Monday, November 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Train Like A Man, Even If You Aren’t One
During my athletic years and throughout the history of my experience as a Personal Trainer, I have continuously heard females associate their disinterest of weight-lifting with a fear of “getting big.” Today, I want to discredit this myth by explaining just how difficult it truly is for women to put on quantity muscle mass.
1) Women do not produce enough testosterone.
Testosterone is the primary hormone responsible for muscle mass gains.
From pre-pubescence to full maturation, the testosterone of a male shifts from a range of 20-60 ng/100 ml (pre-pubescence) to 600 ng/100 ml (full maturation). This 10-fold increase in male testosterone production accounts for the noticeable muscle mass increases in males. Increases in muscle mass in males can be seen between ages 18 and 25.
On the other hand, from pre-pubescence to full maturation, the testosterone of a female remains unaltered at 20-60 ng/100 ml. It is only the increase in estrogen production, during puberty, that accounts for increased body fat, breasts development, and hip-widening. Although females also tend to develop muscle during puberty, they will acquire far less than males and will do so at a far slower rate. Peak increases in muscle mass in females can be seen between ages 16-20.
- Conclusion: if a woman and a man trained exactly the same, then their bodies would still appear very different. Both would gain quality muscle, but women would develop far less of it
2) Females have fewer type 2 (fast twitch muscle fibers) than males in their upper bodies.
Type 2 muscle fibers are very much responsible for one’s ability to develop strength, power, and muscle mass.
Since females have fewer of these fibers in their upper bodies, they usually cannot develop equivalent strength and muscle size in their upper bodies, compared on an absolute basis to the ability of males. Think about it: how many women do you see benching or pulling up their body weight? The answer is probably few.
On the other hand, Females and males have similar quantities of type 2 fibers throughout their lower-bodies. Therefore, a female’s legs are much more likely to possess equivalent strength and muscular potential to males. A woman may not have a very difficult time developing the strength to squat or dead-lift her body weight because of this.
- Conclusion: Females and males have an equal potential of developing lower-body strength and muscle mass. Compared to males, females cannot usually develop equal upper body strength and muscle mass.
3) Males have a larger cross-sectional area.
A larger cross-sectional area means that the muscles are thicker.
Thicker muscles have a greater force-generating potential. The ability to generate force is directly associated with the ability to produce muscle mass. The muscles enlargement that results from resistance training is called hypertrophy and is primarily the result of an increase in the cross-sectional area.
- Conclusion: Females are not usually capable of reaching equivalent thickness to the muscles of males. Females have less ability to generate force, and therefore, less ability to gain muscle mass.
4) By nature, females have a higher percentage of body-fat, primarily due to increased amounts of estrogen.
- Conclusion: Additional body fat will make it harder to see any quality muscle gains in females (compared to males).
To every woman who associates their disinterest of weight-lifting with a fear of “getting big:” Get over your misperceptions and get ballsy with your free-weights (no pun intended).
To gain quality definition, you must train with intensity! A minimum of 5 hours of cross-training per week (cardio and weights) along with maintenance of a healthy and calorie-specific diet will allow females to “tone-up” efficiently without looking huge ☺
To gain quality definition, you must train with intensity! A minimum of 5 hours of cross-training per week (cardio and weights) along with maintenance of a healthy and calorie-specific diet will allow females to “tone-up” efficiently without looking huge ☺
For Information regarding calorie-specific dieting, visit:
http://laurenkern.com/nutrition.html
For Information regarding calorie-specific meal plans, visit:
http://laurenkern.com/contact.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
WHAT IT TAKES TO LOSE 1 LB OF BODY-FAT/WEEK
- One pound of body-fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories.
How do you burn off a pound?
1) Begin by visiting http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
- This is a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator. Your BMR is the number of calories that you burn if you were to lay in bed for an entire day.
- Enter your Height, weight, age, & gender. Click on “calculate BMR”
2) Calculate your daily energy expendature
- If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
- If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) :Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
- If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
- If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) :Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
- If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
*Example: my BMR is 1,320. 1,320 x 1.55= 2,046 calories/day
3) Create your deficit. The outcome of your equation is the number of calories that you need per day in order to maintain your current weight. If you expect to lose one pound of body-fat per week, then take the outcome of your equation and subtract 500 calories to create your deficit (a deficit of 3,500 calories per week means a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories).
*Example: The outcome of my equation was 2,046. 2,046-500= 1,546 calories per day
4) The outcome of step 3 equals the number of calories you must consume per day (for 7 days in a row) in order to lose 1 pound of body fat at the end of the week.
5) Use a journal to calculate your daily calories. Follow serving sizes so that documented caloric amounts are exact. Weigh & measure your food. If your food is unpackaged (as in the case of fresh produce), then Google the caloric intake of such foods. It may seem tedious at first, but you will begin to see easy-to-remember patterns. Try to eat every 3 hours.
6) I recommend dividing the outcome of your equation by 5. Eat 5 meals per day. Each meal should be structured to meet 1/5th of your daily caloric needs
*Example: My daily caloric need to lose 1 pound of body-fat per week is 1,546. 1,546/5= 309 calories per meal. I will eat 309 calories during each meal, 5 times per day.
You have the tools to make the changes that you desire. Now use them to get the results!
3) Create your deficit. The outcome of your equation is the number of calories that you need per day in order to maintain your current weight. If you expect to lose one pound of body-fat per week, then take the outcome of your equation and subtract 500 calories to create your deficit (a deficit of 3,500 calories per week means a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories).
*Example: The outcome of my equation was 2,046. 2,046-500= 1,546 calories per day
4) The outcome of step 3 equals the number of calories you must consume per day (for 7 days in a row) in order to lose 1 pound of body fat at the end of the week.
5) Use a journal to calculate your daily calories. Follow serving sizes so that documented caloric amounts are exact. Weigh & measure your food. If your food is unpackaged (as in the case of fresh produce), then Google the caloric intake of such foods. It may seem tedious at first, but you will begin to see easy-to-remember patterns. Try to eat every 3 hours.
6) I recommend dividing the outcome of your equation by 5. Eat 5 meals per day. Each meal should be structured to meet 1/5th of your daily caloric needs
*Example: My daily caloric need to lose 1 pound of body-fat per week is 1,546. 1,546/5= 309 calories per meal. I will eat 309 calories during each meal, 5 times per day.
You have the tools to make the changes that you desire. Now use them to get the results!
RECIPE: GINGER CHICKEN & WARM APPLE SLAW-Serves 4
Source:Better Home’s and Garden’s Special Interest Publications: Ultimate Chicken Magazine (2010)
Ingredients:
- 4 Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves ( 1 1/4- 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoom olive oil
- 1 Red Onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 red and/or green cooking apples, cored and cut into 1/4-inch strips
- 3 cups packaged shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
- I use 1 bag shredded cabbage & 1/2 bag shredded carrots from Trader Joe's
- Orange Wedges, for squeezing on top
Method:
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Turn chicken and add onion and ginger. Cook 4-5 minutes more, stirring onions, until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F). Transfer chicken to a platter; keep warm
- Add broth and vinegar to skillet. Bring to boiling; biol gently, uncovered for 5 minutes or until reduced by about half. Add apples amd coleslaw mix. Cook and stir gently 5 minutes or until apples are tender. Return chicken and accumulated juices to skillet. Serve with orange wedges.
Per Serving: 270 Cal., 5 G Fat (1 G Sat Fat), 83 MG Chol., 518 MG Sodium, 20 G Carbo.,4 G Fiber, 34 G Pro).
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)









