[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/bestTimeToExercise.jpg” alt=”best time to exercise” title=”best time to exercise” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]Best time to exercise – what a question! And it’s one that has several different answers, the one that is right for you will depend on various factors.
Best Time To Exercise
There have been numerous studies carried out to try and find the best time to exercise; asking whether we’re stronger in the morning versus the evening, looking at the differing levels of testosterone and cortisol during the course of the day.
Testosterone – a muscle building hormone (anabolic) – levels are higher in the mornings than in the evenings, BUT research has shown that resting evening testosterone levels show a greater increase after exercise than they do in the morning. [1]
Resting cortisol – a muscle destroying hormone (catabolic) – levels are lowest in the morning and peak in the evenings, BUT cortisol levels appear to increase at a slower rate, due to exercise, in the evening compared with the morning. [2]
If you wanted to base the best time to exercise on testosterone-cortisol ratios then early evening looks to be best. [3]
There is also evidence to suggest that almost everyone is stronger in the evening than in the morning; I had this very conversation with the Coach not so long ago – I would have thought we’d be stronger in the mornings due to not having spent all day rushing around and being busy, but it seems the opposite is true.
Another tick in the box for the best time to exercise being the evening.
Well this is all very ‘bad’ news – training in the early evening is definitely NOT the best time to exercise for me (AND all the studies cited involve men, most research involving women seems to focus on bone density – we’ll talk about THAT another day).
But you know, you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure out the best time to exercise and be so busy reading ‘the best time to exercise’ research that you never actually get round to training at all!
So here’s what I base my best time to exercise on…
Best time to exercise #1 – When I’m most likely to get it done
I’m a morning person. I like to walk the dogs and train before lunchtime, so this is the best time to exercise for me. The thought of training in the afternoon or early evening, when I’ve got a ton of other demands on that time, makes me edgy AND I rarely feel enthused about throwing weights around at that time of day either.
However, if you’re NOT a morning person then YOUR best time to exercise will not be first thing, you might perform better in the evening.
Best time to exercise #2 – When I DON’T feel like it
This follows on from the best time to execise #1 – there are times when my schedule doesn’t allow for training in the morning, so what should I do? NOT train at all? I don’t think so; I have to kick myself up the proverbial and train even when I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT!
It’s a case of ‘suck it up, remember your goals, and stop being such a baby’; not only that, I know I’ll always feel much better once it’s done – the sense of ‘overcoming yourself’ and having done what you committed to do can’t be underestimated.
Yesterday was a case in point! It was creeping closer to lunchtime and my ‘morning best time to exercise’ was rapidly slipping away. It was deadlifts, you see, and they’re beginning to ‘scare’ me somewhat so by the time I faced up to them I’d tidied the house, done some laundry, done some admin’ considered cleaning the kitchen floor by licking it and other ‘more appealing’ things I’d been putting off.
It got to the stage where there was nothing else for it – I had to do those deadlifts to stop them taunting me.
I nailed them – 60kg for work set, for those who like to know – and I felt GREAT afterwards so, yes, the best time exercise can most definitely be when you don’t feel like it.
Best time to exercise #3 – Whenever I can
What if you work a rotating shift pattern?
What if you have a small baby who dictates your (almost)every waking and sleeping moment?
What if you have older kids who need to be chauffeured around here there and everywhere at different times on different days? That’s me!
Well, the best time to exercise for us is going to be whenever you can fit it in – as long as you DO fit it in to your 24 hours of each day somewhere, the key to success is to make sure you consistently do what needs to be done.
So, the best time to exercise…?
When you feel at your best, when you’re most likely to get it done, when you DON’T WANT TO and whenever you can.
Whichever the best time to exercise is for you, the one thing I can guarantee is that you’ll feel fabulous afterwards and be a step closer to your six-pack goal.
