Overtraining

Overtraining

A major, potential, problem with people exercising is overtraining. Many beginners, when they first begin training, over train, I know I did. Overtraining, as the name suggests, is essentially when some trains too much so that their body cannot recover in time. Overtraining is most common in weight training, but can also occur with runners and other athletes. Overtraining can stem from many things. For example, some people feel that the more they workout, the more they will benefit and they allow for no recovery time.

Symptoms of Overtraining

There are a wide variety of problems that can develop through overtraining. This list covers many of them:

• Plateau in performance
• Chronic Fatigue
• Injury
• Sore Joints and Muscles
• No motivation to workout
• Lack of Appetite
• Weight Loss
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Illness
• Lack of Sex Drive

Recovering from Overtraining

Luckily, overtraining is easy to get over. Essentially, the only thing that needs to be done is rest. We still need to maintain your diet as we would normally, but the rest will allow the muscles to recover and get back to the levels they should be.

Prevention of Overtraining

There are simple ways of ensuring that we do not overtrain in the first place. Firstly, and possibly the most important factor, we should allow for a substantial rest period between workouts. If we have an intense arms workout on Monday, then Tuesday we should rest the arms and focus on other muscles. Another good method is to ensure that we have a variety in our exercise routines and training techniques. Outside of exercise, things like a good diet and the correct amount of sleep will help to ensure that we do not overtrain.

Dietary Fibre

Recently I wrote a blog discussing carbohydrates, and this post will address dietary fibre. Fibre has a major role with the body but often people lack knowledge of what it actually does.

The main function of fibre is to keep the digestive system healthy. Essentially, fibre speeds up the excretion of waste product and toxins from our body in order to prevent diseases building up. If there is not enough fibre present in our diet can cause irregularities in the bowel as well as discomforts with the stomach. Around 18g of fibre is an acceptable amount each day, however up to 35g is recommended. We must ensure that higher levels of fibre consumed is matched with higher consumption of water, as fibre absorbs water from our body.

Dietary Fibre and Weight Loss

There are a number of benefits to eating fibre when look at weight control. Firstly, foods that are high in fibre are generally low in fat and calories, and therefore we are less likely to put on weight. However, there are two key points that make eating fibre essential for weight control. Fibre slows down digestion, which leaves us feeling full for longer, so we remain satisfied for longer after a meal meaning we are less likely to eat extra calories that we do not need. Fibre also helps us to fill up quicker, so we are less likely to over eat and gain weight and fat.

Not All Good

Of course, while too little fibre is bad for us, too much fibre can be just as bad. Too much fibre can lead to problems such as dehydration or internal discomfort. A major potential problem of consuming too much fibre is that it can lead to the body not absorbing fewer minerals, especially zinc, iron, magnesium and calcium.

So, it is important that we get enough fibre in our bodies everyday but we do need to be aware of how much and ensure we do not go too far. There are many foods that we probably should be eating anyway that will help us meet our fibre requirements, things such as vegetables, wholemeal foods and whole grains.

The Benefits of Water

Are we drinking enough water?

We here a lot about the importance of drinking water on a daily basis for the good of our health and that is what this blog will look into. Simply put – the body cannot function without water.

Many sources agree that water is one of the most important factors for weight loss and keeping the weight off. Not only does water help to keep us naturally satisfied, in terms of controlling our appetite, it also helps our body to metabolize fat.

Another major positive of water is what it can do for the skin. Some research claims that it helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the skin and other research states that acne is reduced through higher water consumption.

Water can help to fight infections all over our body. The main reason behind this is that it helps to flush toxins from the body and this prevents them from infecting our body.

Here’s a benefit of water to exercise. It helps us train more effectively. Obviously, after working out it is essential that we replace the water that we have sweated out, but research also suggests that our bodies work harder and better when exercising if we are more hydrated.

There are many more benefits to water, such as aiding digesting and protecting tissues, as well as reasons why we need to keep hydrated, but these are some key things that I feel are important to me and bear some importance to fitness, health and weight loss.

Oh, and just on a kind of side not, there is no need to purchase bottled water, regular tap water is fine and, in some cases, is better than the bottled water we buy.