Bodybuilding blog

When any workout or specific exercise causes you pain, pay attention. Knowing how to react can help you avoid a serious injury. Strength training can cause several types of pain including:

Muscle Soreness

When you use muscles you have not used for a while or try a new exercise or training technique, it is normal to feel a dull ache of soreness in the muscles that were trained. This pain is caused by microscopic tears in the fibers of the connective tissues in your body-the ligaments that connect bones to other bones, and the tendons that connect muscles to bones.

This microtrauma may sound harmful but is in fact the natural response of your muscles when they experience work. This is the primary reason it is so important that you get enough rest between specific muscle workouts. Each time you work out with weights, you cause this "damage" -these tiny tears in your muscles; they need ample resting time to rebuild and become even stronger, bigger, and more firm.

Pain During or Just After a Workout

During a workout, repeated contractions cause lactic and other acids, as well as proteins and hormones, to build up in muscle tissue. This can cause pain even without injury. But if you experience a sharp, continuous pain, or pain accompanied by a burning sensation, stop lifting and get it checked.

Cramps

These happen when muscles, often in the calves or feet, knot up in intense contractions. Cramps occur most commonly in endurance sports like cycling and running, where the athlete loses a lot of fluids through sweating. This is why it’s very important to stay well-hydrated during exercise. If you do get cramps, the best way to stop them is to gently stretch the cramped muscle.

Injury

When working out with weights you need to be in full control of both the weights and your own body as it lifts and uses the weights. Careless weightlifting can result in injury. Not warming up, attempting to lift too heavy a weight, using momentum or jerky movements, letting the weights drop, not using correct form, or forgetting to stretch or cool-down after your workout can indeed result in injury.

The following injuries can occur as a result of carelessness:

1. Tendonitis: This is inflammation of the tendon and can occur if you begin your first set with too heavy a weight and/or are not properly warmed-up. Rest is the best treatment for this painful injury.
2. Fascia injuries: Can occur if you suddenly jerk or pull the weight. Fascia is basically the packaging tissue of muscle. When fascia is torn, it becomes inflamed and the pain is severe. The injury should be treated with cold packs and wrapped with an ace bandage.
3. Ligament injuries: Can occur when people use momentum and jerk the weight to accomplish a lift. This injury is treated by using cold packs and rest.
4. Sprains or muscle tears: Are uncommon if you warm­up, stretch, and cool-down properly and implement the safety precautions and principles we teach.

Any time you do have inflammation or swelling, use the R.I.C.E method of reducing damage and speeding healing. For injuries, R.I.C.E. is nice.

1. Rest: When you are hurt, stop your workout immediately and take weight off the affected area.
2. Ice: Wrap ice in a towel and hold it against the injury for 10 to 20 minutes, three or four times a day until the acute injury diminishes.
3. Compress: Wrap the injured area in a snug, but not tight, elastic bandage.
4. Elevate: Raise the injured limb and rest it on a pillow to reduce swelling.

Strength training provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. However, when enjoying this great form of exercise, be sure to pay attention to pain and soreness so that your program is not only effective, but safe as well. Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a safe and effective strength training program.

What is Inositol?

Inositol is a vitamin that is utilized by the body for a variety of metabolic processes. It is a simple carbohydrate and is essential to human health. Inositol is found in the lens of the human eye as well as the heart. It is a simple polyol precursor in a second messenger system important in the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid inositol has been reported as decreased in depression. Myo-inositol, the major nutritionally active form of inositol, is vital to many biological processes of the body like in a diverse range of activities. Some preliminary results of studies on inositol supplements show promising results for people suffering from problems such as bulimia, panic disorder and bipolar depression.

Benefits of Inositol

• Inositol plays an important role in chemical reactions in the body associated with the production of glucose.
• Inositol facilitates communication between neurons and helps the nervous system to function properly.
• Its involvement with the metabolism of cholesterol means that inositol may be beneficial in reducing cholesterol levels. So it can be used in weight loss.
• Inositol is primarily used in the treatment of liver problems, depression, panic disorder, and diabetes. 
• Inositol helps to prevent thinning hair.

Deficiency Symptoms of Inositol

• Due to the deficiency of inositol the disease eczema can be caused.
• Hair loss is another symptom which is associated with inositol deficiency.
• Deficiency of inositol may also cause high blood cholesterol.
• An inositol deficiency could be a contributing cause of abnormal platelet aggregation, alcoholism, heart disease along with B-vitamin deficiencies, liver disease, memory loss, panic/anxiety attacks, and tardive dyskinesia.
• Other Symptoms may be mood swings/irritability, constipation and arteriosclerosis etc.