Best time to exercise study references
[1] Deschenes, M.R., Bronson, L.L., Cadorette, M.P., Powers, J.E., & Weinlein, J.C. (2002). Aged men display blunted biorhythmic variation of muscle performance and physiological responses. Journal of Applied Physiology, 92, 2319-2325
[2] Kanaley, J.A., Weltman, J.Y., Pieper, K.S., Weltman, A., & Hartman, M.L. (2001). Cortisol and growth hormone responses to exercise at different times of day. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 86, 2881-2889
[3] Bird, S.P., & Tarpenning, K.M. (2004). Influence of circadian time structure on acute hormonal responses to a single bout of heavy-resistance exercise in weight-trained men. Chronobiology International, 21, 131-146
[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/alternativesToWeighingYourselfOnTheScales1.jpg” alt=”Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales” title=”alternativesToWeighingYourselfOnTheScales” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]Scales are generally the first method of tracking diet progress that people think of and turn to but, as we’ve previously seen, they’re not the best method and shouldn’t be used on their own.
Part of the solution to getting the body you want is to reduce your body fat; just weighing yourself won’t tell you how you’re doing with that.
So here are some alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales, exclusively, which will give you a better over all picture of how you’re getting on.
Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales
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Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales #1 – the tape measure
The humble tape measure is just one of the many alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales that you have in your arsenal for tracking diet progress.
We’ve already established that your diet goal is not necessarily to lose weight, but to reduce your body fat.
As fat takes up rather a lot of ‘body space’, it stands to reason that you’ll become smaller as you reduce your body fat – all hail, then, the tape measure for tracking diet progress.
Choose the areas of your body you’d like to monitor – the usual are chest, waist and hips, but if you have an issue with your thighs, for example, then measure them too.
The important thing to remember is to measure yourself in the same place each time and keep the same tension – look for an identifying mark to help you, or draw on yourself with permanent marker if you really want to keep accurate tabs on things <—-yes, I have done this.
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Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales #2 – body fat % measurement
As one of the alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales, you have a number of options for obtaining a body fat percentage number ranging from the Navy Method to various machines that you either stand on or grip with your hands, which send an electrical current through your body.
The Navy method is probably the easiest, and cheapest, of these alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales as it just requires body measurements and your weight to work out a body fat percentage.
There are various online calculators you can use, here’s one I’ve used in the past: Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales – Navy Method calculator
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Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales #3 – skinfold calipers
Skinfold callipers measure, in millimetres, the fat you have under your skin at various sites on your body, you then use a formula to translate that into a body fat percentage or you can get digital ones that work it out for you.
For accurately tracking diet progress these are going to require a bit of practice – I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with my digital callipers for a long while.
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Alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales #4 – your clothes
Of all the alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales, this has to be my favourite as it’s pretty fool proof and is the one I find most satisfying
I love my clothes and I have a fair few items that aren’t at all forgiving when it comes to gaining even just one pound – they are very, VERY effective for tracking diet progress.
[hr]So of all the alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales, which ones are the best and most reliable for tracking diet progress?
Well, there is no ‘best’ – they’ll all throw a number at you which in itself isn’t what’s important. What’s important, with whichever of the alternatives to weighing yourself on the scales you choose, is a consistent downward trend over time.
General Nutrition Tips and Tricks
Avoid Ruining Your Diet with non-food rewards and healthy choices
Posted on 18/11/2011[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/standingOnScales.jpg” alt=”avoid ruining your diet at the weekend” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]SO! It’s the weekend – the time where, at all costs, you want to avoid ruining your diet by making healthy choices and using non-food rewards as treats.
You’ve worked hard, you’ve trained hard, you’ve been very diligent and eaten properly all week too. The results are speaking for themselves – all the ways you’re tracking your progress show you’re moving in the right direction; awesome!
Now, where’s your head at?
Has it registered your progress, jumped for joy and already started plotting various weekend food and drink treats to indulge in – after all, you deserve them, right? A little celebration to commemorate your success is always a good thing 😀
Well it is…and it isn’t. It all depends on what you treat yourself with over the weekend and whether you avoid ruining your diet by NOT going completely over the top!
