Well here we are post Mardi gras and coming into cooler weather. Prime time for ramping up your training in this perfect workout weather. It’s also much easier to eat for gaining muscle when it’s not as hot, so the two questions for this issue are very timely.
Question one:
Are there any special foods I should be eating when I’m exercising? Are particular vitamins or minerals important? Is there anything that is especially good to eat or drink just before or just after I exercise?
The main thing to think about before exercising is: Are you are well hydrated?
Make sure you drink plenty of water beforehand, and maybe a sports drink during the workout. The other thing to think about, before your workout, is to fuel up with carbohydrates to give you energy. Things like:
- energy bars
- bananas
- a honey sandwich
- a rice cake with nutella
- or some dried fruit and nuts etc.
Just make sure it is not a big meal, more like a snack. And have it about one hour before training.
After your workout, you still want to have some carbohydrates, but also protein and vitamins and minerals for recovery. Carbohydrates need to be consumed within thirty minutes of finishing, because this is when your muscle stores of glycogen are refilled most easily. It is these glycogen stores within your muscles which supply you with energy for working out. Certain vitamins, like some of the Bs and C, and minerals like zinc and magnesium, can help your body recover more quickly.
Think about increasing your consumption of anti-oxidants as well, as these all help your body respond well to exercise. Increase protein consumption by about ten percent to maximize muscle growth and minimize muscle wasting.
Remember these are general guidelines and everybody’s circumstances are different. If you have access to a good dietitian or a knowledgeable GP, they can run tests to check whether you really are deficient in certain things, and this will ensure you take the supplements best suited to you.
Question two:
Is the best way to develop strength to just keep increasing your weights in the gym, even if you just do a couple of lifts etc?
Increasing your weights is one part of strength training, but your body needs to adapt to new stimulus on a regular basis to get stronger. Once you can’t increase your weights any more, it means you have come to the end of the usefulness of that particular exercise or repetition range. I would not recommend doing less than four reps on a regular basis.
Try six to eight weeks of one type of training, then change to something else. Then change it again. Read on for an example of how you can organize the next few months to get good strength gains, which you can then convert to muscle gains for the next couple of training cycles.
Only use this type of training on large muscle groups like lower body, chest and back. Train the smaller muscle groups like shoulders and arms with fewer sets and higher reps, after training the large muscle groups.
Legs, Back, Biceps and Lower Back, Chest, Shoulders Triceps and Stomach
First 6-8 week cycle, gradually increase weights by 5-10% each week. Start at something that you consider to be about 80% of what you estimate you would normally do for 8 reps. 2-3 training sessions per week.
4 sets of 8 reps for 3 leg exercises
4 sets of 8 reps for 3 chest exercises
4 sets of 8 reps for 3 back exercises
4-5 sets of 12-6 reps for shoulders and triceps
2 sets of 12-6 reps for biceps
2-4 sets of high reps for core/ stomach
2 sets of high reps for lower back
Second 6-8 week cycle change to 3 sets of 5 reps where you were doing 4 sets of 8 reps for 4 weeks then change to 3 sets of 3 reps for 3 weeks then one week of 2 sets of 2 reps.
In this cycle, where you are training with very heavy weights, only train twice a week and have longer rests between sets than in your first training cycle. In the first four weeks still keep doing the shoulder and arm exercises. For the next month, only do the lower back and core stability and stomach exercises. Remember to warm up well as the reps decrease and use a spotter or machines for safety depending on your circumstances.
After this hard training give yourself two weeks off or very easy cross training. Then go into a higher rep medium weight, muscle building routine for two six week cycles of training.
Do you have a question for Ingrid? Email your questions to editor@positivelife.org.au or post them to Ask Ingrid PO Box 831 Darlinghust NSW 1300
