In this article we are going to show our approach to what we consider to be an aesthetic and healthy body in a woman. Before you continue reading, we want to make it clear that the most important ability to achieve this goal is perseverance. Rome was not built in a day. Once we are clear about this, we invite you to continue reading this post so that you have a general idea of what it is and how to have a perfect physique.

What is a perfect physique?

This point is almost as important as the how. It is clear that aesthetics and beauty are subjective concepts that can vary (and do) enormously depending on the person. At Fitenium we advocate a type of body that has three characteristics: health, strength and a low percentage of fat.

• Health: it is the most important characteristic of all. The bodies of the models of the 90s with an obvious underweight gestated based on starvation do not consider that they radiate beauty. A perfect body has to allow its owner to live with health and energy to have a better quality of life.
• Strength: Another stereotype that we are totally against is that women should not have muscle and be strong. For us, a beautiful girl has the ability to train and perform sportingly, for which an adequate muscle mass is needed.
• Low fat percentage: we always hear that it is aesthetic to have a toned body, right? Well, that is nothing more than gaining muscle mass and lowering the fat percentage. It is true that women due to genetics have a higher fat percentage than men, but normally 15-20% fat with adequate muscle mass ends up generating healthy and aesthetic bodies.

Starting from these bases, we will explain how to have a body 10: healthy, strong and lean.

I want to get a perfect body, what should I know?

Perfect, you have decided to change your habits to gain physical performance, health and aesthetics, now you have to be clear about some very important concepts if you do not want to become frustrated and abandon your goal without achieving it.

• Constancy: we never tire of repeating it, do you want to know those exercises to have a flat stomach and firm buttocks? Great, but don’t forget that the results are not a flash in the pan, but require a very high dose of perseverance to have a perfect physique.
• Diet: more than a diet, this is about having a healthy lifestyle, learning to eat healthy without knowing which foods we will leave for our cheat meals, which ones are more satiating and efficient, and knowing how to cook them to achieve our goals without giving up flavor is vital to be able to maintain the key point: constancy.
• Training: here you must not fail either, it is better to set realistic goals than not going 6 days a week at first and then ending up failing after a drop in energy. Later we will talk about those exercises to tone a woman’s body and how to execute them.
• You Are You: It’s ridiculous to try to compare yourself to other people. Some people move faster and others slower. Some develop some muscle groups better than others. Other people will have an easier time staying lean and others will gain muscle mass easily. And yes, we all know someone who has that enviable genetics that makes them progress very quickly without apparent effort. The important thing is to know that here we “fight” against ourselves and comparing ourselves with others does not contribute anything, especially if we talk about “influencers”, Hollywood stars and other internet salesmen who try to sell us their system on how to have the perfect physique in a few weeks.

How to eat?

As we discussed previously, this is not about following a specific diet by weighing food or going hungry, no one achieves the perfect physique this way. It is not necessary to make a great effort because it will hardly be maintained over time and that is not sustainable, which cannot coexist with our main weapon, which is perseverance, when executing this guide on how to obtain a perfect physique.

Basically, our recommendation is to calculate the recommended caloric intake for our weight based on our basal metabolism and then make a simple division of macronutrients. To know how to have the perfect physique, we like to use the Harris Benedict formula and apply the appropriate multiplier. It is summarized in the following:

Basal Metabolic Rate = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 height in cm) – (5 age in years) – 161

To calculate the adequate calorie intake we apply the correct multiplier depending on our physical activity:

• Little or no exercise Daily Calories Needed = BMR x 1.2
• Light exercise (1-3 days a week) Daily Calories Needed = BMR x 1.375
• Moderate exercise (3-5 days a week) Daily Calories Needed = BMR x 1.55
• Heavy exercise (6-7 days a week) Daily Calories Needed = BMR x 1,725
• Very vigorous exercise (twice a day, very hard workouts) Daily Calories Required = BMR x 1.9

If you have doubts about which multiplier to apply, always take the lower one.

Once we know how many calories we consume to have a body of ten, we must reduce 20% if we want to lose fat and apply an increase of 20% if we want to gain muscle mass. When we have the calories that we will consume for our goal, we will have to distribute them between proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Each gram of carbohydrates and protein equals 4 calories, but in the case of fats it equals 7 calories.

Our advice is to obtain between 1.6 and 1.8 grams of protein per kilo of weight and the rest of the calories from fat and carbohydrates, provided they are of good quality. We don’t need to have an exact amount, but we do need to try to prioritize lean foods with high protein content. Some examples of this type of food are the following:

• Chicken breast: per 100 grams it contains 98 calories, divided into 22 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat and 0 grams of carbohydrates.
• Lean beef: per 100 grams it contains 98 calories, divided into 20 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat and 1 grams of carbohydrates.
• Egg Whites: per 100 grams contains 49 calories, divided into 11 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat and 0 grams of carbohydrates.

Thus, if we have 150 grams of egg white for breakfast, 150 grams of beef for lunch, and 150 grams of chicken breast for dinner, we will obtain 79.5 grams of protein. If we start from a weight of 60 kilos, only between 15 and 30 extra grams will be missing to have a good protein intake. Where do you get those extra proteins? There are many options: serrano ham, cheese, salmon are perfect to obtain that protein that we lack together with good quality fats.