But what does completely over the top mean? Well, let’s suppose you decide to go out for pizza for dinner this weekend…
You kick things off with some garlic bread – 4 slices comes in at 468 calories; if you decide to stay away from the bread and chose garlic mushrooms instead, thinking it’s one of the more healthy choices, then you need to think again and add another 100 calories to that.
Perhaps you’d be better off sharing a starter…perhaps some nachos? Nachos to share contain 1087 calories.
With your starter you decide to have a glass of wine or beer, just a small one – add 125 calories for wine or 150 for beer – then it’s pizza time!
You’re undecided, but it’s a choice between a regular 9 inch margherita (6 slices at 188 calories per slice) or a regular 11-inch stuffed crust Margherita (6 slices at 235 calories per slice); you’re going to keep it simple and just have pizza, not the rest of the side bits and pieces (you’re trying to avoid ruining your diet remember 😉 )
However, as you’ve been so good all week you’re definitely going to have dessert – a piece of chocolate fudge cake (683 calories) and perhaps another glass of wine of beer.
At the end of your Pizza Hut treat dinner out, your waiter brings your bill to the table:
Starter – Garlic Bread: 468 calories
Pizza – Regular Margherita: 1128 calories
Dessert – Choc’ Fudge Cake: 683 calories
Drinks – Two beers: 300 calories
TOTAL: 2,579 CALORIES
Let’s add some conservative estimates on to that for breakfast and lunch, and perhaps an afternoon snack – 250 for breakfast, 350 for lunch and say…150 for the snack.
In total, your calories for that one day will total just short of 3,500! <—– This is NOT the way to avoid ruining your diet!
You all know the calorie equation for losing or gaining a lb of fat…
- Burn 3,000 MORE than you consume to get rid lb of fat
- Consume 3,500 MORE than you burn to gain lb of fat
If you use junk food and alcohol as your reward, you can easily undo all the progress you made during the week and will have FAILED to avoid ruining your diet!
[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/highProteinStrawberryAndBlueberryMuffins.jpg” alt=”healthy choices to avoid ruining your diet” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”left”]If you don’t want say goodbye to some sort of foody reward then just make them healthy choices – that doesn’t have to mean salad; look at these..
They’re high protien Strawberry and Blueberry muffins and they…
- don’t contain anything refined
- don’t contain any artificial sugar or sweeteners
- contain hardly any fat
- are packed full of fibre
- come in at a mere 145 calories each
- WILL help you to avoid ruining your diet (although not if you eat them all in one go!)
They are one of the recipes in Dave Ruel’s Anabolic Cooking cook book – don’t be put off by the name anabolic in the title, there are some SERIOUSLY scrummy recipes and healthy choices in there.
I can reliably inform you that a couple of those muffins, with a cup of coffee, will make you feel like you’ve treated yourself to something ‘naughty’ when you haven’t.
However, if you really want to get away from using food as a reward, and avoid ruining your diet over the weekend, then consider some of these non-food rewards as alternatives:
- Buy yourself something small – I love painting my toenails; it’s rare to see them without some sort of colour on them. One of my non-food rewards is to peruse all the different colours and choose a new one to add to my collection – it makes me happy and not a calorie in sight to derail my progress <——- even more happy!
- Buy yourself something bigger (as long as it’s not a bigger size of clothes!) – if your clothes are starting to hang off you, buy yourself a new top (perhaps, if you dare, that’s slightly too small for you at the moment!) or whatever takes your fancy. It’ll make you feel good about staying on track and, if you went for that size smaller, will be a HUGE motivator to keep forging on and help you avoid ruining your diet (at any time, not just the weekend!).
