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Friday, August 8, 2014

Getting The Most Out Of Your Fitness Regime


Often, a lot of time and effort goes into a fitness regime, so it’s important that one makes the best of it. It is worth planning and tailoring a fitness regime to be specific to the goals in mind – building and toning up requires a different exercise routine when compared to reducing fat and slimming down. A diet is crucial too, and taking the right vitamins and supplements is essential to achieving a healthy balance.

Plan Exercise and Dieting Routines In Line with Your Goals

Building muscle and reducing fat are the two popular goals for fitness regimes, but the approaches are very different. Not only do the two plans require different workout regimes, they will also require specific dietary adjustments. To achieve weight loss goals one needs to restrict calorie intake – as the body burns energy throughout the day and during exercise, a reduction in calories will force the body to burn fat.


On the flipside, if the plan is to bulk up or tone, there will be a need to increase the intake of certain food groups to ensure the body has the right nutrients to build muscle. In addition, it will be difficult to achieve a low calorie diet when there are post workout meals planned. Workout routines are different for these two goals – cardio training is great for losing weight, but if trying to build muscle, cardio training needs to be limited as this could reduce the calorie surplus that can be used for building muscle.

Supplements for Weight Loss or Muscle Building

Vitamins and supplements are important components of a fitness regime. The body needs the right nutrients to stay healthy, and even the healthiest of diets will leave one short of some of nature’s essential vitamins and minerals. It is going to be hard to build a great body or to lose weight without clever use of supplements. On a diet, supplements can help to minimize the effects of carb restriction, while a glutamine supplement can help minimize muscle catabolism.

Some supplements are suggested specifically for losing weight, including Garcinia Cambogia and chitosan. Chitosan is a sugar extracted from the hard outer layer of crabs, lobsters and shrimp, and studies have shown that chitosan has the ability to block the absorption of insulin and cholesterol. Garcinia Cambogia is a plant extract that is proving very popular for people on weight loss plans.

During intense workouts a wide range of minerals can be lost. That’s why one should look for a supplement that is not only high in vitamins but that also contains a good range of minerals. Omega 3 is well known for its all-round health effects, but it has also been proven to increase insulin sensitivity, which helps avoid muscle breakdown.

Whether one plans on losing weight or wants to tone up, it is going to take hard work. That’s why both the exercise regime as well as the diet should be set up in a way that will help rather than hinder the attainment of goals.

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