Therefore, if we start with a 60 kilogram, 165 cm tall, 25-year-old woman who wants to lose fat and trains 3-4 times a week, our caloric intake would be (10 x 60) + (6.25 165) – (5 25) – 161 = 1341 calories. Subsequently, as having the perfect physique is our goal, we apply the multiplier of 1.55 since we do moderate exercise, giving a caloric intake of 2078 calories. Finally, as we want to lose weight, we reduce calories by 20%, giving a final result of 1,663 calories. We apply 60*1.7 = 102 grams of protein, which is equivalent to 408 calories, and we can take the remaining 1,255 calories from wherever we want.

How to train?

Do not expect a table of exercises to have a flat stomach and firm buttocks, here we promote exercises to improve the general physical condition of our body and the diet will be what determines our physical change

Our recommendation is to train with basic exercises, which are perfect exercises to tone a woman’s body. We do not recommend at all to train only the lower body, which is something relatively common in women (curiously, in the case of men, they only train the upper body), but to develop our entire body in a harmonious way.

A good base to start the training is this fullbody routine to be executed three days a week with one rest:

Monday:

Sumo Squat 3×12
Stride 3×12 (front, rear, walking…)
Romanian Deadlift 3×12
Pull-ups 3xfailure (if we cannot do pull-ups, work with negatives or elastic bands)
Funds 3xfailure (if we cannot do pull-ups, work with negatives or elastic bands)
Press Militar 3×12
3×12 Dumbbell Fly
Isometric Plank 3xfailure

Wednesday:

Pulldown 3×12
Low pulley row 3×12
Barbell biceps curl 3×12
Triceps Extension 3×12
Press Banca 3×10
Lateral Raises 3×10
Quadriceps Extension 3×12
Roller abs 3×10

Friday:

Squat 3×12
Deadlift Dumbbells 4×10
Hip Thrust 3×10
Military Press Dumbbells 4×12
Flat bench pullover 4×12
French press pulley 3×12
Dumbbell Biceps Curl 3×12
Leg raises 4xfailure

If we follow these diet tips that count as getting a perfect physique and train consistently and efficiently, there will be no one who can stop you on the way to getting the perfect physique.

There are certain factors that predispose to high blood pressure, such as pregnancy, age 60 or older, African race, kidney disease, diabetes, and sleep aspiration. However, there are many other modifiable risk factors that can be acted upon to prevent this disease.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

Actions that help reduce hypertension.

Keep active

According to the latest research, exercise helps lower blood pressure even more than previously thought.

Maintaining an active life helps promote regular movements that not only reduce the risk of being overweight, but also promote vasodilators and blood circulation. People who are physically inactive often have a high heart rate and high blood pressure. Therefore, it is always advisable to be as active as possible and exercise regularly if possible.

Published on Unplash by Paul Melki

reduce stress

Within the chronic occurrence factors for hypertension, stress occupies the first position. Try to decrease it as much as possible.

Control Salt (sodium chloride) and potassium.

The molecular state of sodium allows it to become a liquid, which increases blood pressure; so depending on the amount of sodium in your body, there is a risk of accumulation of this substance. Avoid super-processed foods and control sources of potassium.

stop drinking and/or smoking tobacco

Smoking and drinking temporarily increase blood pressure and can gradually damage the cardiovascular system, cause irreversible changes over time and accelerate the development of hypertension. For this reason, it is advisable to avoid alcohol intake and not to smoke, since this habit is unhealthy and very harmful to health in general.

As you know, high blood pressure can manifest itself from causes beyond your habits, but you can also avoid the factors mentioned above to reduce your risk of contracting the disease.

Published on Unplash by Alex Shaw

Being active and exercising is good for our health and everyone knows it, or at least should already know it. Overweight and obesity, especially the proportion of children, has increased significantly in the last 40 years, as evidenced by data provided by health agencies and institutions.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

Now, when we talk about exercise for young children, many people wonder: At what age should children start playing sports? How old are they when they start each sport or is it important when young children start exercising?

Benefits of practicing sports for children’s health

As mentioned at the beginning, the incidence of overweight and obesity in children has not stopped increasing. For this reason, it seems fundamental to look for mechanisms that help to reduce this epidemic, where daily epidemics cause new disasters in the health of young children. Not surprisingly, “old” diseases such as type 2 diabetes are becoming increasingly common in 12- and 14-year-olds and clearly demonstrate problems with social models.

Published on Unplash by Wesley Tingey

For these reasons, physical exercise continues to prevent and encourage children to develop physical skills such as athletic performance and balance, strength, speed, coordination, and expression. To help the body…

At what age do young children usually develop their skills?

By looking at the motor development of children from childhood to adolescence, we can see that they have gone through a series of skills to learn to control and move. Therefore, you can find five stages in which the basic skills of the little ones will be developed and later you will be able to acquire new “skills” to carry out your daily activities.