- Go somewhere – have you been wanting to go somewhere? Perhaps to an art gallery, or something along those lines? Take some time out from the norm’ and go somewhere this weekend – this is reward time, remember – and go and tick these things off your list. I live near Bletchley Park – it’s the home of the World War II Code Breakers who cracked the Enigma Code – and I’ve always wanted to go but never been. THIS is one of the a non-food rewards I intend to indulge in over Christmas time 😀
- Go for a walk – if you don’t live in the countryside, get in your car, drive somewhere stunning and WALK. Not only is that good for the soul, it’s will most definitely see you avoid ruining your diet over the weekend.
- Go to the movies – this could be a challenge if you’re used to loading up with popcorn and ice cream before you take your seats. But it’s just a habit and you can break that (yes, you can); if your movie theatres charge as much as ours do for sweets, drinks, popcorn and ice cream you’ll be saving yourself a fortune in the process (which you can spend on something small for your next non-food rewards!). If all else fails – sneak in your own snacks, just make sure they are healthy choices.
- Get a manicure – or a pedicure; BOTH, if you’ve reached a big milestone
- Get a massage – I’ve never had a massage in a spa or salon; ever. It’s definitely going to have to be ticked off my non-food rewards list some day soon.
- Buy yourself a new book – I love reading and new books have always been a bit of a treat for me. The best place to read your non-food rewards treat book, by the way, is going to be in the bath!
There are all sorts of non-food rewards to treat yourself with and you know what the biggest reward of all is…?
Waking up on Monday morning knowing you did everything you could to avoid ruining your diet over the weekend.
Have a FANTASTIC one, whatever it is you’re doing.
Be strong, be happy, be AWESOME!
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I couldn’t agree more Mr Ford!
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If you’ve visited your local supermarket during the last couple of weeks, you won’t have failed to notice the ever-increasing quantities of Christmas biscuits, chocolates and mince pies along with all the other usual edible festive things.
These scrummy bits and pieces were always an integral part of Christmas for me and it got me into trouble! Every year was completely over the top and lasted far too long, until Christmas 2009/2010 when I decided to put a stop to it.
I entered Tom Venuto’s first ever Holiday Challenge – a 49-day transformation contest running right through Christmas and New Year – and instead of ending up fatter after Father Christmas and Auld Lang Syne had been to visit, I won the title of ‘Most Ripped’ and felt awesome.
A lot of people labour under the misapprehension that nothing sweet and/or chocolatey passes my lips any more; that I’ll never again eat the odd Pringle (or 10, let’s be realistic here) and eat nothing but raw vegetables with chicken or salmon every day. Guess what? It’s not true! 😀
Although, having just said that, I’m going to tell you that my favourite six-pack snacks of the moment are raw sugarsnap peas and they’re really hitting the spot.
They’re sweet, they’re crunchy; a real little superfood and I LOVE THEM. Here’s why…
Sugarsnap peas
- Low in calories – approximately 34 calories per 100 grams; hurrah!
- High in fibre – which, as we all know, helps to reduce blood cholesterol levels, obesity and constipation
- High in Vitamin C – in fact just 100 grams of sugarsnap peas provides 100% of the recommended daily amount of vit’ C
- High in Vitamin K – vit’ K is essential for blood clotting and helps to build strong bones
- High in Vitamin A – aka retinol and is required for a whole host of things: strengthening the immune system, good skin, healthy mucous membranes and helps you to see in low light levels
- Great source of folic acid – if you’re a pregnant mummy-to-be, then sugarsnap peas should definitely be in your diet
- Contain antioxidants in the form of various carotenes, lutein and zeaxanthin – all good for the eyes again; lutein and zexanthin are particularly good for helping to prevent macular degenration
- Contain Vitamin B5 – aka pantothenic acid which is great for helping to get rid of acne
- Contain Vitamin B1 – aka thiamin; essential for nervous system, heart and muscle function. It also helps the body convert carbs, fat and protein into energy
- Contan Vitamin B3 – aka niacin. Vit’ B3 is needed for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver and it helps to improve circulation
- Contan Vitamin B6 – aka pyridoxine. You need pyridoxine for normal brain development and function and it helps the body make serotonin and norepinephrine – good mood hormones – along with melatonin, which helps keep your body clock in check. Not only that, the body needs vitamin B6 to be able to absorb vitamin B12
- Contain high levels of calcium, iron, copper, zinc, selenium and manganese – I don’t really need to explain why these are good for you, do I? Okay, quickly then:
- calcium = bones
- iron = blood
- copper = blood, bones and nervous system
- zinc = immune system, cell generation, sense of taste and smell
- selenium = cell damage prevention and
- maganese = formation of connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors and sex hormones, along with calcium absorption and blood sugar regulation
And you thought they were just little green pea pods!
