Body! Part 2

Posted in Health with tags , , , , on October 4, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

First off, I want to thank everyone who read Part 1, it got a huge number of readers over the first 3 days. As I mentioned, I think it’s a post that is applicable to pretty much everyone so I suggest you give it a go if you haven’t already. This second part should clear up some questions for some of you since everyone will have different goals in mind.

If you didn’t get the purpose of the article, the main goal is to reduce or limit body fat. The “Dymamic Diet” – I hope it hasn’t been trademarked – is meant primarily to either fight obesity, help against high blood sugar levels, and maximize workout recovery. To put it simply, you’re focusing your (non-vegetable) carbohydrate intake during your post workout period. This time period forces all glucose to be pushed into the muscle (instead of fat stores) to help recover muscle glycogen; resulting in faster muscle recovery and decreased fat storage. Since nearly everyone would benefit from less body fat, I figure this is something pretty much everyone wants to follow. If you’re the exception, meaning you enjoy gaining body fat, I suppose that’s your prerogative. Here’s where we take two different approaches; the builder and the burner.

THE BUILDER

If you’re trying to get bigger by gaining muscle mass, then you’re a builder. Remember, we’re trying to gain muscle mass not fat mass. Fat mass won’t make you stronger, faster or healthier; it pretty much just sucks. Now, since we’re building and growing, we can afford a few more carbs than the burners. The main difference comes in the immediate post workout period. According to the text book, “Nutrient Timing“, the ideal post workout recovery shake consists of 60g of simple carbs and 15g of fast digesting protein. The best thing would be amino acids (EAA or BCAA) but whey or whey isolate would also be a good idea. Since everyone is different in size, the most important part is the 4:1 ratio. If you feel like you want to go up to 80g or even 100g of carbs and you’re not putting on unwanted body fat then go for it, just keep the protein in proportion. Getting a 4:1 ratio will maximize glycogen storage and will be protein sparing so it can contribute to muscle growth. After your post workout shake (or immediate meal for some), the builders will still have a moderate amount of carbs in their next meal. I would suggest a 2:1:1 ratio (carbs:protein:fat). After that, unless it’s bed time, you’ll revert back to pre training meals of mainly protein and fats with vegetables.

THE BURNER

This group is for anyone who is only interested in losing fat and does not care about putting on more lean mass. So we basically want to keep all the muscle you already have and strip away body fat. Where a builder can err on the side of high carbs, the burner cannot. The burner only wants to take in as many carbs as is absolutely necessary for glycogen restoration. For this purpose, their post workout shake will be altered to have a 2:1 ratio of simple carbs to protein.  The next meal after this will also be different from the builders. This time it will be 2:1:1 with protein being the large portion instead of carbs (protein:carbs:fats). All other meals following this would revert to pre-training meals of protein, fats and vegetables.

WHAT TO CONSUME

Now that you know how much you’re consuming, the trick is to make sure that you’re getting the right things.  For pre-training meals, it will be important to find vegetables you like and find many options for protein and fat sources. Since protein and fats are your main macronutrients, have a wide variety of fats. Saturated fats in moderation are important for fat soluble vitamins, and polyunsaturated fats have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and improve brain function. Increasing intake of seeds, nuts, oils, eggs, fish,  and red meat will have many health benefits on top of contributing to a reduction in body fat. Since protein was already discussed HERE, you should already have a good idea of protein sources. For these meals, it is important to consume vegetables along with your protein and fats for the added fibre and phytonutrients. For the sake of burners, I would move certain starches considered vegetables to post training only, i.e. potatoes, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, rice, etc.

pre-training food choices

An important note I want to make is about sugar. You’ve probably heard just about everyone say how bad sugar is and how much Canadians have been consuming. However, it’s not black and white; sugar isn’t always bad. Pre-training sugar is a no-no,  avoid sweets, fruit juices, candy, etc. If you remember the science from Part 1, the sugar you consume pre-training will be shuttled directly to muscle AND fat, and if you’re muscles are already full of glycogen that will be mostly fat stores. However, DIRECTLY after training sugar consumption is extremely effective. Sugar, or simple carbs, will quickly spike insulin and therefore get shuttled into the muscle to restore glycogen sooner rather than later.So sugar is NOT the devil, sugar at the wrong time is the devil. If at the end of the day you don’t think it’s a good idea, you can avoid sugar at all costs, but that’s a conservative approach and it’s completely up to you.

I hope this second part will help to figure out how much and what to eat depending on your goals. If you’re having trouble gauging how much carbs, protein or fat you’re currently consuming then check out Fitday a free online diet and exercise tool used to track your foods. It’ll be hard to make adjustments to your diet if you don’t know how much you’re currently consuming. Trust me, most people really don’t know what they consume on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis.  Now everyone should have the tools they need to take on a Dynamic Diet and start building a leaner body!

It’s About Getting Better!

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Carb Timing for a Leaner Body!