Under 2 years: At this stage, free play and “uncontrolled” movements are dominated by young children. They like to play and everything is new to them. They have little control over distance and space and move on impulse. At this stage, psychomotor classes can be interesting for the child’s initial development.

Preschool Stage: At this stage, they already have certain athletic skills such as jumping, running, and riding a tricycle. It is still the stage in which learning is most often done through play.

Published on Unplash by Chandler Cruttenden

4 to 7 years: Begins to complete certain skills such as adjustment, balance (standing on one leg or when riding a bicycle), speed, etc. From these ages, we must pay special attention to the weight that children carry in their backpacks to avoid possible back problems at these early ages.

8-9 years: At this stage, you can do certain sports that promote the development of some skills, such as racing.

10-12 years: It is time to strengthen the control and learning of the body and improve certain skills such as flexibility, strength and resistance.

What are the sports that children can practice? Also, at what age is it advisable to start doing sports?

trekking

Hiking is one of the sports with the least impact on children, and we can more easily introduce it into their lives. For this, it is always convenient to start from a short distance and look for motivations to promote this activity: walks in the park, nature excursions, tours of the history of the city center, visits to towns…

Published on Unplash by Juli Kosolapova

As for the recommended age, it may be a good time to start walking between 6 and 8 years old.

Gym

Gymnastics is a sport that is characterized by the “short life” of professional gymnasts, who generally finish their career at a very young age (they rarely reach 30 years of age and continue to compete). This is a “recommended” sport to start practicing early. In addition, this sport allows children to develop skills such as flexibility and physical expression through sport.

Due to age factors, it is common for mothers to start directing their children to activities such as dancing and dancing between the ages of 5 and 7 as a point before practicing gymnastics as a sports activity.

NADA

Swimming from 3 to 4 years is a sport that helps the child to develop basic motor skills such as coordination, muscle development and resistance. They usually begin to practice it using the typical cork boards, they gain control of their body, improve their skills and move more freely without outside help.

Martial arts: Judo, Karate or Taekondo

Martial arts such as judo, karate, and taekondo are sports in which children develop flexibility, strength, coordination, and agility. Therefore, starting between the ages of 8 and 10 may be a good time for children to start practicing this sport.

Athletics

One of the most common ways that children need to run is to run. Look at the school field and you will see a group of children chasing or playing from one place to another, so track and field is a sport that helps expend that energy while developing skills and abilities like speed and endurance.

tennis

Tennis is a sport with outstanding skills, especially when coordination and agility (especially eye-to-hand coordination) are practiced. You will also learn through tennis to control your ability to hit the ball and improve your learning of space and distance.

skate

Above all, movements that focus on cooperative movements and balance movements are sports that value children’s physical expression, such as dance. From the age of 5 or 6, this activity can be introduced once or twice a week as the first contact.

Appropriate equipment is needed to protect the child from blows (elbow pads, knee pads and even helmets) since the possibility of damaging this sport due to a fall must be considered.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Problems with fat loss:

Fat loss can be extremely frustrating when it seems like you’re not losing fat even while eating very little. It is natural and human to blame metabolism or genetics when nothing else seems to work. It is also human to end up resorting to all kinds of miraculous supplements and diets that can be from useless to dangerous depending on it, since many times we do not know how to lose fat. Well, this is not really 100% true, since there are supplements that have proven efficacy for fat loss, always as a complement to a diet that is suitable for your needs and a training plan. We will talk about them later.

Because, let’s not fool ourselves, if we want to know how to lose fat we only have to take into account the laws of thermodynamics. That is, we must expend more energy than we put into our body. Energy is measured in calories, so we must expend more calories than we consume in our diet, generating a caloric deficit. This principle is the basis of muscle mass gain and fat loss, which we will talk about today.

If it’s so simple, why don’t I lose fat?

It is quite common the case that you take into account the caloric deficit and still you are not losing fat, this usually happens due to three factors.

– You underestimate your caloric intake: if you are not losing fat, it is because you eat more than you spend, that is a fact. Many people think that they eat little and healthy and still fail to improve their composition. What happens is that in general we are lousy when it comes to estimating the portions we eat and they also do not take into account the calories of a lot of food that is considered “healthy” but has a high caloric density.

Our recommendation is that you write down the meals you eat in an application like My Fitness Pal or Fat Secret and you will be surprised at the calories you are taking.

– You overestimate your caloric expenditure: cardio is a useful tool when it comes to losing fat as a secondary complement to your weight training, but for many people it can become an obstacle when it comes to losing fat. An hour on the treadmill consumes approximately (depending on intensity and weight), about 500kcals. And there are many people who think that since they are doing cardio for an hour they can eat whatever they want, when a Big Mac or a Frappuchino from Starbucks is already equivalent to that. Even foods considered “healthy” like a McDonald’s salad, two avocados or 80 grams of peanut butter also add up to 500 calories.

– You are not eating enough calories: It may seem contradictory to point number one but it is not. You might think that if we can lose half a kilo of fat a week with a daily deficit of 500 calories, if we achieve a deficit of 1000 calories we will lose twice as much, right?