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the A-M-AZING six-pack snack bars I made today, for those times when some serious sweetness is required; seriously, you won’t want to miss out on this one 😀
[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lifeChaptersLarge.jpg” alt=”” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]A Facebook friend of mine posted this on her wall this morning – I rather like it and thought I’d share it with you.
That’s all – see you tomorrow 🙂
exercises General training
Leg Exercises – Deadlifts, Split Squats and Donkey Calf Raises
Posted on 08/11/2011[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/donkeyCalfRaisesToToneCalves.jpg” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]
* donkey calf raises took on a new kind of ‘cool’ today when the teenagers discovered Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do them
Training on Mondays is ‘Luscious Legs’ and, ohhhh, do I. LOVE. IT!!
Three exercises make up Luscious Leg Mondays: deadlift, squats and calf raises; to be more precise: Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats and donkey calf raises.
I’m still engaged in my love affair with deadlifts; I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of doing them, will never cease to be amazed that I’m lifting more than I weigh and will always enjoy adding ‘just another kilo’ to the bar week after week.
Bulgarian split squats – I love these too – and are my squat of choice when I’m away from the gym at home in South Africa.
I don’t have a squat rack here in the UK, you see, and trying to haul 45kg over my head and onto my shoulders across my back is somewhat tricky, so I enlist the services of the Bulgarian split squat – or rear foot elevated split squat – along with a fairly hefty dumbbell in each hand; it doesn’t take many of them to get my quads yelling at me.
Elise (my sixteen-year-old daughter, just in case this is your first visit here and you’re not up to speed with who’s who yet) is currently training for selection to join the British Army.
Lower and upper body strength, mental strength, stamina, grit and determination are all, as you can imagine, serious requirements for the fitness element of selection; Bulgarian split squats are rapidly whipping her quads into shape too and it’s an exercise she can do on her own without running the risk of easy injury. [2014 update – Elise is 19 now and a fully-fledged member of the Royal Artillery!]
So on to donkey calf raises – I know the mental image conjured up is an interesting one and invariably accompanied by sniggering and the urge to say, “Donkey calf raises?! But I haven’t got a donkey!”
I was introduced to donkey calf raises back in February 2010. No weight to begin with, just me standing on the balls of my feet on a bottom step, heels extending off it whilst bent over at the waist with hands resting a couple of steps higher. Then I just had to go straight up and down, up and down, up and down with a full range of motion through the ankle; nothing else moves or bends.
I remember thinking ‘Pah! Easy peasy!’ along with wondering why I was ‘just’ doing those when there was a calf raise machine I could use – I mean, just because I was a girl didn’t mean I had to do girly exercises!
Well was that ever a case where I very quickly ate my (mental) words! Even without added weight my calves were burning like crazy; awesome, I was hooked.
But why not use the calf machine? Well, I asked and a practical demonstration provided the multiple answer.
The trainer who showed me donkey calf raises wasn’t a small guy – a former Mr Great Britain, in fact – sat on my lower back for a set of reps; oooh they were tough – do-able, but tough – and the burn in my calves was incredible!
The calf machine stack was then pinned at the same weight and despite all the shoulder padding, it made my shoulders hurt and I was left with rather impressive bruises on each one; there wasn’t even any point demonstrating further with a couple of dumbbells, my grip strength just wouldn’t have allowed me to hold them for long enough; I got the message.