Excessive Intake of Inositol

No known cases of inositol toxicity have been reported, but diarrhea may be indicative of overdose. Pregnant women should consult with a physician prior to supplementing with inositol as inositol has been seen to induce uterine contractions and may contribute to early delivery.

Recommended Dosage of Inositol

Although the recommended daily allowance is 100mg daily, dosages of 500mg twice daily have been suggested as efficacious. Choline should be taken in the same amount as inositol and the best is to take the entire B group vitamins with it, Vitamin E, vitamin C as well as folic acid and linoleic acid is thought to increase the functioning of inositol.

Rich Food Sources of Inositol

Inositol is available from both plant and animal sources. The plant form in which inositol is available is phytic acid, which can bind with minerals and so affect their absorption negatively. Natural sources of inositol include wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, bananas, liver, brown rice, oak flakes, nuts, unrefined molasses, vegetables, and raisins. Most dietary inositol is in the form of phytate, a naturally occurring plant fiber that is believed to possess antioxidant properties.

The choreography and clothing of step may look daunting but get over that and give it a try. Step is a full-on cardio workout to music that firms the thighs, shapes the bum and hones the hamstrings.

This is a shame since it means that a lot of women, and almost all men, decide on the spot that they are either too uncoordinated, too unfit, too well-dressed or simply too male to take part in the choreographed stampede of a step class.

When step was first introduced it was billed as ‘the workout with muscle’, Unlike all that aerobics skipping around that went before it, step introduced high repetition strength moves. This also made it slightly more acceptable to men and it fitted in well with the new man of the 90s who realised that women tended to be more interested in a well-turned buttock than a hairy back and the kind of cleavage shown when builders bend over.

Steps of any kind are a surprisingly hard workout - just ask anyone who doesn’t live and work in a bungalow. Stepping up and down for an hour is a thorough cardio workout and is only made possible by a careful mix of different moves and motivating music. There’s something oddly satisfying in the tap-tap-thud routine akin to, but marginally less embarrassing than, line dancing. Spend a few minutes watching a step class of regulars, everyone beat perfect, stomping their way through their favourite numbers and you’ll witness a semi-mystical rite more normally associated with shamans and dervishes.

What can I expect?

Make sure you start with a beginners class: step is hard enough work without the stress of playing catch-up. You’ll probably warm up with some nice simple side-to-side movements, a bit of stretching as you sway, and some step up/downs. Then the pace will gradually pick up with new moves being added such as stepping sideways on the step, stepping down on the other side, stepping over the step with a twirl to face the other way. The whole thing is done to a strong beat - you’ll find the effect a little like slow-motion morris dancing with added leotards. You may be surprised by how much you sweat. Step is one of those things where it gets easier the better you get at it. As a newbie you are putting in more effort, and getting more of a workout, than the more slick-looking steppers around you.

What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A is an important for the human body. It is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is also known as retinol because it produces the pigments in the retina of the eye. This means you don’t need it every day because any of the vitamins your body doesn’t need immediately is stored for future use. Retinol (an alcohol) and retinal (an aldehyde) are often referred to as preformed vitamin A. It plays an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation. It also helps regulate the immune system, which helps prevent or fight off infections by making white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses. Vitamin A and its metabolites play diverse roles in physiology, ranging from incorporation into vision pigments to controlling transcription of a host of important genes.

Benefits of Vitamin A

1. Vitamin A helps in forming and maintaining healthy teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin.
2. Vitamin A helps your eyes adjust to light changes when you come in from outside and also helps keep your eyes, skin and mucous membranes moist.
3. Vitamin A helps regulate the immune system. Immune system has important role in the body like it helps prevent or fight off infections by making white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses.
4. Vitamin A promotes healthy surface linings of the respiratory, urinary, and intestinal tracts. Because if those linings break down, it becomes easier for bacteria to enter the body and cause infection.

Deficiency Symptoms of Vitamin A

Deficiency symptoms include dry hair, pruritus, broken fingernails, keratomalacia, bitot spots, poor dark adaptation, dry skin, xerophthalmia, and follicular hyperkeratosis secondary to blockage of hair follicles with plugs of keratin. Other signs include excessive deposition of periosteal bone secondary to reduced osteoclastic activity, anemia, and keratination of mucous membranes.

Excessive Intake of Vitamin A

If you take too much vitamin A, you can become sick. Large doses of vitamin A can cause birth defects. Poisoning usually occurs when an adult takes several hundred thousand IU of vitamin A. The excessive intake of this vitamin in children and pregnant women is more severe.

Recommended Dosage of Vitamin A

Infants in between 0 to 6 months have to taken 400 mcg per day and in between 7 to 12 months infant has to be taken 500 mcg per day. Children in between 1 to 3 years have to be taken 300 mcg per day. Children in between 4 to 8 years have to be taken 400 mcg per day and in between 9 to13 years of children have to be taken 600 mcg per day. For males age 14 and older have to be taken 900 mcg per day and females age 14 and older have to be taken 700 mcg per day.