Well, that’s not how it works, for two reasons. The first is that as we lose fat, we will have to adjust the calories we consume taking our new weight into account. If you start with a 1,300-calorie diet, how are you going to adjust the calories when you stagnate? On the other hand, as losing fat is a long process and we have to have a medium-long term vision, so the deficit must be moderate to be sustainable. Too large a deficit will put our body in “survival mode” and slow down the metabolism as much as possible, making it difficult to lose fat.

Ok, and how do I solve the mentioned problems?

– Start controlling what you eat: and by that we mean correctly tracking your meals with the tools that we discussed above (My Fitness Pal or Fat Secret). It is not necessary to be extremely thorough and weigh even the vegetables, but knowing if we are eating 10 or 30 grams of nuts or how big is that handful of rice that we cook can mean the difference between the caloric deficit that we are looking for.

Once we know how many nutrients and calories the portions we usually eat have, we can adapt them to meet our goals. We would be surprised with the foods of which we can increase the ration without problem and those that are destroying our deficit. I know it’s tiring and involves work, but it’s worth it and it will help diagnose our problem.

– Estimate the calories you consume: to do this, calculate your Basal Metabolism Rate first. This rate determines the calories you would expend in 24 hours lying in bed without moving and depends on your gender, age and weight. Then you have to apply the Physical Activity Level multiplier, which is the calories we expend with our daily activities. We must be VERY CONSERVATIVE with this multiplier, as we tend to overestimate the calories we burn since we are more sedentary than we think. Lifting weights 3 times a week doesn’t make you less of a walker, walking more than 5,000 steps does.

Once we have our Basal Metabolism Rate and Physical Activity Level, we do the multiplication and there we will have our Daily Caloric Expenditure.

How to do all this? On the internet there are a large number of online calculators where just by entering some basic data it calculates your Daily Caloric Expenditure.

– Create a caloric deficit: if you have completed the previous point, you already know approximately the calories your body consumes. It must be emphasized that it is an APPROXIMATE caloric expenditure and we must adapt it according to results and body changes.

Since losing fat is a process that requires, above all, time and perseverance, the caloric deficit must be enough for our body to use fat as fuel, but not too great that it is not sustainable with the diet and that we do not fall into tuba metabolism putting our body in survival mode.

Our recommendation is to create a caloric deficit equivalent to 20% of our Daily Caloric Expenditure.

– Practical example: imagine that we are a 29-year-old man, 1.80 and weighing 90 kilos with an office job and who trains from time to time. We look for an online calculator like this one and we access the web. We put our data and the calculator itself will tell us our daily caloric expenditure appropriate to our daily activity.

Once we have the results, in our case 2,592 calories per day, we create a 20% deficit, obtaining 2,073 calories as a result, which should be our daily limit if we want to lose fat. As we have already commented several times, these results are approximate, and if you are very fat, it is likely that you are not burning those calories and you have to adjust more.

Other tips to lose fat.

– Consume enough protein: taking into account that our goal is to lose fat and not lose kilos, we must maintain an adequate protein intake to minimize muscle loss. For an athlete, the recommendation is between 1.8 and 2.5g of protein per kilo of weight per day.

– Perform weight training: losing fat if we don’t have muscle mass is useless if we want to be fit. Training with Full Body or Torso Leg type weights will help us create muscle mass which, apart from being more aesthetic and functional, will speed up our metabolism and we can continue losing fat in the medium term.

– Do not worry about irrelevant elements: there is a lot of talk that carbohydrates at night turn into fat or that you have to be eating small meals every few hours to lose more fat, but scientific evidence indicates that this is not the case. As long as we comply with the maxim of expending more calories than we consume, we will continue to lose fat.

It is important to emphasize that localized fat loss does not exist, so there is no point in killing yourself doing 1,000 abdominal crunches a day to get a tablet.

– Supplementation yes, but with a head: fat burners are true best sellers, but only some have scientific evidence. The main compounds that can help fat loss as long as we comply with a correct diet and exercise are:

1. Caffeine: raises adrenaline and activates HSL. Study.
2. Synephrine: increases the activation of β–adrenergic receptors, raising metabolism. Study.
3. Green tea: Provides caffeine and other components such as EGCC that help fat loss. Study.
4. Yohimbine: Blocks alpha receptors, increasing fat loss, especially effective against stubborn fat. It is illegal in Spain and although it is effective for fat loss it has other unwanted side effects, so at Fitenium we DO NOT recommend its use without professional supervision. Study.
5. Green coffee extract: Apart from providing caffeine, it contains chlorogenic acid that can be beneficial for fat loss. Study.

It is important to comment that L-Carnitine, one of the most popular fat burning supplements, does not have scientific evidence to support it.

– Do not be obsessed with the scale: we do not mean to say that the scale is useless, but the number that appears on the weight does not determine if we are advancing or not. Especially with people new to physical training, it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time with a moderate deficit (study), so taking body measurements and the “mirror” can be better allies than the weight.

conclusions.

