Why is endurance running gaining popularity?
The following could be some of the reasons for endurance (long distance) running gaining popular: It gets you outside...you can enjoy the outside air (assuming clean unpolluted air outside) and good scenery Easy to get started... Just put on some shoes and start running, which is a pretty basic human movement. For starters, specialized shoes, running technique and training regimen are not mandatory, but will become necessary soon afterwards. There are plenty of running groups around and most of them have good coaches. So, being part of a group helps with socializing and also helps with being regular in keeping up with the schedule. There is also security in numbers... it is important to be aware of and to watch out for thugs and other unscrupulous criminal elements too, out there.…
Is squatting the knees past the toes bad?
Let us talk about two variants of Squats, the Front Squat and the Back Squat. The Front Squats are Quad Dominant. And your knees will definitely go well past your toes. Owing to the fact that the hamstrings are very shortened in this Squat, they do not contribute towards any hip extension. The Back Squat, at-least in the Low Bar Back Squat, where the Hip Drive forms a very important component, the Posterior Chain of Muscles (the hamstring, the glutes and the lower back) contribute quite heavily towards Hip Extension. Here, the emphasis is on Hip Drive. However, here too, the knees will go past the toes, but only just a bit. Exactly how much, depends on an individual's anthropometry, but it is nowhere as much ahead of the toes,…
What’s the better choice for athletes, front squats or back squats? Why?
What sport is the athlete participating in? In any case, obviously, Front Squats and Back Squats are done for Strength, (please do NOT use them for purposes of conditioning...there are FAR better and LESS riskier ways to conditioning). Front Squats will concentrate more on the Quadriceps. Back Squats concentrate more on the Posterior Chain (Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower Back). If we take an example of a track athlete, most of their workouts use the quads predominantly. The posterior chain muscles lag behind in strength development, usually. This is ok until the athlete tries to stretch their own limits (as they would, during competition and when they are trying to improve on their Personal Best during practice). There comes a point when the hamstrings for instance are not able to keep up…
What are some of the best exercises for increasing stamina?
Stamina can also be called as Conditioning in the Fitness World. The most important thing with Conditioning is that it is Specific to the activity. If you are an Athlete, then, Conditioning is different for a Marathon Runner, for a 100 meters Sprinter, for a Tennis Player, for a Badminton Player, for a Football Player, for a Boxer...... Consider the requirements for a Badminton or a Racket Ball Player...constant movement, with hardly any rest. On the other hand, for a Baseball Player, this is vastly different. Therefore, their training for Conditioning NEEDS to also be different. For a non-athlete, it depends on how Unconditioned the person is, at the moment and where he/she would like to get to (in terms of Fitness). If the person is unable to even walk…
How long should I wait after eating to test my after meal blood sugar?
It depends on what you eat, how much...... If you have eaten Sweets/Chocolates (Sugar), then, Blood Glucose (BG) Spike could happen in as little as 10-15-20 minutes. Simple Carbohydrates might take a while longer (but not too much longer...maybe at 30-45 minutes or so) to cause BG Spike. And likewise, various kinds of foods take different times to cause BG Spikes and this can vary person to person and also can vary at different times for the same person. Proteins take a lot longer to affect BG. Fats (by themselves) cause Little to no Increase in BG. Factors such as how Stressed a person is, What kind of meal they had previously and When and How Much they ate, are they Diabetic, and if so, then, for how many years,…
What is better, jogging or a treadmill?
Well, both have their advantages and dis-advantages. Running/Jogging Outside: Disadvantages: You really need to think about the following... If the weather is not conducive to run outside, such as when it is raining heavily (and maybe it is a thunderstorm), is really cold or very hot, then, it would not make sense to try to run outside. Running outside could be dangerous due to presence of wild critters such as street dogs, snakes etc. Not all places have street dogs running around and snakes are not present in certain areas, but this could be a real/true problem depending on where you live. Hey, some places, you could run into maybe even bears, mountain lions...if you happen to reside/run in such a location that has bears/mountain lions. Running outside, especially, when…
Can one maintain one’s muscle strength even after they stop doing exercises?
That depends on your Genetics, how strong you were before you started exercising, what kind of exercises you were doing before you stopped doing them, your Nutrition, if you lead an Active or a Sedentary Lifestyle etc. Assuming you got strong following a good Training Regimen (and eating healthy...), then, if you stop doing those exercises, then, you will need other ways to be active and compensate in other ways. For example, if you were capable of Back Squatting 40 kilograms before you started Squatting. After training Squats properly, overtime now, you are able to Squat 100 Kilogram. Now, if you stop Squatting entirely (and do not workout at all), then, your ability to Squat 100 kgs will definitely go down over time. That is unless you say do manual…
How do MMA fighters cut huge amounts of weight in a span of days whereas regular people can’t cut a few kilos/pounds in months?
There are many differences between Professional MMA fighters and "Regular People"...the keyword there is "Professional". Professional MMA fighters are dedicated to MMA 100%, for as long as they continue to fight professionally. So, they HAVE to be fit enough for the demands of the sport or they are going to get cut from their contracts. They have the Money, the Dedication (and the Compulsion as discussed in the earlier point) to employ Good and Proven Nutritionist, who specialize in this. These Nutrition Professionals are therefore, very aware of what kinds of foods affect the fighters and how they can tweak the Macros to get the results the fighters need, in the time-frame they are looking to obtain these results. In addition, these Nutrition Experts also experiment with various types of food and…
How true is it that a plank reduces the belly fat and makes abs stronger?
You have two things you want to accomplish, I) To reduce your Belly Fat II) To get your abs Stronger And you would like to know how, doing Planks might help you attain the above goals. Planks: First, to address the issue of Planks. Form is very important with Planks (as they are with any exercise, for that matter). So, you need to learn what the correct forms are, and will need to maintain that throughout your set. Also, there are some variations of Planks (such as RKC Planks) that are harder and more effective than the "usual" version of Planks. Again, knowing and maintaining correct form in any version is most important, as discussed above. Although doing Planks are undoubtedly better than doing nothing at all (some activity is…