Posted in Health with tags , , , , , on September 28, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

This article is going to have relevance for every reader, be it athlete or not. We all want a leaner body because it makes us move more efficiently and look the way we want. The thing is, there are so many different tips out there for decreasing body fat that it’s hard to tell which ones are actually worthwhile and which ones aren’t. This one will touch on something I’m sure everyone struggles with: carbohydrates. Carbs are not the devil, in fact they’re extremely important. After reading a great article recently I decided I would help our readers understand how to utilize carbohydrates in their diet to help achieve their ideal physique. Now bear with me for a paragraph or two because I want to set up a theoretical background so you understand the recommendations at the end.

Tyler Durden has great carb timing

John Kiefer does a great job in that article describing the way your workout affects carb usage by your body, but I’m going to delve into the science  a little bit here. When discussing carbohydrates and their effects on the body, the important terms to know are insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance is a physiological condition whereby insulin becomes less effective at reducing blood sugars. Basically, for our intents and purposes, you need to know that insulin is a hormone which facilitates glucose uptake by fat cells and muscle cells. If you become insulin resistant, this means that your fat cells and muscle cells aren’t utilizing insulin as well and your blood sugar levels will stay high which could eventually turn into type 2 diabetes.  That’s bad. Insulin resistance is common with those suffering from obesity but it’s difficult to point to a specific dietary cause. However, it is known that a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle does contribute to insulin resistance. For this article, we’re not really touching on the diabetes portion, but it’s very important to keep in mind nonetheless. So insulin resistance is your body becoming less effective at using carbohydrates for muscle and fat; insulin sensitivity is just a reference to how your body is using insulin (insulin resistance = low insulin sensitivity). So we’re still on the same page right??

EXERCISE

So where does exercise come in?? One of the effects of exercise is  GLUT4 stimulation and increased insulin sensitivity. GLUT4 is a glucose transporter which binds with the muscle membrane to bring glucose into the muscle cell. So if GLUT4 is stimulated, it means more glucose is going into your muscles instead of your fat stores. Recent studies have shown that improving insulin sensitivity has positive effects for both obesity and Type 2 diabetes.  “Exercise can restore mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity, which may be crucial for a better prognosis in treating or preventing obesity” [Coelho, Pereira-Lancha. Effect of high-fat diets on body composition, lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and the role of exercise on these parameters.Metabolism. August 2011.]. Furthermore, “After a single bout of exercise, the ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake is markedly improved locally in the previously active muscles. This makes exercise a potent stimulus counteracting insulin resistance characterizing type 2 diabetes (T2D)” [Frosig, Richter. Improved insulin sensitivity after exercise: focus on insulin signaling. Obesity(silver Spring). Decmber 2009.].

How does this translate??

So now you’re wondering what all this means for your diet. Anywhere in the article that you read glucose, it’s referring to carbohydrates. One of the biggest things that you should note from this article is that your carbohydrate intake should be directly related to your exercise levels and times. For your diet, it’s not about going high carb or low carb overall but WHEN to do so. You should be breaking your day up in to pre workout and post workout time periods as Kiefer suggests, since your body will respond to foods differently at each time period. Before exercise, without GLUT4 stimulation, the glucose in your blood is not being shuttled predominantly to your muscles. So if your muscles are already full of glycogen, the glucose has nowhere to go but fat stores or to stay in the blood and raise blood sugar levels – both BAD. After exercise, your body and more specifically your muscles are extremely insulin sensitive and glucose is being shuttled directly to your muscles by GLUT4 to refill glycogen stores. This is important because you will not be able to build more muscle until glycogen is refilled (this is why your post workout shake MUST contain carbs).

DIET

So Pre Workout meals should consist primarily of protein and fats and very little or no carbohydrates. If you’re eating vegetables, this shouldn’t be a problem. Then Post Workout you should be having any meals with a higher carbohydrate content, whether it be sugars or complex carbohydrates. The closer you are to your workout, the more carbohydrates you should be consuming.  So if you’re really looking at improving your body composition, you need to start focusing on a dynamic diet rather than a static diet. What I mean is, if you are working out today, that will change what you eat based on when you workout. If you’re not working out, you should probably focus more on fats and protein throughout the entire day. It doesn’t mean that small amounts of carbohydrates will hurt, it just means that carb rich meals (breads, rice, potatoes, PASTA) should be saved for Post Workout time periods.

POST workout, not pre workout!

If your workout schedule changes, your diet should change. Think about it this way, is your body doing the same thing on days you train on and days you don’t? If not, then why should you give it the same food/fuel?? It just doesn’t make sense.

FINAL CHALLENGE

So here’s the final take home challenge, and this is especially important for those with primarily fat loss goals: make a schedule for your day of your eating times and add in your exercise blocks. Plan the meals you plan to eat for the day, if your meals are high in carbohydrates, move them into the post exercise time slots with the highest carb meals directly after the exercise. For the meals pre exercise, cut down on the amount of carbohydrates in the meals if they seem very high (try 50g or less).

This information is a game changer, so go out there and change the game!

Remember,

It’s About Getting Better!

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