How to lose fat is the big question that many people ask and it really is not that complicated to have an effective plan to achieve it. However, its execution and, above all, maintaining consistency in said plan. Once we know what we eat, train as God intended and maintain this lifestyle over time, success is assured.

Share your progress in Fitenium, download our app

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

There are many comments on social media about the multiple benefits that cider vinegar can offer, and there are still indications of antibacterial effects and body fat… are they really as good as we want to believe?

Apple cider vinegar transformed into a miracle product

Apple cider vinegar is a widely used ingredient in the preparation of salads, pickles and fermented products. Acetic acid, which is highly acidic and its main component, is believed to be associated with fat burning and weight loss.

Also, vinegar and other acidic foods have an antibacterial effect due to their acidity, which is why this ingredient is often used in household preservatives to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi.

Apple cider vinegars offer the same guarantee as other vegans, but some do, for example we usually use it for condiments, but now the consumption itself is promoted, 2 tablespoons diluted with water or carbonated water and stevia to make it feel more comfortable with all the benefits of vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar, like many other foods, offers a variety of benefits to the body, but it does not have any miraculous effects on our bodies.

But beyond all the advantages that vinegar provides, when it was nothing, it became a miraculous product. We consume only 2 tablespoons a day and vinegar does not provide many nutrients and, like other foods, it has no magical power in this poor quality diet. It is included, but the positive effects of vinegar are not perceived, but if you prefer to enjoy the benefits, it is better to include it in a balanced dietary framework.

Like many other foods, cider vinegar offers a series of benefits for the body, but it is not as miraculous as social networks believe because it does not have any miraculous power.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

When we talk about addictive substances, we always refer to drugs and think of their great adverse effects on our body. However, a normal diet is also surrounded by addictive substances that can harm your body almost unnoticed. We refer to substances as common as alcohol and sugar.

“Socially accepted drugs”

They do not have such a rapid and destructive effect on our body, but these “socially accepted” and addictive substances do have side effects.

Considering “drug” substances such as cocaine and heroin, both these and those described in this article have addictive powers, but the former is much more powerful. Unlike the previous ones, small amounts of substances such as sugar, caffeine and theobromine do not harm our body. But we need to know the possible long-term effects of its consumption on our bodies.

All these addictive substances not only have a pleasant effect after ingestion, but also help to stimulate the central nervous system and block the behavioral depression common to all drugs. The problem is that in this case these substances are usually included in our diet, so we probably see them in a different way.

Published on Unplash by Eric Stone

Alcohol, caffeine, theobromine, sugar, sodium, and fats are commonly consumed and are never considered a drug, but have addictive powers and similar properties to addictive substances prohibited by law.

Effects on the body

The development of addiction is the main negative impact on the body. They encourage us to consume more and more and always bring us a common result, excess calories.

Both alcohol, sugar and fat are sources of calories, which makes it clear that their continued intake can cause excess weight and body fat. On the other hand, if you are addicted to theobromine, you can almost always opt for chocolate, which contains sugar, fat and, of course, a lot of calories.

Sodium poisoning or excess sodium can also cause increased caloric intake. Of course, caffeine isn’t just what we usually sweeten or flavor with other foods, it’s also found in sodas, energy drinks, and more. Poor quality calorie bombs as they do not provide vitamins, minerals or antioxidants and are derived primarily from sugar and fat.

Published on Unplash by Katee Lue

Therefore, these addictive substances are widely contained in a variety of commonly consumed foods that can cause poisoning over time, leading to excess calories, metabolic disorders, and illnesses of all kinds.

Since current caffeine overdose does not cause adverse effects other than GI symptoms and hypersensitivity, these addictive substances carry consequences over time, leading to ongoing abuse and long-term effects. The same goes for sugar, sodium, and all the other “socially acceptable drugs.”

Today, these addictive substances that harm your body are the most common causes of disease: cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, tumors, and other health problems. The key is to consume more foods that are not processed and super-processed products. The addictive substances of natural products are absent or have a different quality than those of industrial origin that could alter the health of your body.

The definition phase is the moment in which the results of the volume phase are revealed, so it is important to know how to correctly plan this process.

Diet, training and rest are especially important at this point, because poor planning can stop your progress in one go.

Diet in the definition phase: this is what you should do

Although the rest of the factors that we have discussed are important, diet is probably the most decisive factor, since achieving results with training without a good diet is very difficult.

For example, eating 700 calories is relatively easy. In fact, this can be done in as little as 10 minutes. However, burning the same amount of calories in exercise is much more complicated and takes longer.

In the definition phase, the caloric volume of the diet decreases compared to the volume phase.

Published on Unplash by LOGAN WEAVER

This means that the foods that we should prioritize are the low-calorie foods within the foods we consume.

As you can imagine, these foods are fruits and vegetables, not refined flours or sugars.

Strategies such as eating large amounts of fiber and protein at the same meal (for example, lettuce fiber and tuna protein in the same salad) can also help you feel fuller to achieve a negative caloric balance.

One of the best ways to promote muscle mass retention in this cutting stage is through a high protein intake. As a reference, you can take into account being above 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Physical activity: the most important ally

Another very effective stimulus to maintain muscle mass during a caloric deficit is physical activity, especially strength training.