Rich Food Sources of Vitamin A

If you want to get the most vitamins possible from your food, refrigerate fresh produce, and keep milk and grains away from strong light. The good sources of vitamin A are sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, cantaloupe, broccoli, apricots, spinach and collard greens, mango, nectarines, papaya, parsley etc.

Lifting weights and pushing iron around quickly gets boring - both for you and for your muscles. To keep both you and,your body on its toestry varying the routine a little.

When you could do all that comfortably, you upped the weight a notch. That’s been the theory of strength building since the days when samson used to practice horizontal shoulder presses on pillars. It’s a system that works, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only one, and whether you’re trying to tone up or bulk up it pays to vary the routine.

Pyramid power

There’s nothing that complicated about pyramid sets. You start with lighter weights and more repetitions, then increase the weights and decrease the repetitions with each set. Starting with ‘light and lots’ helps stretch and warm the muscles before you hit them with the heavy stuff and so helps prevent injury. Psychologically it also becomes easier to move up to heavier weights; although each set gets heavier it also involves fewer reps. Us men in particular tend to enjoy pyramid sets because we’re forever trying to play with heavier dumbbells or notch the machine up one more number than before. The pyramid system means that the final set is probably using a heavier weight than we could manage in the classic approach (albeit for fewer repetitions), so we get to walk away from the machine feeling well chuffed.

Try this pyramid set with dumbbells - please note that these weights are just for guidance, if you happen to be built like a carthorse then clearly you would need to up the weight.

Try doing curls, standing in front of the mirror, and using a ‘hammer’ grip so that when your arm is at the top of the lift the weight is vertical in your hand, as if you were holding a hammer. Don’t move your upper body or shoulder to help with the exercise.

• Set 1 - 1 kg dumbbell, 12 reps
• Set 2 - 1.5 kg dumbbell, 10 reps
• Set 3 - 2 kg dumbbell, 8 reps

You get the idea. The same principle can be applied to any of the weight machines, the Smith machine or the free weights.

Stretching is one of those things we know we should do. don’t really know why and quietly forget about when no one’s looking.

Types of stretching

Pre-stretches

These prepare your body for what’s to come. There’s a lot of argument about this since many people, including myself, think you run more risk of damaging yourself by stretching when cold than you do of actually doing any good. Similarly, while many gyms offer a ’stretching’ class, very few will make sure you warm up properly beforehand. So, if you’re going to do a stretching class then make sure you warm up thoroughly (jog, row, cycle) so that the appropriate areas are really ready to rumble.

Maintenance stretch

This is done at the end of your exercise or during it in the form of stretch breaks (very handy for a sneaky excuse to catch your breath). The aim of maintenance stretching is to help your muscles resume their normal length after working harder. You should hold the stretch for just 10 to 15 seconds or so. Remember to stretch all of the muscles you’re using - for example, new runners often remember to stretch their legs, but forget the hip flexors at the top of the pelvis that are used to raise the knee in the direction of the chest.

Developmental stretching

This is all about trying to stretch the muscles further and longer so they become more flexible and better at your chosen activity. Start stretching as normal and hold the stretch for 8-10 seconds while your muscle relaxes into the new position. Then go further into the stretch and continue the count up to 20 seconds to complete the stretch.

Common stretches

There’s a stretch for every part of your body, including a few you’re probably not familiar with yet. Take time to find out about the stretches specific to your sport and then take the time to do them. The most common stretches are:

Quadriceps

Whilst standing upright, balance on one leg and bend the other so you can catch your foot in your hand. Flex your foot gently back up to your buttocks and don’t worry about putting a hand out on a wall or partner to keep your balance. Very slightly bend the knee of the leg you’re balancing on and tip the hips forward to feel the stretch down the front of your thigh. Hold. Gently go back to standing and switch legs.

Calves

Stand four or five steps away from and facing a wall. Keep your left foot in its original position but place your right foot halfway between you and the wall. Reach forward with your outstretched arms so you’re leaning against the wall with them. Your right leg should now be bent and your left leg straight out behind you with the sole of the foot flat on the floor. Feel the stretch up the back of the calf. Hold, then gently go back to standing and switch legs.

Triceps

Reach one arm straight up above your head then bend it at the elbow so your hand is now behind your neck. Reach up with the other hand, take the first elbow, and gently pull it down and across in the direction of the pulling arm’s shoulder. Hold, release, switch.

Shoulder

Hold your arm out straight in front of you then move it across your body placing the other hand on the upper arm between elbow and shoulder. Use that hand to push the arm in towards the chest. Hold, release, switch.