So today I put my 17-year-old son, Jack, to very good use – he might as well start earning his keep one way or the other! – I used all 75kg of him as weight for donkey calf raises; imagine me trying to hold 37kg in each hand for three sets of calf raises! [2014 update – Jack is now 20! Time certainly flies!]
Luscious Legs was followed by a four-mile walk across the fields with the dogs; I can reliably inform you that, by the time I got back home, my legs were finished and it felt GOOD!
I LOVE TRAINING LEGS 😀
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Once upon a time I, only occasionally, read the recommended serving/portion sizes per person on food labels. Admittedly it was never the most riveting read, but I felt I’d done my ‘duty’ by paying brief attention to the nutritional advice on offer.
Special K breakfast cereal has a recommended serving of 35 grams; do you know what 35 grams of Special K looks like? I can tell you – not much!
Yes, in dark and distant days long since passed, I used to eat Special K cereal and yes, I even embarked on their Drop a Jeans Size in Two Weeks Challenge– I got hungry and gave up after about three days.
That is probably the only time I actually measured out a recommended portion size before April 2009, when I finally took responsibility for what, and how much, I was putting in my mouth.
I’ll never forget the fierce brightness of that ‘realisation lightbulb’ when I started weighing the things I was going to eat; no wonder I kept piling on the pounds (especially over Christmas time) I was probably eating at least three times the number of calories I should have been, even to maintain a consistent weight!
I had NO clue what 100 grams of chicken actually looked like, or anything else for that matter. Since then I’ve become a master of being able to gauge the portion size and weight of the various things I eat with, almost, deadly accuracy and I know this how? Because I’m still rather partial to throwing things on the scales to see if I’ve guessed right – like I said yesterday, I’m a numbers girl.
Now I appreciate the thought of weighing food on a daily basis isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but if you want to really take charge of your body composition, lose weight, lose body fat and/or increase your muscle mass then you’ve got two choices:
1) keep guessing, cross your fingers and hope you’re getting it right – let me know how that works out for you or,
2) take charge and get down and dirty with some basic maths in the kitchen
You all know how the body composition equation goes, at its most basic:
More calories in than out = weight gain – Fewer calories in than out = weight loss
Knowing that is all well and good but you need to know how many calories to ‘put in’ and what it all actually LOOKS like when it’s out of the bags, packets and boxes.
If it helps, look at it this way – you wouldn’t bake a cake and NOT weigh out all the ingredients, only half-heartedly follow the carefully formulated, tried and tested recipe and expect it to turn out exactly the way it looks in the book would you!
No – you weigh the ingredients, follow the mixing instructions, oven temperature and baking times and get good results. You’re getting my point, right?
So about those 30 grams of nuts…
Having worked out the theoretical nut numbers yesterday, I HAD to find out what each actually looked like in real terms so, this afternoon, I went out and bought a bag each of walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios and fired up my rather ‘intelligent’ scales.
(If you’ve not read yesterday’s post about nuts helping to burn fat, click HERE to go there).
I love my clever scales; they were sent to me to review, last year, and they will tell you the nutritional breakdown of the food you’ve placed on them. Want to know the calorie, protein, carb’, sugar, salt and fibre content in a certain grammage of something? Enter the food code and, TA-DAAAA, more numbers pop up than a numbers girl could ever wish for 😉
I counted out how many of each nut variety made up 30 grams and then took a picture so you can see for yourself what it all looks like, along with all the nutritional numbers just to get you in the mathematical mood!
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So there you go!
Now you know what 30 grams of walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios looks like.
Now you know about each of their nutritional components and how many calories you get for your nut!
NOW you know that whilst nuts can help burn fat, are a good source of healthy fat, oils and antixodants (in the right quantity), you can see how lethal they’ll be for your waistline in larger quantities – and there you were happy, and content, believing that eating nuts by the bucket load was okay; sorry.
I learned my nutritional nut lesson the hard way – I LOVE them, remember – so after my nut research had been concluded, I wasn’t going to take ANY chances…
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