It’s true that strength training consumes fewer calories per unit of time than cardio training, but in the long run, prioritizing strength training provides a better body composition advantage.

Published on Unplash by Andrew “Donovan” Valdivia

Does this mean I have to strength train without cardio? . You can combine cardio and strength for best results, but you should never allow aerobic exercise to be an excuse to avoid strength training.

Cardio has many benefits for our physical condition and health, including the improvement of the maximum volume of oxygen, and mitochondrial biosynthesis. These effects should not be underestimated, in any case you must work hard with the weights to maintain the muscle mass gained during the bulking phase.

Break: The Great Forgotten

In the definition stage, a calorie deficit occurs. This increases the chance of getting tired sooner.

If lack of calories is a prerequisite for fat loss, what else do I need to do? Simple, you have to prioritize rest.

At this stage, it’s perfectly normal to feel tired and need more sleep. In that case, you should take a break and set aside a weekend day to relax or get more sleep. Try to go to bed a little earlier on weekdays…

Poor rest can result in increased caloric intake throughout the day, as well as poor performance, as our body is literally telling the brain that it hasn’t recovered and is looking for other ways to get energy.

Published on Unplash by Minh Ngoc

Another important point is to take advantage of sleep time, since the quality of sleep over the quantity is a relevant factor.

In this case, you can resort to sleep improvement strategies such as avoiding light sources in the room, following a regular sleep schedule, and keeping the room cool and quiet.

The last ally that you can use to improve sleep is melatonin. Melatonin, found in supplement form, can significantly improve sleep quality and increase sleep time.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

If you practice sports regularly, it is very likely that sooner or later you will suffer an injury, so it is important that you know how to react when it happens. Applying the correct protocol immediately after suffering an acute injury such as an ankle sprain, which is very common among athletes, can affect the healing of the injury over time.

I’m sure many of you are aware of the RICE protocol. This is the most famous and established a few years ago as the “official” protocol for monitoring acute injuries. RICE represents four things to remember when an acute injury occurs. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The objective of RICE is to minimize the use of the injured area, apply cold to reduce inflation and contain possible bleeding or problems with the affected muscles and ligaments.

A few years later, the RICE protocol was superseded by the new PRICE protocol. This first adds P to the previous four acronyms and which stands for Protection.

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As of the year 2012, the POLICE protocol lands, which is more complete than PRICE and which is the acronym for Protection, Optimal Load, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Different phases of the POLICE protocol

protection

It is important to protect your joints immediately after an injury. For this reason, protection was included in the change from the RICE protocol to PRICE, and was also maintained even when changing to the POLICE method. For an ankle sprain, protect the injured extremity with a functional bandage or ankle brace that can limit movement for immediate treatment of an acute injury.

optimal load

This is the essence of the POLICE method, the rest of the phases do not change with respect to PRICE. The optimal load of the POLICE method refers to the fact that absolute rest of the joint should be avoided since it practically never favors the healing of the lesion. In this line, it is preferable to choose a relative rest and rehabilitation with dynamic and progressive efforts that can strengthen the joint during recovery.

The POLICE method excludes rest and introduces functional rehabilitation with optimal load

A physiotherapist is the right expert to decide what will be the optimal load in functional rehabilitation to recover from injury. Obviously, this optimal load can change depending on the injury we suffer, which varies from person to person and can change over time. The optimal load can be “none” for a period of time, or it can be our own weight.

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It is very important that in the event of an injury we go to a health professional as soon as possible so that they can assess the severity of the injury, apply the appropriate treatment and we can start rehabilitation as soon as possible.

ice

Having a local inflation when injured is one of the basic concepts that we must know. We can reduce inflammation by applying ice applied discontinuously and protecting the area of ​​application with an appropriate method (the ice pack can be wrapped with a cloth or towel to avoid skin burns). In addition, it provides an immediate calming and analgesic effect after its application.

Ice is recommended for the first 72 hours after acute trauma. As you can imagine, this is contraindicated if you have a wound or bleeding.

compression and elevation

Both functional bandage compression and putting on the injured extremity have the ability to improve venous return and reduce edema that can occur after acute injury. These are two key elements to reduce inflation.

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It is very important that you know these protocols if you play sports as they will decrease your reaction time in case of injury. Always remember to attend a health center to receive personalized attention about your injury to ensure a proper and speedy recovery.

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However, because these measurements are not always accurate, you should use a more reliable method, such as precommetry, if you want to obtain information from specific areas of the body. It is not always possible for an expert to use the lipocaliper to make measurements or immediately measure muscle quality. For this, the Skulpt has come to us, since it allows you to know the quality of your muscles, the proportion of fat and muscle, and they give you advice to improve them.

Skulpt is a mobile-sized device that can measure both muscle mass, fat mass percentage and muscle quality in different parts of the body and provides comprehensive fitness information. The gadget connects to your phone via bluetooth and you can view all your measurement data via the free app for iOS and Android.

What are the advantages over traditional bioimpedance?

Basically, the bioimpedance scale provides a global calculation of fat and muscle mass without taking into account the different parts of the body (generally stores more fat than other areas). In Sculpt, on the other hand, you can move region by region for more precise calculations.

In addition, muscle quality data allows us to check if our muscle mass is balanced, thus avoiding possible injuries caused by muscle imbalance and indicating whether it is necessary to work on any area unilaterally.

Based on all this data, Skulpt also offers us personalized training and nutrition advice so that, although it can never replace the work of a personal trainer or nutritionist, they can be a good complement.

Skulpt costs $99 (around €89 to change) and can be purchased on the official website.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

High-intensity training, better known as HIIT (High-Intensity Training), consists of alternating short periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of recovery or light exercise.

This type of training is widespread today and can have many health and performance benefits.

This HIIT article is based on a recent systematic review and meta-analysis (2015-2017) of the benefits of HIIT training on various health and performance parameters.

Below I will provide interesting information about other recent studies and research on HIIT.

For those who wish to read in more detail, both the systematic review and meta-analysis, and the linking of work and research within the text.

Obesity, and more specifically the accumulation of excess body fat, is a serious global health problem and it is growing rapidly. More than 39% of adults were considered overweight, 13% were considered obese in 2014, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity has doubled worldwide since 1980.

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Being overweight or obese is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, especially atherosclerosis, type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, and increases the risk of death from any cause.

In particular, central steatosis, which refers to adipose tissue deposited specifically in the trunk, including visceral fat around central organs, causes a series of negative adaptations to cardiovascular structure and function, increasing the risk of disease. Mortality.

The benefits of physical activity for weight control, reduction of central obesity, and control of obesity are well documented. Recently, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a popular alternative, primarily due to its efficiency over time, as lack of time has been cited as a common barrier to exercise participation. . I’m going to.

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis from 2017 of the same year, which compared the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), showed that overweight and obese adults (18-45 years) improved body composition. The average workout is one HIIT session 3 times a week for 10 weeks.

HIIT and fat loss

Both HIIT and MICT cause a significant reduction in fat mass and waist circumference, but HIIT achieves this with less effort in training time.

Well, both HIIT and MICT have been reported to cause a significant reduction in fat mass and waist circumference.

There were no significant differences between HIIT and MICT on body composition measurements, but HIIT needed to reduce training time by 40%. motion.

The results of another recent systematic review and meta-analysis from 2017 of this year are very similar, with HIIT improving maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and some cardiometabolic risk factors such as the environment Sample that can set up an effective training protocol. Waist, body fat percentage, resting heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose in overweight or obese populations.

In overweight or obese populations, HIIT improves cardiometabolic health and produces significant positive physiological adaptations that may reduce the incidence and progression of disease-related risk factors.

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Taken together, performing HIIT in an overweight or obese population may improve cardiometabolic health and reduce the incidence and progression of risk factors related to overweight or obesity-related diseases. It leads to various physiological adaptations. aerobic capacity.

However, further studies are needed to determine if these metabolic adaptations after HIIT extend to a normal weight population.

Because HIIT activity regimens require a minimal time commitment, HIIT can improve the metabolic health of the heart as a time-efficient alternative or adjunct to the commonly recommended MICT.

Thus, the use of HIIT (under appropriate pre-exercise testing and supervision conditions) at the start of an exercise program three or more times a week for 12 weeks may improve cardiopulmonary function and reduce body fat in the population. . I recommend it. Overweight and obesity.

Improvement of health-related physical fitness in adolescents and childhood obesity

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that high-intensity ligand training (HIIT) was effective in improving cardiopulmonary function and body composition in adolescents (13-18 years) compared with non-exercise groups. They provide a moderate intensity of continuous training.

This study provided evidence of statistically significant improvements in cardiopulmonary function, body mass index (BMI), and percentage body fat during adolescence after the HIIT intervention.

HIIT improved adolescents’ cardiopulmonary function, body mass index, and body fat percentage

Study duration emerged as a moderator of body fat percentage. This indicates that the HIIT intervention is as effective or longer than the 8-week period.

The authors also recommend integrating strength training into the HIIT program to build strength for adolescents.

On the other hand, physical activity has multiple health benefits and is well known to be an important factor in the management of childhood obesity.

Published in 2016, a meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of HIIT training interventions on cardiometabolic risk factors and aerobic capacity in childhood obesity (ages 6-17 years).

HIIT intervention induces more favorable adaptations in the central and peripheral cardiovascular system than other forms of exercise

This study shows that HIIT intervention (duration 4 to 12 weeks) significantly reduces systolic blood pressure and increases maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) more than other forms of exercise (continuous medium intensity and interval training). Show what it brings. ), in line with the study analyzed in the previous point.

The results suggest that the HIIT intervention induces more favorable indications in the central and peripheral cardiovascular system. Therefore, HIIT can be considered a more effective and time-saving intervention to improve blood pressure and aerobic fitness levels in obese adolescents compared to other types of exercise.

improved vascular function

Vascular dysfunction is a precursor to the atherosclerotic cascade (atherosclerosis is a degenerative disease that damages the lining of the aorta) and significantly increases susceptibility to cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

Since high intensity physical training (HIIT) is a powerful way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, the purpose of recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses is to review the evidence, the impact of HIIT on vascular function compared to training. It was to quantify the mean intensity continuity (MICT).

A typical HIIT prescription is four 4-minute intervals (HIIT 4×4) at 85-95% of maximum heart rate, with a sparse 3-minute active recovery at 60-70% of maximum heart rate, three times per week 12 -16 weeks.

HIIT training is a more powerful form of exercise for improving vascular function than continuous training of moderate intensity.

Brachial artery blood flow-mediated dilation improved by 4.31% and 2.15% after HIIT and MICT, respectively. This resulted in a mean significant difference of 2.26%. HIIT also tended to have a more positive impact than MICT on secondary outcome measures such as cardiopulmonary function, traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin sensitivity.

Therefore, HIIT training (of the specific interventions used and described above) is more likely to be a powerful exercise for improving vascular function as well.

Glucose regulation and insulin resistance

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are closely related, with over 80% of people with type 2 diabetes being classified as overweight or obese based on body mass index (BMI) thresholds.

Dietary and physical activity interventions are the foundation for the management of both conditions. However, while the effects of exercise on type 2 diabetes and insulin sensitivity are well established, its effects on weight regulation are controversial.

A recent meta-analysis involving 50 studies and more than 2,000 participants shows that HIIT further reduces insulin resistance and weight compared to continuous training.

Participants at risk or those with type 2 diabetes had lower fasting blood glucose levels with HIIT compared with continuous training.

Therefore, it was concluded that HIIT is appropriate as an alternative to continuous training to promote metabolic health and weight loss, especially in people with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

Enhanced muscle power and free testosterone

High Intensity Training (HIIT) training is a time-saving strategy for achieving health and performance benefits for youth.

Six HIIT sessions over a 2-3 week period have been shown to improve muscle strength in physically active men and women. , Age frequency, and as exercise that has been shown to improve quality of life.

Similarly, maximal strength (maximum strength) is an important determinant of athletic performance throughout life and declines and declines over the years. Lolo

Both show a significant disadvantage for high-performance competitive athletes, and to overcome this physiological decline, training programs tailored to older athletes are required.

In a recent 2017 study, HIIT training (6 weeks in duration) significantly increased absolute and relative peak power and slightly elevated free testosterone in high-level male athletes aged 55-65. It shows.

HIIT training can improve peak power and a slight increase in free testosterone

These athletes competed at a high level in water polo, triathlon, track cycling, road cycling and running at various distances.

The HIIT session had six 30-second splits at 40% of maximum power and three minutes of active recovery interspersed.

Taken together, these data indicate that there is a carefully timed placement of HIIT training hours at higher Tremes levels of older athletes, which may lead to a better assimilation environment.

Given a previous study detailing that peak power recovery in the elderly took approximately 5 days of HIIT, such a carefully timed workout was designed to maintain athletic performance for limited periods of time. It will be a hands-on approach (less training time).

Improved performance in intermittent profile sports

The ability to perform periods of high intensity and the ability to isolate and recover between those periods is a central part of training for sports with an intermittent profile such as team sports (soccer, basketball, handball, rugby, etc.). Racket things (tennis, paddle tennis, badminton, etc.).

These sports have various strengths, suits, and agility to achieve high-level performance.

A recent degree project by Ismael Macia Serrano, a student at the Miguel Hernández University in Elche, evaluates high-intensity intermittent training as a tool to improve performance in intermittent sports.

And yes, it is a task of systematic review of the literature with the appropriate methodologies and the appropriate guidance, so it is a task that is evaluated and considered.

Well, this study concluded that High Strength Rib Training (HIIT) seems to be an efficient way to address the above aspects. This type of training provides faster musculoskeletal adaptations (eg, increased mitochondrial content) than traditional continuous resistance training.

Higher intensity requires less exercise time to produce beneficial musculoskeletal adaptations. On the other hand, higher intensity is more effective with less exercise, and low-work HIIT (15 sessions up to 40 minutes) is a good way to improve performance and fitness.

HIIT is more efficient and sport-specific training with an intermittent profile compared to long-term continuous training.

In addition, cardiorespiratory (increased mitochondrial density) and metabolic (increased glycogen availability) adaptations similar to traditional long-term resistance training have been shown to be obtained.

Therefore, HIIT is more efficient and specific for sports with an intermittent profile compared to continuous training of long duration without the typical actions of these sports such as acceleration, braking and turning. Formation.

However, the type of HIIT (duration and concentration, duration of recovery and concentration, etc.) depends on the coach’s purpose with the player and the particular characteristics of the sport.

This last aspect must be taken into account for other populations as well, since training must be individualized, just like HIIT.

The (eligible) trainer personalizes the HIIT training (duration and intensity of the series, duration and intensity of recovery, type of obesity: obese, experienced and trained, elderly, etc.) without risk Adequate adaptation of.

CONCLUSION

HIIT is a great training tool with many health and performance benefits, but not all of them work.